At the Le Tremplin Medical-Educational Institute (IME) in Bobigny, which welcomes young people with intellectual disabilities during the day, the Olympic and Paralympic Games will start more than a month in advance. On June 23, around fifteen residents of the establishment will participate in a parade organized as part of a day of celebrations marking the start of the Olympic summer in Seine-Saint-Denis.
The parade, called “We are not going to parade! », will take place between Aubervilliers and Pantin. Young people from the IME will present a choreography that they started working on since September 2023 under the direction of dancer Thierry Thieû Niang, at the rate of one or two workshops per month. “During the first workshops, the young people were unable to represent themselves and assert themselves through dancing,” says Thierry Schaub, sports instructor at Le Tremplin. Now, they are letting themselves be more and more creative, there is real group cohesion. »
This project was made possible by a partnership with the Maison de la culture de Seine-Saint-Denis (MC93). “When we met the MC93, we realized that people with disabilities were not sufficiently represented during this day,” says Matthieu Clauzade, the deputy director of the IME. Hence the idea of involving young people from Le Tremplin.
The apprentice dancers will carry out certain training sessions in public in order to familiarize themselves with the presence of outside people. Their parents will also be invited to some workshops. Young people will finally be involved in the construction of floats which will take part in the big parade on June 23, giving it a bit of a carnival feel.
“The Olympic and Paralympic Games allow us to raise a little more awareness about sport, and I believe that it is a good vector of inclusion,” enthuses Matthieu Clauzade. At Le Tremplin, sport has always been in a good place, with the presence of two sports instructors. Physical activities also contribute to achieving one of the establishment’s objectives: “Bringing as much autonomy as possible to young people”.
Develop learning
Several young people from the center should also participate, in June, in a sports trip, in the company of other residents of establishments managed by the Vivre et devenir association, on which Le Tremplin depends. On the other side of the department, the Villepinte IME, managed by the same association, welcomes young people with a severe autism spectrum disorder. He also uses sport to develop learning and promote the motor development of his residents.
Here again, the approach of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (which will take place from July 26 to August 11 and August 28 to September 8, respectively) has favored the emergence of new projects. A delegation from the IME will thus participate next summer in an outdoor trip alongside young people from Seine-Saint-Denis in difficulty accompanied by the Apart association. The objective will be to make an ascent in a region yet to be determined. “This helps create connections and raise awareness among young people – with or without disabilities – about inclusion,” explains Laura Lassauce, sports educator at IME.
“The Games have opened a lot of doors for us: the department, clubs and other structures or organizations are more open to including us in their projects,” continues the young woman. I hope that this will continue and that people with disabilities will still benefit from the same inclusion after the Games. »
Laura Lassauce makes no secret of the fact that finding partners to set up projects with young people with autism spectrum disorders is particularly difficult. She hopes that the partnerships initiated thanks to the Olympic momentum will continue once the flame is extinguished, but above all that the way we view young autistic people will have begun to evolve. For her, this would be the greatest legacy of the Games.
