France pledges help for autistic children after UN criticism

FRANCE yesterday promised places for all autistic children in nursery schools as it unveiled a €340million (£297million) programme to improve the way it deals with the disorder.

Experts and the United Nations recently denounced its approach as woefully retrograde.

France has been accused of being up to “50 years” behind the rest of the world in detecting autism, and providing basic education and therapy for those with the condition.

The UN recently criticised the country for “widespread violation” of its citizens’ rights over its approach, and France has repeatedly had to pay damages to families for the inadequate care of autistic children in recent years.

Yesterday, Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, promised to “make up for lost time” as he unveiled the fiveyear strategy aimed at making the lives of autistic children and adults “as normal as possible”.

A 2005 law guarantees every child the right to education in a mainstream school, but the Council of Europe has condemned France for not respecting it. Only around 20 per cent of French children with autism go to school, compared with 70 per cent in Britain.

Mr Philippe pledged that all autistic children born this year would be admitted to nursery school by 2021, which his government has made compulsory.

“You are right to be scandalised, I’m scandalised too,” Mr Philippe told the grandmother of an autistic child “refused” entry to school. “We have fallen behind on this issue, which is unacceptable,” he said.

Hugo Horiot, an autistic French writer, actor and director who recently released a book, Autisme, J’accuse!, welcomed the move, but he said the budget was a drop in the ocean compared with the €7 billion (£6bn) France’s state auditor recently cited as necessary to support autism.