the Toulouse-Lautrec high school, a model of inclusive school
This morning, in the gymnasium, all the sixth grade classes are gathered for an introduction to wrestling. Some compete standing, others like Elias in a wheelchair. Practicing sport was unthinkable at his old school: “before, I was even a referee all the time. And suddenly, here, I feel better. There is a swimming pool, there is everything in Done!” enthuses the pre-teen. Elias returned to the Toulouse-Lautrec school complex in Vaucresson (Hauts-de-Seine) this year, a regional establishment for adapted education (EREA), which welcomes CP to BTS for able-bodied and disabled students France has 82 EREAs, but only 5 specialize in motor disabilities.
The teachers propose games and rules adapted to the mobility and competence of the pupils. “The dispensation of EPS does not exist or very little, at the margin. Whether it is baseball, dance or volleyball wheelchair, we always find a way to make them practice”, specifies Quentin Morieux, professor of EPS. “Here in wheelchair wrestling, attackers have to aim at their opponents with a big ball that rolls on the ground. If they hit the front of the chair, it’s a point, the side, two points, and the rear three points”
At the Toulouse-Lautrec high school, disabled students are in numerical superiority: 250 for 100 able-bodied. A reversal of the situation that promotes mutual aid and tolerance. “Here, there is only ‘good watch’ (sic), assures the little boy with a smile. In my ‘classic’ college, when I had my eye disease, there were a few who laughed at me. Whereas here, since everyone has a disability, it’s normal.” “There’s a good atmosphere, adds Louise, an able-bodied student, pushing a classmate’s chair. For example, if someone can’t take their things from their school bag, well, we help them, is like a big family in fact”
At the end of recess, the students meet in their classroom. Others take the glass walkway that leads to the care center, an anthill of 130 caregivers located in the heart of the establishment. In the rehabilitation room, five students do their respiratory and muscular exercises. “Come on, we go on all fours to the end of the carpet”, encourages the physiotherapist Sonia. “So there, I am installing a young person for his rehabilitation session. The more you move, the less pain I have and the more comfortable you are in your body. All day he remains in a shell in a sitting position which corrects him. The physio is an opportunity for him to find a little freedom and stretch muscles that tend to shorten.
This CE2 student is quadriplegic, his medical schedule is as heavy as his disability. The little boy is followed by a psychomotrician, an occupational therapist and a speech therapist, in addition to his three physiotherapy sessions per week. “Some have a life that can be compared to that of high-level athletes. We demand a lot from them, whether from an academic or motor point of view: this ability to go from a French course, a course math during sports, physio sessions…”.
Because the Toulouse-Lautrec high school is also an establishment of excellence, one of the best in the department with 100% success in the baccalaureate last year. We go to a history lesson in Terminale. Only four students face their teacher. “Normally we are a class of six, but today, two students are missing for medical reasons”, specifies Clara. The atmosphere is extended, we hear the hum of the overhead projector. None of the students take notes. The lessons are digitized, which allows the group to interact with their teacher, Anne Vigneron: “I’m not going to say that it’s a small group that discusses. The vision offered in the TF1 series is a bit caricatural on this period. It remains a course with objectives, grades. What is offered here at the teaching level, it is not a discount education. That is something very important. It is not because it’s an adapted school that you do less or less well. We do as elsewhere, with the same requirements, but then we do it on a case-by-case basis, identifying the difficulties of each other. Tiredness, problems dyspraxia, dyslexia…”
Reduced staff, adapted computers, volunteer secretaries for assessments: here, 320 staff worked for 350 students. Material and human resources far superior to those of ordinary establishments. A privilege that must constantly be defended, claims this nurse who distributes the drugs in the canteen: “My position was almost abolished last year by the National Education. They do not always understand why there have to be so many on this establishment. The kids need a lot of care, some are tracheostomized. We have to give them their treatment, be there if one of them makes a mistake. In fact, here without nurses, we can’t shoot.” The caregiver hopes that the series of TF1 will have made it possible to highlight the specificity of this establishment and that its means, in the future, will be preserved.