Mental Health &
Learning Difficulties

Fondation Dora is supporting La Cédille a specialised teaching centre in the Canton of Geneva for children and young people with Specific Language Impairment (SLI).

 

Specific Language Impairment (SLI, or developmental language disorder, formerly called developmental dysphasia) relates to persistent difficulties in the acquisition and use of language, which results in reduced vocabulary, limited sentence structure and speech deficits (i.e. difficulties using narrative or conversational language, etc.). This disorder affects – with a variable degree of severity – between 1.5% and 7.5% of the population.

 

La Cédille aims to provide specialised teaching support to children and young people with Specific Language Impairment, and subsequently to encourage their social and professional integration, whether in a regular or sheltered environment.

 

La Cédille supports and monitors children and young people within their educational institution, and answers any questions raised by teachers who may have pupils with SLI in their classes. Moreover, La Cédille works to raise awareness among parents of children in regular classes about the special needs of children with SLI.

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Outside school hours, La Cédille provides periods of special support designed to help children and young people with SLI to do their homework. This personalised support is developed in collaboration with the teachers and parents concerned. A module to help affected teenagers find an apprenticeship has also been developed. This module provides tailored guidance to support their professional insertion, including advice for companies on how to accommodate a teenager with SLI in the best possible way.

 

See also this article (in French) by Valérie d’Emma in the Revue suisse de pédagogie spécialisée
Demma_180434.pdf