Angelman Today September / October edition 2013 | Page 11

It will soon be time for the children to go back to school: AS children in French school according to the 2005 law on legal rights of disabled persons, all children have the right to go to school in France, no matter how severe their disability is. Going to school is not mandatory, it all depends on the degree of autonomy of the child and on the dialogue between the family and the teachers. Disabled children can be taken care of by an extra adult, helping the child with ‘everyday life tasks’ such as potty training, eating, putting cloths on and off…etc., but also in school tasks (understanding orders, having adapted responses and behaviors, doing things along with other pupils…). Today, a certain number of AS children attend kindergarten between the ages of 3 to 6 for several hours per week to full time. All the others attend special schools for disabled children and young people from 3 to 20 years old. ----------------------------------Based on the experience of several families, AFSA (Association Française du syndrome d’Angelman) created a special guide to support parents through legal and administration questions and over all to help parents and teachers to build a positive strategy on the school project of every child, stressing all the peculiar aspects of Angelman syndrome. The guide (in French) is split in two parts:

Education Guide for Children with Angelman Syndrome To learn more about AFSA, founded in 1992, visit us at: www.angelman-afsa.org
Associations Française du syndrome d’Angelman

one for the family and the other for the school teacher. Some working documents (description and assessment of the child, targets, follow-up work-book, examples of activities adapted to an AS person…) are available on AFSA website. The guide is on sale at the following link: http://www.angelman-afsa.org/le-guide-de-lascolarisation-i32.html

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September / October 2013