Faced with students’ learning difficulties (reading, written expression, spoken expression, arithmetic, concentration…), teaching staff try to establish increasingly early school-based diagnoses, so they can better support these children (PAP, France’s Personalised Support Plan, or PPS, its Personalised Schooling Project). But it has to be said that identifying these disorders is far from easy, despite clear progress in recent years…

5 to 7% of school-age children have DYS disorders or other conditions

According to INSERM data (already from 2017), 5 to 7% of school-age children experience DYS disorders, hyperactivity (ADHD, Attention Deficit Disorder with/without Hyperactivity), or giftedness (High Intellectual Potential). Worse still, 1 to 2% of them are thought to have severe disorders, with an impact on their schooling and daily life[1].

It’s worth noting that while DYS disorders manifest in specific areas of learning, such as dyslexia for reading difficulties, dysorthographia for spelling difficulties, and dyscalculia for arithmetic difficulties, nearly 40% of children have several disorders at once. Not to mention the psychological and behavioural difficulties frequently associated with them (anxiety, school phobia, low self-confidence…).

Provisions under the French Education Code

DYS disorders and giftedness are covered under Article L321-4 of the French Education Code, recently amended by Article 19 of Law No. 2022-296 of 2 March 2022: “In schools, specific arrangements and support measures are provided for students experiencing difficulties, particularly those with specific spoken and/or written language disorders, such as dyslexia. When these difficulties are serious and lasting, students receive adapted teaching. Appropriate arrangements are provided for high-potential students or those showing particular abilities, so they can fully develop their potential.”

In other words, school-based diagnoses are supported by professionals from various fields (psychologists, psychiatrists, neuropsychologists…). And even though there is no consensus on them (across different scientific fields, and even within a single body of research), they come with a wide range of remediation options (psychomotor therapy, speech and language therapy, psychology…).

School-based diagnoses on the rise

Cécile Charazas, a PhD candidate in Education Sciences and a lecturer at the University of Bordeaux, led a study into these school-based diagnoses. To do so, she interviewed 47 people working in education and healthcare (teachers, national education inspectors, nurses, educators, doctors, and school psychologists…).

The main finding from these interviews is a tendency to spontaneously label a child as having DYS disorders or hyperactivity, even without a medical consultation or a speech and language assessment to substantiate the school-based diagnosis.

The weaknesses of the education system in the face of these disorders

But on these issues, the education system doesn’t give teachers what they need to respond appropriately. Without training, some try to compensate for these disorders on their own, even improvising the equipment their students need, while others still associate hyperactivity and DYS disorders with children who are lazy or poorly brought up…

In practice, according to Cécile Charazas, these early, widespread school-based diagnoses need to go hand in hand with individualised teaching. Yet with class sizes trending upward from primary school onward, teachers can’t face this alone. And professionals such as AESH (teaching assistants supporting students with disabilities) are far too few to help them.

This is why, beyond the PAP or PPS arrangements offered after a proper professional diagnosis, many parents turn to tutoring support to help their children as best they can…

[1] Figures: https://www.inserm.fr/dossier/troubles-specifiques-apprentissages/