Mélissa Perron, creator of the Différent comme toi 2025 illustration

Mélissa Perron, author and illustrator, is the person behind this year's Différent comme toi illustration.

She tells us what inspired her to create it: ‘I imagined a world where everyone can enjoy the freedom of living their uniqueness to the full. A place without camouflage, where emotions are welcomed and understood, a place where one person's difference makes another's blossom...’.

The Véro & Louis Foundation played a very important role in the discovery of her autism diagnosis:

‘It was in 2018, thanks to the Différent comme toi T-shirt that I made my encounter at the age of 38. When I bought this T-shirt, I had no idea that my life would change so dramatically. Browsing the Foundation's website had led me to wonder what the criteria for an autistic woman were, and when I came across this list, every word resonated with me. A few months later, I finally had my diagnosis: I was an autistic woman.

In her most recent book, Femme caméléon, published by KO Éditions, Mélissa Perron recounts her long journey into the depths: from her childhood spent ‘in an aquarium dropped into the sea’ to her ascent to the surface as an adult, when she discovers that her difference has a name.

A donation of $5 will be made to the Foundation for each book purchased on the KO Éditions website, and $1 for each book sold in bookshops.