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"School is compulsory for all": the fight of parents of autistic people for a kindergarten class in South Gironde

2023-02-08T18:20:37.204Z


Located in Langon, the Lo Camin association has been campaigning for four years for the opening of a specialized class. A claim to which the Regional Health Agency opposes a categorical refusal for the moment.


Le Figaro Bordeaux

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In a letter consulted by

Le Figaro

and addressed to the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of New Aquitaine this Wednesday, the anger of Jérôme Suhard is palpable.

The president of the Lo Camin association, which works to help and defend people with autism, has just learned through the press that the project to set up a kindergarten specializing in the care of these children in South Gironde would remain a dead letter.

"

School is compulsory from the age of three and for all

", thunders this father of an autistic girl, aged 10, denouncing "

the lack of coherence of the State

".

For four years, his association based in Langon (Gironde) has been calling for the creation of a teaching unit in kindergarten (UEMA) which could accommodate 7 children on three levels, aged 3 to 6, including "

severe intellectual disabilities, low autonomy, language defects and developmental delay

” prevent traditional schooling.

This adapted offer would make it possible to integrate them within the National Education by bringing them together in a special class where several educators, neuropsychiatrists, speech therapists and psychomotor therapists intervene.

All this at an age when their cerebral plasticity is greater.

"

Progress that is not made as early as three years leads to a lack of autonomy later on, which is particularly costly for society.

“, insists the one who had to stop his professional activity to take care of his daughter.

21 places adapted for 1.6 million inhabitants

However, only four UEMA currently exist in Gironde.

Based in Bordeaux, Arcachon, Ambarès and Castelnau-de-Médoc, their locations involve long daily journeys for parents and children living in the south of the department, if they obtain one of the 21 places created for 1.6 million of inhabitants.

"

If there was a real political will, we should not quibble for 7 UEMA places in an outlying rural area of ​​the Bordeaux metropolis

", argues Jérôme Suhard.

Between the delays in diagnosis, the medical mille-feuille and the administrative heaviness to obtain the disability compensatory benefit (PCH) for caring parents, the forty-year-old denounces a double penalty.

We find ourselves in a situation that goes against the law.

French society must be able to accommodate these children

Sophie Mette, Modem MP for Gironde

Especially since the creation of a self-regulation system (DAR) which incorporates autistic children in traditional classes or home interventions, solutions invoked by ARS Gironde in

Figaro

, lack efficiency according to Jérôme Suhard .

My daughter, who is not clean and very little verbal, will never be able to go to DAR for example

”, insists the spokesperson for Lo Camin who asks for “

schooling solutions

” and not “

bandages

”.

And for good reason: in addition to their “ very low

” funding envelope

, home care implies for parents an “

uneven professional career and

impacted

pension

rights ”.

A fight supported by a Gironde deputy

Desperate to be heard, the association approached the Modem MP for Gironde, Sophie Mette.

Sensitized to the subject "

as a mother and grandmother

", the parliamentarian wrote on January 2 to Pap Ndiaye, Minister of National Education, Geneviève Darrieussecq, Minister of Disability, François Braun, Minister of Health or even in Charlotte Caubel, Secretary of State for Children.

Read alsoThe sacrificed generation of autistic adults

I hope to have answers because we find ourselves in a situation that goes against the law.

French society must be able to accommodate these children, which is not the case in our geographical area

", supports the elected official who supports "

the healthy approach of this dad

", whose concern could one day fall to all parents.

Claire Hédon, defender of rights, was also asked.

"It's not a problem of credits"

Contacted by

Le Figaro

, the ARS maintains that the creation of a specialized kindergarten in South Gironde is not on the agenda.

Maintaining that it is not "

a magic solution

", she explains that there is no "

need

" because no request has been filed by the departmental house for disabled people (MDPH) which contributes to the diagnosis of autistic children.

On the other hand, calls for projects will be launched in the spring in order to open a new UEMA in Bordeaux Métropole and a DAR in South Gironde from the start of the 2023 school year.

"

All the levers within our reach are activated for the care of students with autistic disorders

", declares Bénédicte Motte, director of the ARS in Gironde, who believes that the emergency is in town, while emphasizing that the last adapted class open is Castelnau-de-Médoc, located in a rural area.

Disability referent at the ARS, Sandrine Lys recognizes that it is not "

a problem of credits which are allocated each year

".

The opening of a UEMA in South Gironde will thus be envisaged for 2024 "

if children are diagnosed

".

For its part, the Directorate of Departmental Services of National Education (DSDEN), which acts in concert with the ARS, declares that proposals were sent this Tuesday to the Ministry of National Education and that it is therefore "

impossible to communicate on a precise decision while awaiting their instruction

".

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-02-08

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