Delphine Schiltz 13h56, 02 April 2023

Autism affects thousands of children. To enable them to have the most normal schooling possible, the Éric Tabarly school in Étampes, in Essonne, has opened a class where young students are accompanied by specialized teachers. On this World Autism Awareness Day, Europe 1 went to meet them.

This Sunday is World Autism Awareness Day. A disorder that unfortunately affects thousands of children. So, since the beginning of the school year, a class has been dedicated to them at the Éric Tabarly school in Etampes, in Essonne. Six students are accompanied, with the objective of having the most ordinary schooling possible and integrating the CP.

Good progress for children

In this class dedicated to autistic children aged 3 to 6, students and educators communicate with sticker pictograms. Thanks to them, children who have not yet acquired language can choose their snack or song. The little ones share recess, the canteen with others and even, for some, class time.

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"We will mainly start with small times to gradually go to the quarter of an hour, to the half hour, etc ...", explains Florence, the specialized teacher of the group. " Ideally, they should be included, either all morning or all day."

A ratio of six students to five educators who also spend 1 hour per week in the family. Cécile, who takes care of Raphaëlle, sees her progress. "Little by little, he looks at us, he turns around when we call him. It doesn't sound like much, but it's actually huge. These are the beginnings that lead us to believe that later, she may be able to enter into other learnings." According to the Ministry of Education, at the end of these classes, a third of the children have integrated an ordinary CP class with specialized help.