Talks for school staff, support for pupils with special educational needs and awareness-raising about neurodevelopmental conditions, working closely with schools and families.
At the start of the 2025 school year, 549,729 pupils with disabilities were attending mainstream schools in France, 6% more than a year earlier (answer from the French Ministry of Education, Senate Official Journal (JO Sénat), 8 January 2026). In addition, there are pupils with no officially recognised disability who live with a neurodevelopmental condition: ADHD, specific learning difficulties, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), tics or Tourette syndrome, as well as the anxiety that can come with them.
Supporting these pupils means understanding how each one functions, so that classroom practice can be adjusted day to day. Schools are also gaining new forms of support, such as school support hubs (pôles d’appui à la scolarité): nearly 500 were in place at the start of the 2025 school year, and they are due to be rolled out nationwide by 2027. Our work complements these schemes and never replaces them.
Sarah Dehan, a neurotherapist trained in integrative neurotherapy at Institut Neurosens, where she is also a trainer, works with teachers and school staff. For example, she gave a talk at a staff training day for the teaching team at Jeanne d’Arc school in Brétigny-sur-Orge.
These sessions cover:
ADHD, specific learning difficulties, autism (ASD), tics and Tourette syndrome, anxiety.
Attention, self-regulation, stress and sleep.
Easy to put in place day to day.
We tailor the content to your team’s questions and your pupils’ ages.
At the centre, we support pupils with special educational needs, always with the family’s agreement. We do this in collaboration with the school team, teachers, the disability liaison teacher (enseignant référent), the school health service and the professionals who see the child: speech and language therapist, psychomotor therapist, neuropsychologist, doctor.
Two French schemes are often used to support these pupils at school:
For pupils whose long-lasting difficulties at school stem from a learning disorder. It is put in place on the advice of the school doctor (médecin de l’Éducation nationale) and reviewed every year (French Ministry circular no. 2015-016 of 22 January 2015).
For pupils recognised as having a disability by the MDPH (departmental disability centre). The disability liaison teacher monitors it and convenes the schooling follow-up team (ESS) at least once a year; health professionals may be invited to take part (Mon Parcours Handicap, the French government’s disability information portal).
With the parents’ agreement, the centre can share useful observations about the pupil’s attention and self-regulation, and take part in school team or ESS meetings. We do not make diagnoses and do not decide on adjustments: these are the responsibility of the school, the school doctor and, for the PPS, the MDPH.
Support at the centre begins with a quantitative EEG (qEEG) assessment, followed by attention and self-regulation training using neurofeedback and biofeedback. To find out more, see our Neurofeedback and ADHD page.
Classmates’ attitudes matter for inclusion too. A volunteer on the collegial governance committee of the French Tourette Syndrome Association (AFSGT) since 2015, Sarah Dehan offers schools awareness projects run with partner associations:
A film as a starting point for discussion.
For secondary school pupils (collège and lycée, ages 11–18), who act out everyday situations and look together for other possible responses.
These projects would be run in partnership with associations, notably the AFSGT, and at no cost to the school when the project is funded.
Founded in 2023 by Sarah Dehan, the APN association (Aide aux Personnes Neuroatypiques – support for neurodivergent people) offers educational support for neurodivergent children: hyperactivity, attention or learning difficulties, anxiety. It aims to support their inclusion at school and the monitoring of their progress, and makes biofeedback and neurofeedback more accessible by helping with the cost. It also aims to run these awareness activities in schools.
Élan Minds, the centre’s app, coming soon, includes a dedicated space for teachers:
Your lessonlesson, handout or slide presentation
Élan Minds is not a diagnostic tool: it is a support tool, designed to complement the care and support already in place. Subscribers to The Élan Neuro Letter (our monthly newsletter, in French) will get a free one-month trial at launch.
School staff
A session during a staff training day or other training time: neurodevelopmental conditions, attention, self-regulation, stress, sleep and practical ideas for the classroom.
Pupils and families
qEEG assessment and neurofeedback and biofeedback training at the centre in Brétigny-sur-Orge, liaising with the school if the parents wish.
Pupils
A film and discussion on neurodevelopmental conditions, or forum theatre on inclusion, for secondary school pupils, run with partner associations, at no cost to the school when the project is funded.
Teachers
The Élan Minds teacher space, for adapting lessons to the pupil’s profile and preparing adjustments. Coming soon.
Each session is planned with you, around your school’s needs and timetable.
We only support a pupil with their parents’ consent and the pupil’s own agreement.
Information about the pupil stays confidential: nothing is passed on to the school without the family’s agreement.
We do not make diagnoses and do not decide on adjustments.
Teachers, the disability liaison teacher, the school health service and health professionals: everyone keeps their own role.
Yes, when we are invited and with the parents’ agreement. We share useful observations about the pupil, without making a diagnosis or deciding on adjustments, which are the responsibility of the school, the school doctor and, for the PPS, the MDPH.
Only if the family wishes. No information is passed on to the school without the agreement of the parents and the pupil.
No. Neurofeedback and biofeedback are methods for training attention and self-regulation. They complement school adjustments, diagnosis, medical care and therapy, without replacing them.
The film discussions and forum theatre are offered in partnership with associations: when the project is funded, there is no cost to the school. Contact us to talk it through.