Macron’s Touching Gesture to Autistic Girl Highlights World Autism Day Visit

Nihal experienced a moment of happiness with the French president on April 2, in Saint-Égrève, on World Autism Awareness Day. The Maison des Familles de Grenoble looks back on this visit by Emmanuel Macron through an emotionally charged letter entitled "Behind the beautiful photo, the reality without a mask?" "This photo, it’s an image of happiness. A suspended moment. Nihal finds herself in your arms. Her hand almost resting on your shoulder. It looks like a father and his daughter. Quite a symbol. The Republic protects its children. Isn’t that also what Nihal affirms on her t-shirt? "Never stop dreams". So... Thank you, Mr. President, for giving this little girl this moment of grace. Her smile is radiant. She seems happy. Finally... because Nihal has just lived two really dreadful years," the correspondence reads.

The association retraces the journey of little Nihal’s family. A single-parent family who left Tangier to have the child treated in France. Arrived in the metropolis, she was confronted with enormous difficulties. "Housed for a few months by relatives, Nihal’s little family has experienced homelessness. Emergency accommodation, shared accommodation and even for a time in a... garage! Yes, a garage... Thank you again Mr. President because before you, only Nihal’s mother has carried her little girl with all her might and with her this crazy hope of a mother ready to do anything to offer her beloved child the care she needs to live with dignity," the correspondence continues.

Contacted by Le Dauphiné Libéré, Élisabeth Michel, director of the Maison des Familles de Grenoble, explains the reasons behind the sending of this letter to the President of the Republic. "We addressed the president, telling him - Mr. Emmanuel Macron, you who took Nihal in your arms - in order to also alert him to the problem of migrant children who are living very difficult situations when arriving on French soil, whether they are sick or not. Nihal’s mother came here to have her daughter treated. Our country represented this hope for her. She was actually very happy with the presidential visit to the hospital and very proud of the photo that was taken," she says.

And to add: "Today, she and her daughters are awaiting papers. But how many other children arrive in France? Our letter to the president is also a way to remind us that we all have a collective responsibility to make France loved by these children and for them to live in decent conditions."