Student with controlled epilepsy, age 7
The QR code is not meant to replace the Projet d'Accueil Individualisé (PAI, the individual care plan agreed with the school doctor in France). It rounds out the relationship between the AESH (a teaching assistant for pupils with disabilities, in France) and the child: her strengths, what needs adjusting during the day, what helps her learn despite epilepsy, the words used at home. It is a "guide to understanding her" for the whole year, not a crisis management document.
This case concerns a primary school child with epilepsy stabilised on treatment, supported by an AESH part-time or full-time.
The moment as it happened
September, start of Year 3. The AESH newly assigned to Léna, 7, has never supported a child with epilepsy. She has received the official PAI signed with the school doctor (medical protocol, prescription, neurologist's contact details), so she knows what to do should a seizure occur.
What she does not yet know is what Léna is like away from seizures: what sort of child she is, what sort of pupil, how to talk to her, how to spot a tired day, how to include her. You take 10 minutes at the end of the first week and show her Léna's QR code. She scans it, she reads the introduction, what helps her learn, the words that settle her when she feels she is failing, the outings that will go well and those that need particular preparation. Trust is established for the whole year.
- You write it
- The QR is in place
- The reader scans
- Understood, without explaining again
Where to place the QR for this case
The QR code is meant for planned use, to prepare for daily school life, NOT for emergency use. It rounds out the official documents (PAI, the AESH's file), without standing in for them.
- A5 card in the AESH's folder (clear pocket, first page).
- A copy given to the ULIS coordinator (the inclusive education unit in French schools) or to the school doctor at the start of the year.
- A reminder in the home-school notebook, so that teachers of other subjects (music, PE, art) can access it on request.
Intended audience: the education team, in a planned setting, meaning the AESH, the class teacher, the ULIS coordinator, announced substitute staff. The QR code is NOT emergency material: whatever must be done during a seizure has to appear in the official medical PAI, and be known and rehearsed by the trained team.
This use case rounds out the PAI signed with the school doctor, it in no way stands in for it. Every medical protocol (daily treatment, what to do during a seizure, alert thresholds, calling the emergency services on 15 or 112) must appear in the official PAI and be known in advance by the trained team.
Pre-written text templates
The three outlines below are written from the parent's side, on the "getting to know the child in daily school life" part. The medical side (treatment, what to do during a seizure) has no place here: it belongs to the PAI signed with the school doctor.
For the "Presentation" section
"Léna is 7 and she is in Year 3. She is being treated for epilepsy diagnosed at 4, currently stabilised on daily medication. She is a curious, determined child who loves reading and drawing. She tires more towards the end of the afternoon and after a busy weekend. She can say when she needs quiet time, she uses the word "break"."
For the "How to help" section
"You can: give her quiet time after lunch (the point in the day when her alertness dips), keep to the writing pace we have set up at home (she writes slowly but correctly), value the moments when she tells you things spontaneously, bear in mind that after a short night she will be slower in the morning, let us know if you notice a change in her facial expressions (useful information for her neurological follow-up)."
For the "What to avoid" section
"To avoid in her learning: having her recite by heart in front of the class (added tiredness plus a risk of freezing), running two demanding physical sessions back to back without a break (she needs recovery time), telling her off for forgetting something as though it were a lack of attention (her treatment can affect working memory), always putting her at the back of the line when the class moves around (she would feel set apart)."
Disabilities and conditions this case applies to
This case starts from stabilised generalised epilepsy in primary school. More broadly, it applies to all childhood epilepsies with AESH support, where the daily stakes are about school inclusion, tiredness, self-esteem and adapting learning, rather than about medical management (which belongs to the PAI and the medical team).
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Three texts (introduction, how to help, what to avoid), one shared QR code. When they scan it, the person reads what they need to know, in their own language.