Considered a science of education, orthopedagogy aims to remove the obstacles faced by people with learning difficulties and develop their full potential. Whatever the nature of the DYS disorder and the age of the person concerned, the professional draws up a personalised assessment to target their intervention and the tools to put in place. Here’s an overview of the discipline and its approach, both intellectual and practical.
What is the orthopedagogue’s role?
A learning professional, the orthopedagogue is not yet a recognised profession in France, unlike in Canada (for the past 40 years), Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, or Brazil. However, organisations do offer training pathways, such as the Union des orthopédagogues de France, combining theory and practice.
Their role is to support people with DYS disorders (dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, attention disorders…) to understand how their mind works and build their learning potential. Whether primary school children, secondary school students, or adults, they can provide both methodology and organisation for revision and exam preparation, as well as help manage emotions and motivation.
One of the distinctive features of orthopedagogy is learning from mistakes: with the orthopedagogue, the child reflects on their own actions, becomes aware of their own thought process, to uncover the reasoning that led to a mistake and find better-suited solutions. This step back is called metacognition.
Working as part of a team with teachers and other professionals involved (speech therapist, psychologist, occupational therapist…), the orthopedagogue needs to measure progress and communicate well with parents, a cornerstone of the child’s success.
How does an orthopedagogy session work?
The first orthopedagogy session is generally held with the parents. It’s an opportunity for the professional to present their profession and their distinctive approach (methods and tools used) to addressing the child’s learning difficulties.
After a period of discussion (living environment, interests, emotions, etc.), they will draw up an orthopedagogical diagnosis detailing the child’s profile, their strengths, their weaknesses, as well as the goals to reach and the action plan to get there.
Traditionally, orthopedagogy draws on cognitive science to put in place intervention tools: learning through play, memorisation and planning techniques, emotional regulation, mind maps, and so on.
Whether preventive or remedial work, the aim is to see progress in school learning, in writing, reading, reasoning, or maths. To achieve this, the child needs to summarise the session out loud to their parents, hence the importance of communication between them and the professional…
Note that orthopedagogy sessions are not covered by French social security, as the profession isn’t yet officially recognised in France: expect to pay around €50 an hour for an individual session.
