A reading report of Maffre, T., Hazane, F., & Raynaud, J.P. (2005). Troubles psychiques, déficience intellectuelle et scolarisation en milieu ordinaire. EMC – Psychiatrie, 2, 225-237.
In them article, Maffre, Hazane and Raynaud (2005) discuss the schooling of children with intellectual disabilities in ordinary school. In France, the law for equal rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship of people with disabilities (2005) recommends the integration of children with disabilities (including intellectual disabilities) into mainstream society. This integration must be imagined in a logic of individualized journey with flexibility. The authors insist that integration is not contradictory to the notion of appropriate teaching and academic accommodations. The objective is to fight stigma and discrimination, to act in favour of equal opportunities. Thus, the projector is more focused on specific needs than on the disability itself.
However, according to the authors, this integration seems to have some limitations. Legally, full integration into the regular classroom is considered when the need for specialized support is not permanent. In practice, this works mainly in preschool. Indeed, for primary and secondary school, full integration into the classroom requires a certain level of learning skills. Since the law does not set an objective limit on the integration of children with disabilities, there is a risk of “forced” integration of children with severe disabilities. However, social integration can not be the only argument for sending a child with a disability to regular school. Indeed, school issues must not be lost sight of. This is why the authors recall the usefulness of adaptations such as classroom assistants or the creation of ULIS classes (Unités Localisés pour l’Inclusion Scolaire, i.e., Local Units for School Inclusion). These adaptations make it possible to overcome learning constraints without questioning the possibility of integration in an ordinary environment.
Then, the authors present a number of conditions that must be met for successful school integration. First, at the administrative level, an individual school integration project must be built in an informed manner, in collaboration between the school, the child, his or her family and the care services. This provides a safe environment for the child. In addition, the teacher must be able to integrate the disabled child harmoniously into his or her classroom. Therefore, the child must be involved in the life of the school. It is also important that the family supports the integration project. Conversely, the school must be able to integrate the child’s family into the life of the school and into learnings of his/her child. In addition, care institutions also have a role to play: paramedical and psychological teams must be able to support the child and his/her family in this integration by creating a link with the school to work together to ensure the most appropriate adaptation for the child. Finally, on a material level, the environment must be sufficiently designed to meet the child’s needs. This ranges from specific teaching materials to the organisation of home-school transport.
The authors then discuss the question of the benefits of this school integration. They cite a study of children with trisomy (Casey, 1988). The results show that there is no significant improvement in the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of children with Down’s syndrome who are integrated into ordinary class compared to those who attend school in specialized institutions. However, this is a fairly old study. This integration would still have positive effects. First, there seems to be an increase in the tolerance of ordinary children towards children with disabilities. This would also improve teachers’ knowledge of disability. On a larger scale, disability and specific needs are more taken into account, which allows the creation of various adapted educational programs.
Nowadays, school integration of young people with intellectual disabilities is becoming more common. This allows actors to better perceive the undeniable benefits of integration, both socially and individually. However, these benefits are still poorly assessed objectively. This is due in particular to the methodological difficulties faced by the authors in assessing integration. Indeed, all the factors that influence the « success » of school integration should be measured, e.g., the level of family motivation or the quality of cooperation between the partners in the individual project. The multiplicity and complexity of these factors make the task difficult or even impossible.
WORDS WE HAVE LEARNED:
Ordinary schooling = scolarisation en milieu ordinaire
Intellectual disabilities = déficience intellectuelle
Appropriate teaching and academic accommodations = aménagements et enseignements adaptés
Learning skills = possibilité d’apprentissage
Classroom assistants = Auxiliaires de Vie Scolaire (AVS)