mimi.robert.trudel — Bonjour! Je vous en message privé parce que je n’ai pas forcément envie de parta

Thread ID: 48 | Messages: 24 Admin: Patrick, asia With: mimi.robert.trudel Period: 2026-02-02 to 2026-04-18

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mimi.robert.trudel — 2026-02-02 18:28

Bonjour! Je vous en message privé parce que je n’ai pas forcément envie de partager cela avec le reste de la cohorte (je me sens suffisamment bizarre comme c’est là :-)). Je suis une personne autiste et j’ai beaucoup de difficulté avec le fait d’être touchée. Cela fait que lorsqu’il y a des « corrections » de mouvements en classe, je préfère que l’on me demande si c’est ok qu’on me touche. Comme je travaille depuis des années avec des personnes qui sont elles-mêmes sur le spectre, c’est devenu partie intégrante de ma façon de faire. C’est mon premier cours neurotypique depuis de longues années, aussi j’ai pu être surprise de voir que cela ne se fait pas systématiquement.

Cela m’amène à penser qu’il y a peut-être d’autres personnes qui apprécieraient qu’on leur demande si l’on peut les toucher avant de faire une correction (j’ai observé que cela est plus fréquent chez toi, Patrick, que chez Asia.). Je pense à Clementine, qui vit avec un choc post-traumatique complexe. Intuitivement, je dirais que cela pourrait être une bonne idée de lui demander si l’on peut la toucher.

Ceci étant dit, j’adore les cours, la méthode, le site (super bien fait et organisé.). Je sens déjà tout plein de bienfaits (sur mon niveau d’énergie, ma façon d’appréhender cette bizarre étape de vie, mon niveau d’anxiété et mon équilibre).

À samedi,

Mimi

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asia (admin) — 2026-02-03 16:31

Hello Mimi,

Thank you for reaching out and sharing this with us. We genuinely appreciate your openness and your proactive communication—it’s exactly the kind of exchange that helps us work better with each student.

We also want to say that having you in this group has been inspiring. Your unique perspective and your reflections have been invaluable, and we feel that what we do could be a meaningful addition to your personal toolbox for navigating your condition.

Now, some context that may be helpful.

We did see in your questionnaire that you mentioned being autistic, and in your medical disclosure you noted sensory processing difficulties. We take this seriously. However, what allows us to adapt our approach are specific preferences or requests—for example, “please ask before touching me.” Without that direction, we proceed according to our professional judgment.

On that note: we’ve worked with many autistic individuals over the years, and their preferences around touch vary considerably. Some prefer no touch, while others benefit from and prefer firm touch assistance—something supported by research. So while we absolutely respect your individual experience, we don’t assume a particular preference based on diagnosis alone. Each person is different, which is why we rely on clear communication.

As outlined in our teaching principles, our methodology—NODAA (Narration, Observation, Demonstration, Assist, Assess)—prioritizes non-physical methods first. Physical assistance is something we use only when other approaches haven’t achieved comprehension, and we aim to be minimal and purposeful when we do. That said, hands-on guidance is part of what we do as a physical education modality.

You may recall that after our first session, Patrick shared with you his own experiences with heightened sensory issues over many years. His direct experience has made him very mindful of how he approaches people. At the same time, part of what we do is help people work with—and sometimes through—perceived limitations in appropriate, supported ways. Baseworks is a distinct educational modality that sometimes goes beyond what’s normally prescribed through therapy or conventional exercise. We’re always learning from students like yourself, and every new situation brings new information that can shift how people learn to live with and transcend their circumstances.

One gentle correction: you mentioned Patrick seems to assist more than me. On Tuesday—the session you missed—I was actively assisting just as much, if not more, than Patrick. The dynamic you observed on Saturday was a continuation of what we’d both been doing throughout the week. It really does vary by circumstance. And for what it’s worth, Patrick actually prefers not to assist physically when possible—he wants students to find their own understanding of the movements. He’ll step in to assist when narration or demonstration alone aren’t achieving comprehension.

Regarding Clementine: we appreciate that you’re thinking of other participants—that care for others is a very supportive gesture. However, we can’t act on assumptions about someone else’s needs. Clementine hasn’t indicated any concerns to us, and we’ve both assisted her several times without sensing any apprehension—rather, we’ve observed a genuine desire on her part to understand her body. Her situation is different from yours and may involve considerations we’re not fully aware of, but our approach is always considerate of how people might feel. If she has preferences, we trust her to communicate them directly, as you’ve done. And as with you, we’d respond with the same care and detail.

Now that you’ve told us your preference, we’ll ask before any physical contact with you going forward.

We’re glad the method is resonating and that you’re already noticing benefits.

See you Saturday,

Asia (and Patrick)

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mimi.robert.trudel — 2026-02-03 22:18

Dear Asia (and Patrick)

I so much appreciate your thourough answers, so detailed, precise and so clear. I value this very much, it is what makes learning with you so special and efficient. I really do feel that Baseworks is, after such a short period of practice, a very valuable tool, as you say.

A word about Clementine: after sending the message, I thought to myself: wow, that was wild projection, Mimi. Your job is to learn. Let them do their job (which they do very well, with a precision that I have rarely seen in other practises).

A word about Russia: I was in Russia 30 years agonduring my studies at the National Theatre School. My roommate was doing her Master’s at Moscow Uniiversity and I visited her for a month. It was in January, and somehow we were invited to watch rehearsals at the Stanislavski Conservatory. It was freezing, actors were rehearsing in their fur coats a scene from one of Alexander Ostrovsky’s play. I don’t remermber the title of the play but it was set in full summer, and the first line of the scene was: Kak jarka! which means, from the few Rusian words I understood, It is so hot!

We were all shaking from the cold, hungry as it was hard to get food, BUT being at 0ne point, when the actress said, for the millionth time: Kak jarka, magic operated. We were in the middle of the summer, somewhere in Southern début de siècle Russia. Those actors were amazing. I have not often lived through such beautiful, magical moments in the theater.

See you Saturday, and thank you again for your answer,

Mimi

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Patrick (admin) — 2026-02-05 03:31

Hi Mimi,

Thanks for this—and for being so straightforward about the Clementine comment. That kind of self-awareness is rare and speaks a lot to who you are.

Your Russia story is striking. What stands out to me is that those actors, freezing in their coats, found something real because the conditions were difficult—not in spite of them. Staying with something uncomfortable long enough for it to shift into something else entirely is where the actual discoveries happen. And it took the whole room being there together, enduring the same conditions, for that moment to land.

There’s a parallel with what we’re doing. We’re often asking people to stay with unfamiliar sensations, to reorient how they think about movement, to sit with a certain discomfort of not immediately understanding. It’s not always comfortable. But that willingness to be outside of what you’re used to is exactly what opens up perception and leads to the kinds of shifts you’re already starting to notice. The challenging parts aren’t obstacles to the outcomes—they’re the pathway.

We’re really glad to have you with us.

See you Saturday, Patrick (and Asia)

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Patrick (admin) — 2026-02-08 15:19

Hi Mimi,

Thank you so much for sharing your fascinating observation in “Dans les oreilles” about your auditory experience after yesterday’s session. These kinds of detailed personal reports about how the nervous system processes the work are genuinely valuable for the entire community.

I wanted to suggest that when you have insights like this one, you might consider posting them in either the cohort forum or the Primer forum rather than the group feed. The main difference is that the group feed isn’t persistent—posts eventually drop away and can’t be searched. When you create a forum topic with tags, it becomes part of a searchable archive. Someone months from now experiencing something similar could search for related topics and discover your post, potentially finding correlation with their own experience.

The Winter Cohort forum (visible only to people in our cohort) is here: https://practice.baseworks.com/groups/montreal-study-group-winter-2026-cohort/forum/

The Primer Community Forum (open to anyone who does the Primer course) is here: https://practice.baseworks.com/groups/primer-community/forum/

If you feel your comments are more appropriate to share within the cohort only, then the cohort forum would be the place to post. The forums also have a tagging convention that lets you apply tags you think are appropriate to the topic. This creates a richer, more dynamic conversational platform moving forward for everyone, making it easier for others to engage in threaded discussions.

Of course, this isn’t to say you should always post there—if something feels very personal or you prefer it not to persist in the archive, the group feed (where you posted this new comment) is perfectly appropriate, or you can always send direct messages to anyone in the cohort. It’s just an invitation to consider the forum when you have observations that might benefit from longer-term visibility and discussion.

Thanks again for your thoughtful engagement with the practice.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​!

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mimi.robert.trudel — 2026-03-01 23:52

Bonsoir! Est-ce qu’il est trop tôt pour m’inscrire? Quand j’essaie de le faire, je reçois un message que selon mon dossier, je ne suis pas une Baseworks Alumni.

Merci encore pour tout,

Mimi

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asia (admin) — 2026-03-02 00:54

Hi, Mimi, thank you for the message. We haven’t processed the closing of the program yet. You should be able to book tomorrow. I’ll send you a message when it’s ready. Thank you!

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asia (admin) — 2026-03-06 04:42

Hi again, Mimi. The practice sessions are now available for booking, and the system should properly recognize you as a Baseworks Alumna! More info: The Montreal Practice Sessions page is now live: https://baseworks.com/montreal-practice-sessions/

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mimi.robert.trudel — 2026-03-06 13:18

Hi again! (I hope you get some sleep, or that your message was sent from as Asia-Pacific time zone :-))

The system does not recognize me. Could it be because some of the practice hours are missing? On me calendar, some of the hours for the practices at Circuit-Est do not appear..

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asia (admin) — 2026-03-06 14:36

Hi Mimi,

Thank you for reporting the issue. I found the glitch and now our system should definitely see you correctly. The last in-person session should also now be correctly reflected on your dashboard. Please let me know if you still experience any issues.

And about the messaging/sleeping time - extended time zone support is also on our to-do list

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mimi.robert.trudel — 2026-03-06 15:08

You definitly are some kind of super human ;-)

I have bought the 14 sessions - the order is processing altough the credit card payment was processed. (I did use the Afterpay option, could that be an issue?) The site tells me I cannot book sessions.

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asia (admin) — 2026-03-06 15:25

Yes, it seems like our system got confused by Afterpay… I just marked the order complete (and added proper Afterpay automation support to our to-do list). You should be able to book the sessions from your baseworks.com account now: https://baseworks.com/available-programs/ (but please let me know if you encounter any more obstacles). And looking forward to seeing your at the Practice Sessions!

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mimi.robert.trudel — 2026-03-06 16:05

Sessions booked! Thank you! I am really looking forward to the practice sessions in the Proto Studio. That is a good move and much nicer venue dans Circuit-Est.

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mimi.robert.trudel — 2026-03-06 16:06

One last thing: I just finished the 30 minutes practice in the Journaling section. It seems to be doing the same thing as with the Done button in previous modules.

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asia (admin) — 2026-03-07 00:18

Thanks for reporting that. I checked it and fixed it. You should be able to proceed to 9.5. A lot of glitches in one day! Thank you for your patience!

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Patrick (admin) — 2026-03-15 15:48

https://baseworks.com/article/disembodied-by-dance-embodied-mind/

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mimi.robert.trudel — 2026-03-18 21:51

I am at the end of section 10 and there is a last glitch (same as before: comments entered, and the blank page appearing again…)

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Patrick (admin) — 2026-03-19 15:08

Ok Mimi, we are on it, Asia will take a look shortly.

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asia (admin) — 2026-03-20 16:45

Hey, Mimi,

It seems like for some reason the 3.14 lesson didn’t get complete properly in the past, so our system didn’t recognize your course completion. I fixed it just now and you should have received an email with the Primer extension. Congratulations on the Primer completion!

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mimi.robert.trudel — 2026-03-21 14:48

Great! I will see you this afternoon - I might be 10 minutes late because of train schedules. See you then!

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mimi.robert.trudel — 2026-03-28 15:57

It has been a challenging week and I will not be able to make it to practice today. I will do a short practise at home. See you next week!

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Patrick (admin) — 2026-03-28 16:33

Hey Mimi, thanks for the heads up and will see you next week.

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mimi.robert.trudel — 2026-04-11 20:43

We had a car incident on the way to the metro. No one is hurt (ouf!) but I guess we will see each other next week. Take care!

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Patrick (admin) — 2026-04-18 12:25

HI Mimi: Sorry this slipped by us. Looking forward to seeing you later on this morning.

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Related

• Direct Messages

Editorial Notes

Editorial Title: Touch Preferences and Teaching Methodology Cohort: winter-2026 Topic Type: accommodation Sensitivity: high Language: bilingual Participant: Mimi Editorial Tags: participant-support, accommodation, NODAA, Teaching-Methodology

Context

Mimi, an autistic participant in the Winter 2026 cohort, reached out privately to share her preferences around physical touch during corrections. She mentioned difficulty with being touched and requested that we ask before any physical contact. She also speculated about another participant’s (Clementine’s) potential preferences based on her own observations.

Mimi’s Intake Information

• Medical conditions disclosure: Trouble du traitement de l’information sensorielle (Sensory processing disorder)
• Additional comments in questionnaire: Mentioned being autistic
• Note: She did not specify preferences about being touched or not touched in her intake forms

Key Points from Session 1

After the first session, Patrick had already shared with Mimi in detail his own experiences with heightened sensory issues over many years. This conversation happened before she sent this message.

Key Principles Applied

1. Intake process exists for a reason: Specific preferences need to be communicated through proper channels for us to adapt. We can only respond to what we’re told.
2. No assumptions based on diagnosis: Touch preferences vary considerably among autistic individuals. Some prefer firm touch; others prefer none. Individual communication is essential.
3. NODAA methodology: Physical assistance is never our first resort. We prioritize narration, demonstration, and observation before considering physical contact.
4. Don’t act on speculation about others: We can’t make assumptions about one participant’s needs based on another participant’s observations.
5. Acknowledge value while maintaining boundaries: We validated Mimi’s contribution to the group while being clear about our policies and approach.

Editorial Links

• Communications Guide — Physical Assistance & Accommodation
• Teaching Principles: https://baseworks.com/key-teaching-principles/