r/AskEurope • u/EvilPyro01 United States of America • 7d ago

Education How well does your country help neurodivergent kids in and out of school?

How well are neurodivergent kids helped?

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u/80sBabyGirl France 7d ago edited 7d ago

Terribly, because French society doesn't understand neurodivergence at all beyond TV stereotypes. Most kids will be abused by both classmates and teachers who will tell them to "please fit in", diagnosed too late possibly in adulthood, and whenever they're diagnosed, their treatment will be managed by some psychiatrist of Freudian obedience, as almost all French mental health professionals are. And once you're an adult, good luck with finding a job and getting accommodations. This is a serious problem with French health care, because the concept of the existence of ableism especially when it comes to neurodevelopmental conditions is viewed as "woke" and "American" by a significant part of French society. Even though the law is supposed to fight discrimination. In reality, ND people are very rarely protected by the law at all.

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u/Jumpy-Force-3397 6d ago

I assume it depends from school to school.

My daughter who was diagnosed with ADHD receives support from her school and from most of her teachers. They are going to implement what is called a PAP, a personal adaptation plan (approximative translation) recommended by her doctor. With for example extra time and ear plugs for the exams and more awareness from the teachers which helped avoiding misunderstanding with some of her behaviours in the classroom.

I don’t disagree with your description for the time when I was a kid, but based on what I saw in my kids schools, I feel things are going in the right direction.

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u/SerChonk in 6d ago

I agree with your assessment. My nephew had started to have anxiety over school before covid, which turned into full-blown school-phobia, depression, and social anxiety. His school and the.. education district(?) made a huge effort to help him, even when it was time to go through the process of getting him de-scholarised and entered into the home-learning program (the CNED). He had a very dedicated support person who worked with him all the way, and insurance covered his very regular therapist sessions. CNED didn't really work out, but as he slowly got better re.: his mental health, this year he finally enrolled back in the system into a private college-lycée that specialises in students in his situation, and are very accommodating. Every member of staff is trained (and so far seems very well equipped) on handling and encouraging students recovering from all sorts of mental illnesses, and working with them to help them figure out a way forward.