Hello, my name is Alice Seror. I am the mother of Apolline who is 6 years old. We live in the south of France with her dad and her little brother.
What age did your child go to school?
Apolline started school at the age of 4. In France, school starts at 3 years old. But we preferred to focus on therapies and learning to walk during the first year. So she went straight into the second year of kindergarten. She is now 6 years old and is in regular school with her age group. Next year, she will follow her age group to elementary school. Since she understands everything like a child of her age, I prefer that she stays with her age group.
Do they go to a mainstream school or a special school?
Apolline goes to a regular school. This is an atypical choice in France, but it is becoming more and more popular. We made this choice of regular school after having exchanged and discussed with parents of girls with Rett syndrome around the world. The story of Molly in the US inspired us a lot. We also follow the advice of the Rett University. We believe that the regular school offers the most favourable environment for Apolline’s evolution, to allow her to progress, to learn to read, write, calculate, to make friends, to be invited to birthdays.
What therapies do they get at school?
When Apolline was in kindergarten, the physiotherapist and the adapted sports teacher came to the school. Since this year, she is in elementary school and we have chosen not to have therapists come to school so that she can concentrate on learning. Mornings = school to learn to read, write and calculate. Afternoon = therapies, physiotherapy, sports, hippotherapy, music therapy, etc.
What would you change about school if you could?
- Better training for teachers and support staff
- Put up AAC boards throughout the school
- Add an adapted swing in the playground
- Hold an information meeting for parents on the benefits for all children of having a different child in the classroom
- Organize awareness days (all in blue for autism, etc.)
- Provide a quiet room for children with special needs.