On Tiktok, Millavoise Betty Gonzales, mother of a young autistic boy, talks about disability in images

“There are hundreds of us moms on Tiktok,” says Betty Gonzales. Midi Libre – Laura Vaillant

On the social network, the content creator shares with her 250,000 subscribers her daily life as the mother of an autistic child. Between laughter, emotions and awareness, her videos touch thousands of people and offer a benevolent light on disability. A digital and human battle, fought with the heart.

Fighter. Humbly chosen by Betty Gonzales, this word would be the one that best describes her. Mother of an eleven-year-old boy, her life changed completely nine years ago when she was diagnosed. Noam, two years old, has an autism spectrum disorder.

Despite the bomb, Betty Gonzales holds on and above all, sees life in a different light. “From adolescence until I learned about Noam, I was a complicated person, often sad, she rewinds, her throat tight. But from the moment the diagnosis was established, I never sank again.” No right ? “I couldn't afford it anymore, for him.”

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u266c original sound – The blue world of Betty Noam

A full-time job

So on a daily basis, the mother is on all fronts. Being the mother of an autistic child is a full-time job. From the morning Noam gets up until bedtime, all her attention is given to him. And at night ? “I don't sleep”, she confesses. A daily life punctuated by crises, difficult moments, but also good ones. “Because there are a lot of them”, she emphasizes.

She has been revealing this daily life on the social network Tiktok for four years now. “I posted a funny video of Noam on the escalators of La Capelle, rewinds the one who now has 250,000 followers. I didn't have any subscribers at the time.” Then, a flea in her ear. Her daughter Estelle's boyfriend gives her the idea of ​​creating an account to present her daily life. “It will interest people”, he tells her. With this goal in mind, a first account is created, but the Millavoise doesn't publish anything on it. She observes, scrolls.

“I started to see videos of mothers of autistic children, she explains. I liked it, I felt less alone.” Because even in Millau, there are no children with the same particularities as Noam, a non-verbal autistic, according to Betty Gonzales. And before her son, she didn't pay attention to disabilities. “It's unfortunate, but as long as we're not concerned, we don't really care”, she confesses.

The beginning on the networks

Finally, a first video is born. During a traditional blue march organized in the city of the glove by the association Mill'autisme of which she is the founder, the women's team of Som rugby performed a choreography. Noam's big sister was part of it. A moving moment, with family, captured and posted. “And from there, I published short videos of my daily life.”

With Lolita, her other daughter, Betty Gonzales challenges herself. “She told me that if I got that many subscribers, she would be proud of me.” Nothing like it to motivate a mother. The videos come one after the other, but the content creator keeps her goal in mind: to raise awareness.

Making disability visible

Between the virtual meetings and the repercussions on her life in the city of gloves, the mother of the family only remembers the positive things about all of this “60~/em>. In the streets of Millau, it is not uncommon for Noam and his mother to be recognized. “And the contact is always benevolent, rejoices Betty Gonzales. Finally Noam could be anyone's little brother. He's 11 and his sisters are in their twenties.”