Karine Fournier is a project manager at Autisme Montérégie. Many challenges have knocked on the door of this woman of heart serving others. Inspiration is what has allowed her to get back up each time and change direction.

“A challenge is an opportunity to rise up and do something great,” says Karine Fournier, all smiles. However, the diagnoses in 2015 of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit disorder (ADHD) of her two boys did not suggest this strength of character. Dejected? Certainly, at the time. The woman who was then doing more than 1,000 km per week as a sales representative for a food distribution company decided to change careers, to be more present at home and fully invest herself in the cause.

Karine is passionate about people. Like the character in Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince , she likes to connect and create bonds. That's why she chose to be a road representative, and previously a childcare educator. She was then marked by a sentence that carried her for years, that of the parents of little Alexandra, who had an intellectual disability: "it's so important for us to know that you love her!" Words that will resonate even more strongly twenty years later.

She also relies on a woman who is a model of resilience for her, Danièle Henkel, discovered at the beginning of her career in the show Dans l'œil du dragon . "She is my inspiration to push me out of my comfort zone. Being afraid is normal. You have to have the courage to go beyond, especially when you feel something vibrating inside you, you have to dare."

A divorce later and the call heard to revive “this fiber of inclusion that has always been in me,” Karine chose to change careers in 2017 and work with Autisme Centre-du-Québec, then Autisme Montérégie. Inclusion, broader than integration, is a core value for her, a behavior that normalizes diversity, so that everyone has their rightful place in society. Karine even plans to set up, with a colleague, a therapeutic riding center based on the Temple Grandin model (see box).

Her entrepreneurial project, which has not yet seen the light of day, was also an opportunity for her to give herself a 40th birthday present: meeting Danièle Henkel who was presenting a conference at the “Rêve, ose, agis” symposium by Femmessor in Sherbrooke. A highlight of her 2019 year. “Even from afar, I could see her eyes sparkling!”, an important detail for Karine, who denotes “all the humanity of this very elegant woman”. “I took notes on the cover of her book Quand l'intuition trace la route , which has become a bedside read: uniqueness in universality, fear and doubt as friends to surpass oneself. I came out of there completely boosted!” exclaims Karine, her eyes sparkling too.

Karine let herself be carried by inspiration as a guide to have the courage to move forward. The path taken by others who have also experienced trials shows us that it is possible. Her new challenge? To choose herself, to dare to shine, to in turn make the potential of others shine.

His inspirations

A film that inspires Karine: Temple Gradin , high-functioning autistic, university professor, specialist in animal storage structures and known worldwide for her articles published in the press on autism issues.

A book that inspires Karine: The Alchemist , by Paulo Coelho

A quote that inspires her: “ Life will put stones in your path. It’s up to you to decide whether you’ll make a wall or a bridge out of them. ” – which she puts in her own words: “It’s up to you to decide whether you’ll make a wall or a staircase out of them. Because a challenge can elevate us and lead us to something great!”