Toulouse: a mother of a 15-year-old disabled boy sounds the alarm about the lack of AESH
The mother of a 15-year-old boy, severely disabled, a high school student from Toulouse, wishes to point out the absence of a companion for students with disabilities (AESH) during his son-son schooling. Since last June, however, she has reported this situation and she still has no response.
“My son is on his own despite having a severe handicap”. The one we will call Françoise* does not hide her anger. Since the mother of a boy with a severe disability, she has been waiting for an Accompanist for students with disabilities (AESH) to help her son in his schooling but despite his multiple reminders, it is not the case. “Every 15 days, I make a phone call to find out where the situation is,” she gets carried away. Since his return to school in second professional in Toulouse, his 15-year-old son, who has been followed for more than ten years by an AESH, no longer has help from a companion. “It seems inconceivable to me that this situation should continue, and it is not an isolated case, other students in difficulty are going through the same thing”, wishes to alert this mother, at the end of her nerves. The latter ensures that during her various contacts with the rectorate, the answer is always the same. “They took my request into account but nothing happened,” she says, exasperated.
From 18 hours of support to zero
As a result, instead of the 18 hours of support he had in college, his son has only been able to have a few hours dispatched here and there since September, depending on the availability of AESH.
And yet, during the passage from the 3rd to the second of her son, this mother had taken the lead to precisely avoid this type of situation. “As early as June, I sent this famous notification which should logically lead to the establishment of an accompanying person. It’s still crazy this lack of anticipation, he did not become disabled overnight “, says, visibly well informed, Françoise. She explains that she obviously reported this problem to her son’s establishment: “They do the best they can with the means they have and they have few AESH staff so as soon as ‘ ‘they can they try to make them available for other pupils in need’. So through the situation of her son, she wants to be the spokesperson for all these students with disabilities but not accompanied during lessons while insisting on the sometimes dramatic situations that this type of shortcomings can lead to.
For its part, the rectorate of the Toulouse academy reports an “eunprecedented explosion of notifications of children to accompany (+29% in 2021). So to anticipate these needs, “the Directorate of Departmental Services of National Education of Haute-Garonne has embarked on an unprecedented recruitment effort (+ 11% in 2021)”. The rectorate ensures that “tEverything is implemented in the field, in schools, colleges and high schools, to support children and families as closely as possible.