This year, there are around 430,000 children with disabilities in France, i.e. 20,000 more than in 2021, but only 4,000 AESH (accompanying students with disabilities) have been recruited for this start of the 2022 school year. Too many children with disabilities have to stay at homefor lack of being able to be accommodated at school.
Claire Hédon, the Defender of Rights, denounced this state of affairs shortly before the start of the school year and called in a report to better adapt the school to the needs of children with disabilities.
Why is it so complicated in France to educate children with disabilities, whether they have autism, dyslexia, trisomy or motor disability? How do families live, having to face not only the difficulties associated with their child’s disability but also the lack of school facilities and trained staff ?
To talk about it and evoke the sometimes dramatic situations that families encounter, Geraldine Mayr receives Sonia Ahehehinnou, vice-president of Unapei, which brings together 330 associations, run by volunteers, parents and friends of people with disabilities. It explains all the steps that parents must take so that children with disabilities can be educated, and which too often involves a real obstacle course.