Since she was three years old, Awa Dia-Roger has been fighting to educate Noham, who has autistic disorders.
"We are told that everyone goes to school, but that's not true", says this mother, who has been fighting for several years to send her son to school. Noham, who will soon be celebrating his twelfth birthday, is waiting for a place in a private establishment.
"We are told that he has to go to a classical college, but he has an academic level of CP" she recounts. “Physically he is tall, but mentally he is 8, 9 years old. It has been eight years since he had to have an Accompanist for Students with Disabilities (AESH), and he never had one. The best solution was for him to stay in the school where he was, for his well-being and his safety. What hurts is when you see the certificates from Necker and the psychologist. They don't take it into account ”, she confides in the columns of the Parisian.
A mom ready for anything
Suffering from autistic disorders, Noham must have personalized support. To make herself heard, this mother has decided to " make noise ". Head of customer service, Awa Dia-Roger has had to stop working since August 27, 2020, thanks to RTT donations from her colleagues. To get out of it, she tried to contact the town hall and wrote to the President of the Republic.
Realizing the impact of social media, she posted a series of messages on Twitter. A testimony seen by tens of thousands of people. “It upsets the family balance,” she sighs. And I know there are plenty of people like us. This is not normal. We thus met a mother of three children who had to stop working. We are told everyone goes to school, but that is not true ”, she says.
A school career full of pitfalls
Noham faces reluctant schools, lacking resources, competent and sufficiently trained staff to take care of him. Her mother juggles "School and the incessant steps" to bring him an education worthy of the name.
A chaotic journey that begins from the first moments of the boy's schooling. At 3 and a half years old, entering the Pasteur school, he only spent two months on the school's whites. "Very quickly, the teacher alerted us", says his mom. "And before the February vacation, they told the psychologist they weren't going to keep him." Despite the mother's actions, Noham, followed by a health professional, finds himself forced to return to the crèche.
The parents then decide to turn to the private sector. Thus the little boy completed the years of middle and upper section in an establishment in Eaubonne, which ended up no longer keeping him. This family then turned to a Montessori school in Taverny, then Eaubonne. “I then went to see the mayor, telling him that he had to be educated, because it was the law, blows his mother. We put all our savings into two and a half years of Montessori schools. " An application rejected by the head of the elementary school.
His referent teacher then advised his integration into a ULIS (Localized Unit for School Inclusion) class, specializing in cognitive functional disorders, in Groslay, where Noham will remain until last June. "In the meantime, last January, the Departmental House of Handicapped People (MDPH) directs him to the Medical-Educational Institutes (IME)", indicates the Parisian.
A family that does not lose hope
For now, Awa is asking for an additional year to remain in ULIS, but the National Education believes he should enter his sector college, Pierre-Ronsard. "An AESH is going to be recruited," says the academic inspectorate. Commissions are taking place next week. The objective is that the students are best supported. We must find someone who corresponds to the problems of this child's disability. "
As such, Noham is still waiting on the waiting list for the start of the September 2021 school year.