The objective is to “systematically” screen children under 6 years old. Emmanuel Macron lifted the veil this Tuesday in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis) on the new national strategy for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), including autism.
Systematically detecting these invisible disabilities from an early age, providing better support, providing more education, training all professionals, strengthening research to understand the causes of these disorders and developing effective support strategies: these are the main axes of this plan. . Some 680 million euros will be budgeted in this 2023-27 strategy extended to neurodevelopmental disorders, compared to 345 budgeted for the previous 2018-22 plan, focused on autism, and 543 actually committed.
ASD, DID, ADHD and dys disorders
The 2023-2027 strategy is extended to neurodevelopmental disorders: autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but also intellectual development (DID), attention deficit with or without hyperactivity (ADHD). They also include multiple dys disorders: dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dysphasia, dyspraxia, often detected late, in primary school.
According to international scientific studies, their prevalence is increasing in Western countries and they could today affect up to one in six people, indicates the interministerial delegation to TND. During a meeting at the Autism House in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis), the president heard young people with TND and their families talk about the lack of knowledge from poorly trained teachers who treated them as “lazy” , professionals who resort to “shamanism” or psychoanalysis, medical wandering and long waiting lists to find practitioners.
A reference grid in the health record
“There will always be a lot of loneliness and individual suffering behind the situations: it will never be a perfect answer because they are unique lives. The objective is to have the most human and individualized approach possible to support families, individuals and get everyone out of their loneliness,” replied the Head of State. The new strategy insists on the early and “systematic” identification of “developmental gaps” in all children from birth to six years, during compulsory medical visits to general practitioners or pediatricians and at nursery school.
A checklist will be included in the health record. “Like the weight curve or vaccine monitoring, we must be able to look carefully and precisely at this development during each mandatory health examination. This first identification will allow children to be directed as soon as possible to the coordination and orientation platforms (PCO) in case of doubt,” said Fadila Khattabi, Minister responsible for People with Disabilities at Figaro. In the hundred of these PCOs created since 2019, 55,000 children have been identified and supported until diagnosis.
Better education
To welcome them to ordinary schools, the president announced the creation of 380 systems for these children with specific needs, i.e. a “near doubling” compared to the 410 created between 2018 and 2023. 45,000 autistic children are educated in ordinary schools. ordinary school. We must “increase inclusiveness, train teachers, fight against harassment,” promised Emmanuel Macron.
Effort will be made on training, from nursery staff to teachers and caregivers. Health or medico-social professionals will be able to go to schools to “avoid parents having to run to appointments”, according to the Elysée. Emmanuel Macron intends to avoid “unsuitable support” based on “doctrines that have become obsolete”. Since the previous strategy, the government has also developed research to improve knowledge of autism and care. Five centers of excellence (Paris, Lyon, Montpellier, Tours, Strasbourg) have been created and 700 researchers in France work with 400 teams around the world.