Le coping des enseignants de maternelle face au défi de l'inclusion scolaire : l'exemple des autismes

International audienceL'évolution du système éducatif vers une logique d'inclusion scolaire oblige les enseignants du milieu ordinaire à accueillir les enfants en situation de handicap. Or, les symptômes comportementaux d'enfants, particulièrement ceux qui présentent des troubles du spectre autistique (TSA), peuvent générer nombre de difficultés pour leurs enseignants, d'autant plus que ces derniers ne reçoivent pas de formation spécifique pour y faire face. La littérature internationale montre que les enseignants du milieu spécialisé accueillant des enfants avec un TSA subissent un stress lié à la symptomatologie des troubles (problèmes de conduites ; manque de comportements pro-sociaux) (Hastings et al., 2002 ; Lecavalier et al., 2006 ; Probst et al., 2008). Par ailleurs, ces professionnels utilisent des stratégies de coping centrées sur l'émotion pour faire face au stress lié aux comportements violents, ce qui peut les conduire au " burn-out ". Dans le cadre d'une étude exploratoire menée en maternelle ordinaire, nous avons voulu étudier le stress et les stratégies de coping des enseignants accueillant un enfant présentant les comportements symptomatiques d'un TSA. Notre hypothèse générale infère que la présence en classe d'un enfant présentant un TSA générerait un stress pour son enseignant. Pour répondre à cette question, nous avons proposé un questionnaire visant à évaluer leur niveau de stress face aux comportements symptomatiques présents dans l'autisme, puis le Brief Cope de Carver (1997), permettant de déterminer les stratégies de coping auxquelles ils ont préférentiellement recours dans cette situation. Nous avons ajouté à ces questionnaires un entretien clinique. Les résultats déjà obtenus font apparaître que ces enseignants subissent effectivement un stress essentiellement dû aux troubles du comportement lorsqu'ils sont violents ou perturbateurs. Les données qualitatives montrent que, au-delà de ces comportements, la difficulté à comprendre l'enfant est également une source de stress. Enfin, il ressort que l'" acceptation " est la première stratégie d'ajustement utilisée par les enseignants. Il s'agit selon Carver d'une stratégie fonctionnelle centrée sur l'émotion. Face aux évolutions réglementaires, les enseignants sont contraints d'accepter la loi tout en acceptant simultanément de n'avoir ni les connaissances, ni même parfois les moyens matériels et humains de l'appliquer dans des conditions satisfaisantes. L'acceptation témoignerait alors d'une résignation face à un cadre légal qu'aucun des enseignants interrogés ne conteste sur le fond et la reconnaissance de leur impuissance, face à un enfant qu'ils n'arrivent pas à comprendre et à accompagner. Elle permettrait en outre, d'après nos résultats, l'amorce d'un coping centré sur le problème

A cognitive endophenotype of autism in families with multiple incidence

Twin and family studies have established that there is a strong genetic basis for autism spectrum disorders. To facilitate the identification of susceptibility genes and to study pathways from gene-brain to cognition a more refined endophenotype-based approach may be useful. The purpose of the present study was to examine the neurocognitive endophenotype of autism, in families with multiple incidence autism. Eighty-sixmembers of 18 families containing at least two individuals with autism were neuropsychological assessed. Children with autism, showed weak central coherence, but this ‘‘trait’’ could not be found in their parents nor in non-affected siblings. All family members, including the sibpairs with autism, showed deficits within executive functions, involving planning ability, but normal set-shifting. The sibpairs with autism – but not their other family members – showed significant correlations within two visuo-spatial tasks. Deficits in executive functions (specifically planning ability) appear to characterize the broader endophenotype of autism. Our findings do not confirm the hypotheses of weak central coherence or deficits in theory of mind as part of the broader endophenotype of autism. Deficits in visual scanning may be a feature of the manifest phenotype of autism

Impact ofperceived stress, anxiety-depression and social support on coping strategies of parents having a child withGilles de la Tourette syndrome

International audienc

Episodic Memory and Self-Awareness in Asperger Syndrome: Analysis of Memory Narratives

International audiencePrevious findings from researchers on individuals with Asperger Syndrome (AS) suggest peculiarities of autobiographical memory (AM). They have shown a personal episodic memory deficit in the absence of a personal semantic memory impairment. The primary aim of this study was to explore AM in individuals with AS, and more specifically to investigate the link between episodic memory, self-awareness, and autonoetic consciousness through language analysis. We asked fifteen adults with AS and fifteen age- and IQ-matched controls to recall autobiographical memories from three life periods. Recorded interviews were processed using Alceste software. We found that participants with AS recalled fewer and less-detailed episodic memories than did controls. A content analysis revealed that family-related vocabulary as well as possessive pronouns was significantly less frequent in AS interviews than in those of controls. In conclusion, our results support the hypothesis that a deficiency of episodic memory may be due to poor awareness of the self in social relationships. Reduced use of possessive pronouns may also indicate less self-investment in life experiences, which would in turn impact recall

Étude des profils cognitifs chez les apparentés de personnes avec autisme : Hypothèse d'un manque de flexibilité cognitive ?

International audienceCette recherche porte sur l'étude des profils cognitifs d'apparentés (parents/fratrie) de personnes avec autisme, comparativement à une population de témoins

Shared executive dysfunctions in unaffected relatives of patients with autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

manuscript in press, online version published 2006 Nov 24BACKGROUND: Executive dysfunctions have been studied as a potential endophenotype associated with the genetic basis of autism. Given that recent findings from clinical and molecular genetic studies suggest that autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) could share a common pattern of heritability, we assessed executive functions as a possible common cognitive endophenotype in unaffected family members of individuals with either autism or OCD. METHODS: Five tests assessing executive functions (Tower of London, verbal fluency, design fluency, trail making and association fluency) were proposed to 58 unaffected first-degree relatives (parents and siblings) of probands with autism and 64 unaffected first-degree relatives of OCD patients. Results were compared with those of 47 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and level of education. RESULTS: In the Tower of London test, both groups of unaffected relatives showed significantly lower scores and longer response times compared with controls. No differences were observed between autism and OCD relatives and healthy controls in the four other tasks (verbal fluency, design fluency, trail making test and association fluency). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show the existence of executive dysfunction in the unaffected first-degree relatives of probands with OCD, similar to those observed in the relatives of patients with autism. These results support and extend previous cognitive studies on probands indicating executive dysfunctions in autism and OCD. Planning and working memory processes could thus represent a common cognitive endophenotype in autism and OCD that could help in the identification of genes conferring vulnerability to these disorders