Doctor Stéphanie Zwillinger and the whole team of your COP9 center present the AESH, (Assistants for Students with Disabilities), a profession that plays an important role for children with disabilities or learning difficulties. Find out more about this profession, its missions and how to apply to the MDPH (departmental center for persons with disabilities)
What is an AESH?
Formerly known as AVS or Auxiliary School Assistant, the AESH is a professional present in schools. A human aid for students with special needs, they take part in the arrangements put in place for the integration of students into the regular school environment in order to avoid remote teaching, or even dropping out of school.
The AESH can step in at any level: from primary to secondary school, high school, college. The National Education, with its inclusive education project, aims to integrate all students with special educational needs and to allow them to follow the general education provided to all young citizens.
Present full-time or part-time, according to the PSP (Personalized Schooling Project), the AESH works in both traditional and specialized classes, such as ULIS. (localized units for inclusive education)
Their daily intervention encourages mainstream schooling and the integration of children and adolescents, and can be requested at any time of the year, at the beginning of the school year or during the school term.
What are the missions of an AESH?
In order to ensure equal rights of access to schooling for all children, the AESH carries out several missions:
- Classroom interventions in consultation with the educational team: raising awareness of disabilities, preparing for the integration of a student with disabilities…
- Helping students move around and getting set up: making it easier to change classrooms, taking out and putting away their course material, opening the textbook to the right page, marking homework properly, the use of the right pen…
- Help with the handling of the material: make sure the child is safe, assist in fine motor skills.
- Assist in the teaching of certain courses: repeat what has been said by the teacher, rephrase the instructions, and make sure that the given homework has been properly understood…
The missions concern all the adjustments necessary to ensure the student’s autonomy and to encourage mainstream schooling. The schooling process is coordinated by the school principal and the teaching team, the AESH, the medical team and the parents.
Each child with special educational needs will be taken care of in class by an AESH who will be assigned to them. This human assistance provides solutions adapted to the needs of children with disabilities, whether motor, sensory, mental, cognitive, etc.
The AESH is the referent professional in the school to ensure the integration of the child. Having followed a specialized training course, they also take care of the dys– students (dyslexia, dysphasia, dyspraxia…), and allow the children with disorders or disabilities to be schooled from primary school, and throughout their entire education.
How to apply for an AESH?
Many families ask how to apply for an AESH, and which form to use? COP9 explains the administrative process to follow in order to ensure that your child has a successful schooling process.
For any request, you must download the Cerfa form n°15692. This form should be sent to your local MDPH (departmental center for persons with disabilities). Whether it is a first request to the MDPH or a renewal, part C concerns you: “School and student life”. This is where you will find the application for a school assistant for your child’s education.
In this part C, specify in detail the needs of the child with a disability or disorder. This concerns their medical care and support, their specific needs for material adaptations (special arrangements, educational adaptations, materials for visual and hearing impairments, etc.), their needs for daily life and to ensure their successful integration into school.
For children with visual impairments or neurovisual disorders, COP9 ensures that a complete health assessment is drawn up, with mention of the need for support in the school environment. Your MDPH ASEH file will be strengthened when it is submitted to the rights commission.
How can we not conclude by encouraging you to request an AESH for each child with a disability? This professional facilitates their integration into school, is part of a team specialized in the accompaniment of students, prevents any difficulties in schooling, and allows them to fully enjoy their years of primary, junior high, or senior high school, at their own pace and according to their specific needs!