The cartographic practice was developed in the network for autistic children between 1969 and 1980. “Map” is a rather broad notion that pertains to any drawing made by any “close presences” (and not therefore made by Deligny, nor by the autistic children). The maps concern the “living areas” (aire de séjour) and describe one or several autistic children (their gestures, attitudes, and movements), the adults present, and the location of objects. They have different formats and usually have a base map accompanied by transparencies (calques) that overlay the base image, all traced by the presence nearby. The myth goes that these maps came about by chance, as an instruction from Deligny to Jacques Lin, a nearby presence who lived camped in the Serret. Jacques Lin, not knowing what to do about the crises of an autistic child, asks Deligny for help. The latter proposed to him, instead of doing something, instead of intervening directly in the crises, that he step back and just try to trace the child’s movements.
