“Overcoming failure at school helped me never to despair”
Hervé, 3 children, works in communication
“Unlike his elders, who followed a brilliant education, our youngest, now in college after a passage through technology, experienced serious difficulties from elementary school. He had trouble concentrating, tics, struggling to understand things that seemed obvious.
Doctors have concluded that there is a cognitive impairment. The situation therefore did not relate exclusively to academic difficulty but indeed to a handicap, paving the way for an organization of school time. Paradoxically, this diagnosis relieved us a little. Things have become clearer, if not simple. But it took a tremendous amount of energy to make sure the teachers understood the situation and to find a new high school when our child was on the verge of dropping out.
→ READ. School failure, a painful ordeal for parents
It has always been difficult to know whether to push him into the mainstream or if he should find his own path. Observing his comprehension problems, I came to ask if he was not lacking in intelligence. And just asking myself that question was a source of guilt. It was hard to see our unhappy son at school. It brought me back to my own memories, to my own often painful schooling. I was probably dyslexic or dyspraxic. But at the time, we did not take tests, we were content to say that the student was useless or lazy … At the same time, the fact of having myself known and having failed at school. overcome has helped me never to despair in the face of my son’s difficulties. “
“By dint of will, we can succeed in school”
Eminé, 2 children, accountant
“My son’s difficulties started when I entered grade six, when his father and I got divorced. Despite his efforts, he was struggling and his average did not exceed 8/20. Arrived in third, he joined a relay class, which allowed him to regain confidence, to then find his way. Today in first, at 16, he is preparing a professional baccalaureate as a turner-miller, his father’s job.
Deep down, I sometimes wondered why he was having so much trouble, when I had had a good education, up to BTS, in much more difficult conditions. My parents, originally from Turkey, did not speak French well. They made sure we did our homework but couldn’t help us. Above all, I experienced a double breakup. When I turned 12, my family decided to move back to Turkey, where I had to take classes in a language I didn’t speak well. For a year, I cried every day. And I cried five years later, when my mother wanted to come back to France, where I landed in first grade. But I often tell him about my experience to show him that by dint of willpower you can succeed in school. “
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