Autistic Teen in Montpellier Faces School Enrollment Challenges

"As long as you don’t live it, you can’t know what autism is. My daughter Aya is 12 years old, she has been out of school for two years now. She was supposed to start first grade, but it was complicated because she didn’t speak. Fortunately, in the meantime, we managed to enroll her in a private school for autistic children. There is only one in the department, it cost between 60 and 70 euros a day, it was very expensive," testifies Samia Daye to France Bleu Hérault. Deregistered from public school since the age of six, Aya was enrolled in a private school. But the experience will not be conclusive. "She started to have a lot of behavioral problems, she became violent, continues Samia. After a few months, they told us they couldn’t keep her. I found myself with a kid who was tearing her hair out, having tantrums, it was very complicated. We don’t have the means to hire specialized educators for autism at home. I’m not a specialized teacher, I’m just the mom and it’s hard to manage everything at home".

For the past two years, the mother has been fighting to find an establishment for her child. Without success. She had to put her career on hold. "I stopped working about ten years ago, I have a baccalaureate +8 and a thesis in microbiology. I had to stop everything when I realized that my daughter was no longer sleeping at night. On the family life side, it’s difficult too. We live according to Aya’s autism, her mood. If she sleeps, we can sleep. If she has tantrums, we can’t live anymore. When she breaks a TV, we no longer have a TV. It’s the 4th one she’s broken. We live with autism, that’s it." After taking several steps (sending several files to IMEs, visiting the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of her region and corresponding with the President of the Republic, Samia "fortunately" receives the help of a team from an IME and psychiatrists, reports BFMTV. But not enough. The mother is therefore calling for "more resources".

Aya is one of the 700 children with mental disabilities not enrolled in school in Hérault, or in an establishment adapted to their needs. Based on this finding, the National Union of Associations of Parents of Disabled Children (UNAPEI) has launched its #Jaipasecole campaign, in order to allow parents to express themselves on the lack of access to schooling for their children with disabilities.