Student with Down syndrome, age 9
At the end of second grade (CE1), the regular AESH (a teaching assistant for students with disabilities, in France) prepares the handover to whoever will take over in third grade (CE2). She has spent a year adjusting her support, her phrasing, her strategies. Without a handover, everything has to be redone. The QR built with the family at the end of the year condenses what worked, what didn't, and what the child now does that he didn't do in September.
This case concerns students with Down syndrome in mainstream school or in a ULIS unit (a specialized inclusion unit within a mainstream school, in France), at the time of yearly or school transitions.
The moment as it happened
Late June, last Friday. Leo's regular AESH (a teaching assistant for students with disabilities, in France; second grade, CE1) meets the AESH who will take over in third grade (CE2) for a start-of-year handover get-together. She hands her a printed A4 sheet with a QR. "What made the difference this year is in here". She helps her scan it on the spot.
The new AESH reads: Leo can manage 15 minutes of continuous work (5 in September), he's starting to read four-letter syllables, he can't stand having his notebook erased even when the exercise is wrong (he needs to be guided to erase it himself), he laughs at visual jokes (imitating a dog), he cries when called "buddy" (he prefers "Leo"). He's proud of putting his chair away. He hates the teacher's red marker.
Late August, at the pre-return meeting, the new AESH rereads the sheet. She already knows Leo is the only one in the class who puts his chair away first. She knows she won't bring a red marker on Monday.
- You write it
- The QR is in place
- The reader scans
- Understood, without explaining again
Where to place the QR for this case
A printed A4 sheet is the format that works best for handovers between AESH (a teaching assistant for students with disabilities, in France) staff: it's physical, it fits in the binder, it can be photocopied, it can be pinned up in the ULIS unit's room. The QR sits in the bottom right corner, the front of the sheet is a human-readable summary.
Duplicate the sticker on the divider of the AESH binder, for days when the A4 sheet is lost or taken back by the family for updating. Duplicate it in the child's home-school notebook, next to the start-of-year note.
Avoid PDF files sent by email: they get downloaded, forgotten in a folder, not found again the following school year. Avoid documents handed to the principal for filing: the practical handover happens AESH to AESH, not school to school.
For students changing schools (moving to a ULIS unit in secondary school), the sheet becomes a talking point between the outgoing and incoming AESH, often in June or September. The QR then becomes a topic of discussion, not just a document.
Pre-written text templates
The three templates below are written from the parent's side, drawing on the observations of the outgoing AESH, with whom the family co-wrote the text at the end of the year. The tone is that of a parent describing their child as he is today, not as he "should be".
For the "Presentation" section
"Leo is 9 years old, entering third grade (CE2) with full-time AESH (a teaching assistant for students with disabilities, in France) support. He has Down syndrome. He speaks in 3 to 5 word sentences, he understands much more than he expresses. He likes puzzles, tidying up, visual jokes, and the color blue. He can manage 15 minutes of continuous work and is progressing in syllable reading (4 letters)."
For the "How to help" section
"You can: call him by his first name (never 'buddy'), let him put his chair away first (it's his ritual), guide him to erase his own mistake instead of erasing it for him, illustrate an instruction with a gesture, encourage him with a thumbs up rather than out loud, respect his need for quiet after meals."
For the "What to avoid" section
"To avoid: the red marker on his notebook (he cries), calling him 'buddy' or 'little guy' (he refuses to respond), being condescending because of his appearance, erasing his notebook without him, talking about him in the third person in front of him, saying 'he's just a child' when he is 9 and understands."
Disabilities and conditions this case applies to
This case starts from Down syndrome in mainstream schooling with AESH (a teaching assistant for students with disabilities, in France) support. It also applies to other genetic conditions (Fragile X syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome) with the same logic of AESH-to-AESH handover on personal particularities and routines.
Similar cases
Three other cases where the QR is the handover support between outgoing and incoming AESH (a teaching assistant for students with disabilities, in France), so that relational progress isn't lost at the time of a change.
The AESH has access from day one to the strategies that work (visual timer, breaks, breaking tasks down) without waiting for the first schoo…
View the case Student with autism (level 2 ASD), age 10 Reader: Substitute AESHThe substitute AESH identifies the sensory triggers, routines, and warning signs of a meltdown, and avoids making an overload worse by disco…
View the case Student with controlled epilepsy, age 7 Reader: AESHThe AESH knows what to do in case of a seizure (position, how long to wait before alerting others, contacts) without having to search for a …
View the caseThis situation is something you should not have to replay with every new person.
Every new school year, every new substitute, every appointment: you have to start all over again. myHandiQR puts an end to that. You write it once. You will no longer start from scratch at every meeting.