Julie Dachez

Julie Dachez (; born 5 February 1985) is a French social psychologist, lecturer and autistic rights activist. She's the author of Invisible Differences and Dans ta bulle! ('In your dreams!'). In 2016, she became the first openly autistic person to defend a thesis on the subject in France.

Biography Dachez studied at a business school and worked for four years in the private sector. In 2012, she was diagnosed with the now-defunct autism subtype Asperger syndrome at an Autism Resource Center. She then incorporated her autistic identity into her work by creating a blog, making videos on YouTube and embarking on a doctoral programme in social psychology focusing on autism.

Positions on autism Dachez sees autism as "a difference in functioning pathologised by a society obsessed with normality", which she sees from a social and non-medical point of view, mainly in terms of the stigmatisation and discrimination suffered by autistic people. She argues that she suffers more from other people's prejudices about autism and the inadequacy of social structures and its needs than from the fact that she is herself autistic.

Activities Dachez has published two books on the subject of autism. The first one, La Différence invisible (released as Invisible Differences in English), is an autobiographical comic co-written with . It received favorable reviews, as much for its didactical value as for its narrative and aesthetic treatment.

Her second book, Dans ta bulle! ('In your bubble'), prefaced by Josef Schovanec, focuses on the personal testimonies of autistic people that Dachez collected while writing her thesis.

Dachez has lectured on the subject of autism and spoken out against the prejudice autistic people face. During the following year's observance, she represented the organization PEP 12 (Pupils in Public Education).