The invisible difference: Nicole Damaggio (GE 1978), author of Une épée dans la brume, Syndrome d'Asperger et espoir (A sword in the mist, Aspergers syndrome and hope)

Nicole Damaggio (GE 1978) has written a social essay that recounts her struggle as a mother and offers an analysis and solutions that work.
Anneclaire was a ‘perfect’ baby, but she seemed indifferent to the world around her, despite her rapidly acquired and exceptional language skills. Nicole Damaggio began to question her daughter’s disconcerting behaviour.
It was the beginning of a struggle together against the prejudices of our society when confronted with difference, in this case Asperger’s syndrome, a specific form of autism which affects the ability to communicate and interact socially.
Anneclaire had Asperger’s, but she soon displayed remarkable intelligence and force of character despite everything, and blossomed into a free spirit. The story is one of resilience, or, to borrow the young girl’s elegant phrasing: “the inheritance of an ancient honour in a modern victory.”
Given the absence of good, adapted support for such cases, Nicole had to make it up as she went along. And almost against her own judgement, she began to apply “business school techniques,” adapting the competencies and skills to a social context. “Everyone should have this experience because every family and every business has its own specificities,” Nicole told us.
The author chronicles her life and death struggle to save her daughter in a shattered family where she had to discover the unknown, invent all kinds of methods, and support and guide her daughter to a specific goal, namely, to become independent or, in other words, to gain freedom.
The book offers a useful guide with a well-adapted method, to help ‘difference’ to be integrated in a positive way and to see Asperger’s syndrome and autism recognised as a social urgency in France. It helps to end the distress and psychological isolation of the families concerned, giving Asperger the dignity it deserves and offering those affected by the syndrome a future in our society that matches their aspirations. Above all, the book is a source of hope for all who read it, whether or not they are affected by difference.
Nicole Damaggio, consultant in corporate strategy, is today a coach for atypical profiles.
Anneclaire is now a graduate student in Political Science. That’s some victory!
The book, Une épée dans la brume, Syndrome d'Asperger et espoir, will be out on 13 October 2011 published by Editions Anne Carrière