In the alleys of CREPS Ile-de-France, in Châtenay-Malabry (Hauts-de-Seine), it is impossible not to see groups of young people with their colorful t-shirts and this inscription on their back: “SOP – Olympic Week and Paralympic”.
On this Tuesday, April 4, the Resource Center for Expertise and Sports Performance, a public training establishment (at the high level but also for the sports and animation professions), welcomes, as every day from Monday to Friday , six classes in the Ile-de-France region as part of this SOP, which has taken place every year since 2017. The goal: to make students aware of sport the time of a day, but also to introduce them to disabled sport, the theme of this edition being inclusion.
In one of the buildings, lively music encourages people to enter the room to see what is going on. A dozen young people clap their hands enthusiastically and are grouped in a circle in the middle of which one of them dances, tries figures on the ground, jumps to get up.
Hard to guess that they have ASD (autism spectrum disorder). “I approach the activity in the same way as with the other children, even if for them, I put the sound less loud and favor learning through gestures rather than words”, details Fatiha El Asery, former breakdance dancer who came to present this discipline ” unknown “.
If he is used to playing sports despite his handicap, Mohamed-Ali is delighted to participate in this day. ” I am very happy because I am discovering new disciplines and I like that”, reports the 14-year-old teenager. The next activity, an introduction to pony riding, is also a first for his comrade Jean-Louis. Although a little scared, looking for his teacher to reassure himself, the 11-year-old boy says he “like it”while remaining focused on brushing the animal.
« Being in contact with horses is beneficial for them, explains Solène Boudjedra, who works for the CREF (Ile-de-France Regional Riding Committee). There are two types of reaction: either they are calm because they know it’s an animal, or, on the contrary, they show all their emotions, but again in a much more channeled way than usual. »
“It helps to open your eyes to the difference”
The two college students are part of a class – called a teaching unit – outsourced from the IME (medico-educational institute) Siss Appedia based in Châtenay-Malabry. It is located in an ordinary establishment, the Romain Rolland college in Plessis-Robinson (Hauts-de-Seine), thus allowing young people with autism to follow certain subjects with others.
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