The difficult inclusion of children with disabilities in school is one of the topics discussed at the National Disability Conference, Wednesday at the Élysée. In 2022, the State released an envelope of three and a half billion euros for inclusive schools.
Ewan is on vacation with his dad, in Brittany, and even on the phone from Couëron, near Nantes, his mother, Laëtitia watches over his schooling. “How are you darling? Did you do your homework with dad?”she asks him. “No, I don’t have my school bag I think”, answers the child through the receiver. Laetitia smiled. The homework will therefore be on his return, at Mom’s, with a specific ritual.
“We sit in the dining room to work a little, quietly, with a timer to structure and take a little break. Afterwards for Ewan, school is still… how to say… a uncomplicated.”
Laëtitia, mother of Ewanat franceinfo
Because Ewan, 12, is autistic and epileptic, and in his Ulis class, which includes children with disabilities, he has trouble staying focused all day. For her entry to college, Laëtitia therefore requested a place in a teaching unit. “Already, he would continue an inclusion in a college, so he would still be with the others”she explains. “But we are working on other things: there will be cooking workshops, gardening, with trained staff.” Ewan is on the waiting list, and it can last several years, because there are only 24 places near their home.
430,000 children educated in ordinary schools
In 2022, the State released an envelope of three and a half billion euros for inclusive schools, but the inclusion of children with disabilities in school represents a real headache for families, who are often poor. Not enough places, not adapted enough, yet 430,000 have been educated in ordinary schools since the start of the 2022 school year. Emmanuel Macron has therefore promised to deal with this subject among 70 measures during the sixth edition of the National Disability Conference which will take place takes place on Wednesday April 26 at the Élysée. This conference is held every three years, and this year, the context is special. The Council of Europe established last April that France did not respect the fundamental rights of people with disabilities.
Laëtitia’s plan B to educate her little boy is to stay in Ulis class, but on condition of having an accompanying person. And there again, it is not won. So there’s plan C.
“Deschooling is fighting for five years for inclusion to be at home. Having to pay a specialized teacher every morning. I really have this feeling of deep discrimination.”
Laetitia, mother of Ewanat franceinfo
This mom is not the only one in this situation. According to Sophie Biète, from Adapéi – an association that supports people with disabilities – in Loire-Atlantique, 1,500 children are not cared for as they should. “Ordinary class support systems are quite intelligent, but often in insufficient numbers. That is to say, you have to say to yourself: we invest in it or not”asserts Sophie Biète.
A mother’s fight for the inclusion in school of her child with a disability – the report by Aurore Richard
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