“We see a real malaise in Isère” denounces the Envol Isère Autisme association

In France, 80% of autistic people have no access to mainstream schooling. And the situation has far from improved, especially in Isère. The association “Envol Isère Autism”
denounces the lack of aid from public education. At the rectorate, “there is a person online, but who doesn’t meet the needs”, estimates Feriel Bonnet Machot.

France Bleu Isère: First of all, what is the situation today in Isère? Not very well…

Feriel Machot cap: Yes, we’ll say it’s not very good in the sense that there is a real lack of AESH, the people who help autistic children in the classroom, who help them with their accommodations, this is the human help that every child with autism needs . The situation is complicated: since September 2022 we have had the telephone number of the “inclusive school” at the rectorate of Grenoble – 0 805 805 110 – which does not respond to the needs of parents.

Meaning what ? Doesn’t she answer you at all?

Indeed there is a person on the phone, but who does not meet the needs. Because when there is a need to know if an AESH is available, if she will come to class, or to report that the accommodations are not in place, well, we no longer cater to parents’ needs. In any case, it is the parents’ feelings that tell us about it through the association. We are volunteer parents of the association. We run monthly hotlines in six Isère locations and see the anguish of parents. There are children who drop out of school because there are no adaptations needed or little adaptation. So we see a real malaise in Isère.

Among the parents, the families you follow, how many ask for assistance and don’t have it?

In fact we don’t quantify them, because we are not an instance, we are simply an association. But we have a lot, we provide 900 hours of volunteer work and help a total of 600 families. And we can see that more and more, in recent years, we have many families in difficulty. We are just an association, we cannot handle all the inconvenience. It is up to the main state authorities to do what is necessary.

We are talking about school here. But there is also extracurricular. There was talk in the 7:30 newspaper of a reception facility that will open in two weeks in Grenoble, with the “Autisme à Fleur de peau” association. Are there reception facilities there too, outside school hours?

It is very good that structures like these exist. Since 2020, Isère had started training for Atsem, with the city of Grenoble, after the association’s volunteers challenged the authorities about the lack of training and knowledge of Atsem and the agents.

Why aren’t people trained in autism treatment today?

Very undertrained. People who care for autistic people, whether they are teachers or extracurricular agents, are unaware of this invisible handicap. It is important that the people who care for these children or adults are trained. So we have a lack of knowledge, even among AESH, many resign, they don’t go to the end of their mission because they don’t actually know about this invisible handicap.

And what can we wish you for 2023? Does it mean, above all?

Better inclusion, but true inclusion. You don’t necessarily need a lot of resources. For example, we make tutorials to regulate exams, we have matrices that can be crutches for autistic people in exams and they are not okay. There are tools that have been created for free and we don’t understand why they are not implemented.