Workshops, conferences, testimonials from the field and experts… How to rethink our relationships in the professional environment ? A look back at the event organized by the Alliance for Mental Health, “Focus on mental health, assessment and occupational perspectives”, held on November 19-21 in Paris.
How can you teach something to a child who cannot read, write or speak? Olivier Tran, father of three children, including Alexandre, 19, diagnosed with severe autism, tried to answer this question on the first day of the forum “Capturing mental health, assessment and job perspectives”.
The surrounding experts were in a deadlock. So, he demonstrated “fairness» he explained, deciding to reverse our usual operations. Rather than looking at what his son didn’t know, he asked himself what he could do, what he understood. “I saw that he understood the symbols” he said. That’s where the idea of drawing cards came from, to represent tasks, visually, without words and without numbers.
A method that Olivier Tran decided to apply to others, with the design of an ecosystem in 2020 dedicated to the inclusion of people with mental and cognitive disabilities. This creates three organizations working together.
Biscornu is “demonstrators by example“, according to its founder, the company that provides catering services has the function “shows that it is possible for Sèvres disabled people to work.» Afuté Association is dedicated to training and learning while the consulting company cHaméléons travels within the company to determine the accessible tasks.
Twenty years after the law “for equal rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship of persons with disabilities», the observations are not encouraging. An Ifop study conducted for Ladapt, Agefiph and FIPHFP, three organizations specializing in employment and disability, revealed that although 60% of people with disabilities acknowledged progress, only 12% mentioned “big change.» For 41% of those concerned, professional equality means “recognized for his expertise without prejudice.» The main struggle today is no longer at the legal level, but at the societal level. We must now change the way we view disability.
At the age of 13, Olivier Tran’s son no longer had the solution to continue studying. He lives at home and “watching suicide videos over and over again” remembers his father. “We look at them as if they are missing something, but everyone has skills», he believes, although our society lacks talents and complements each other.
He invites us to think about work by forgetting the job description and focusing on the relationship between a person’s abilities and what is sought in a company. This is what he calls “basic tasks», the action of which, like elementary particles, cannot be divided further. Concretely, this could be peeling an apple, unloading the dishwasher, changing the sheets on the bed, or putting them on a supermarket shelf.
The challenge then is learning. “The education system aims for a diploma, it is a standard. For some young people, this can be very complicated. We progress from task to task, from victory to victory and gradually we see how far we can go. We avoid overly ambitious goals», emphasized Olivier Tran.
He invited everyone to follow this inclusive path, arguing that everyone can contribute at their own level. If awareness comes through words, then it is certain that real mental changes occur through successful experiences. “A satisfied company is one that believes inclusion is working“.
