“I was still a little scared, but I was up for it”: this is how Léo, 9 and a half, remembers his experience. In the spring, he participated with 13 other children in the project led by the National Book Centre and the Paris Public Hospital System. This read-aloud project is offered to young people being cared for in the language and learning disorders rehabilitation unit of the Bicêtre Hospital (Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, Val-de-Marne), who suffer from dyslexia, dyscalculia, etc., without intellectual disability. These difficulties, which vary from one individual to another, can be linked to different mechanisms and exacerbated by other neurodevelopmental disorders: language, motor coordination, and/or attention. Bicêtre is one of the reference centers.
Launched in 2013, “Speaking Words” has already involved around 300 patients and a hundred professionals from 18 departments of the AP-HP in Paris, the Ile-de-France region, and other provinces (oncology, child psychiatry, geriatrics…). “I liked the book, I really liked the story, the pictures”, shared Léo, Thierry, 10 and a half, and Ifaloit, 11, during a session on Thursday, October 9. “Reading in front of others is a real challenge for these children, who arrive as non-readers and have a great deal of apprehension”, emphasizes the speech therapist participating in the project.