Summary:

Fernand Deligny developed innovative thinking in working with autistic children, based on four pillars: the adaptation of space, maps drawn in a trial-and-error process, writing that reflects lived experience, and filmed images that document this coexistence. Rejecting traditional institutional approaches, Deligny creates an ‘archi-texture’ that interweaves these elements, respecting the enigma of what cannot be thought or named. The maps and films created in this attempt map the non-verbal paths of the children, avoiding classifying their behaviour, using the infinitive so as not to impose a notion of subject, thus making it possible to document how children who do not have access to language create a world of their own, distinct from that of adults, and how the latter can be integrated into it without imposing their logic. The letters reveal a space of interaction that transcends language, prioritising the sensorial and the material. Deligny’s originality lies in prioritising action over theory, generating a political anthropology that challenges psychiatry and psychoanalysis. His non-discursive approach uses maps and tracings to record interaction with autistic people as singular presences, exploring a shared life that challenges social norms.

Key words: mapping | life spaces | autism | image | Act | language | Politics | Common | Anthropology | Deligny