These young people, now in their thirties, have just celebrated the end of a unique journey with a prom.
Now that his internship has ended, Olivier Sauriol will work full-time at Casino de Montréal. Surrounded by his family, he was in the mood to celebrate the evening dedicated to the graduates.
Photo: Radio Canada
This particular program is the response of Vânia Aguiar, President of the Les Petits Rois Foundation, to the disruption in school and social services suffered by parents whose children have more serious deficiencies.
These young adults, who need more supervision to be functional, often remain on waiting lists and therefore at home. Without this project, this would have been the case for Henri-Louis, Ms. Aguiar’s son.
“All the effort we put in from a young age until she was 21 to stimulate him, keep him alert and keep his brain busy… At 21 nothing. At home. »
– A quote from Vania Aguiar, President of the Fondation Les Petits Rois
It was then that she decided to set up customized internships and workshops in companies.
I said to myself: we are going to create an innovative project that will make it possible to remove from the waiting lists this clientele, which has a more pronounced disability but is perfectly capable of delivering the goods if you give them a little more. And this boost is a work surface adapted to their needs, explains Vânia Aguiar.
Under the watchful eye of an instructor and a guide, trainees collect the rings from Casino de Montréal customers’ privilege cards.
Photo: Radio Canada
To help them succeed in repetitive but useful tasks, young people are supported by an educator from CIUSSS and guides from Center Champagnat, a technical school of the Center de Services Scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM). This school welcomes young people on days when there is no internship.
In his class, teacher Richard Faust prepares the trainees by promoting their concentration and dexterity. My role is also at the level of attitudes, behaviors and social rules as they behave in their environment. So I worked all that with them, especially in the beginning. Now they’re on the road, they’re really great, says the teacher admiringly.
After Loto-Quebec and Casino de Montreal, other businesses opened their doors and new groups started this program. Internships take place at the Grands Ballets Canadiens, Cirque du Soleil, L’Oréal Canada, in the Olympic Park and recently also at Urgences-santé. In the adapted workshop, the trainees prepare the first-aid kits that are included in the ambulance cases.
Mario works at the Casino de Montreal.
Photo: Radio Canada
Manon Gravel, who is responsible for communications with the community at Loto-Québec, observes that employees recognize the little kings and now have the reflex to think of them when carrying out certain projects or tasks.
Our goal is to entrust them with tasks that they can manage and that allow them to improve their motor skills, their autonomy and also their self-realization. […] We must not only see inclusion as giving someone a role. “It’s to be welcomed,” says Ms. Gravel.
The program is so popular that a third adapted workshop welcomes the trainees. The first two batches of trainees, hired five years ago, will begin working full-time at the Casino and Loto-Québec this fall. They receive a symbolic salary, the Les Petits Rois Foundation ensures the presence of guides and the network of social services provides an educator.
All this was the pride of the graduates, and their parents met at the ball. It’s an important period, and that’s when you feel grown up. He will work full time at the casino. “I told Olivier we’re going to dance and party tonight,” says Renée Massicotte, Olivier Sauriol’s mother.
Vânia Aguiar’s son, Henri-Louis, belongs to the first group of graduates. The parents were proud to be able to accompany their little king.
Photo: Radio Canada
We are relieved and Hugo is proud of him. He was surrounded by a great team and Ms. Vânia, I will never thank her enough, says Nathalie Boire, Hugo’s mother.
Vânia Aguiar’s son, Henri-Louis, belongs to the first group of graduates. The parents were proud to be able to accompany their little king to the ball. Several parents spoke of the need for their children to be self-fulfilling, participate in society in their own way and, most importantly, not lose what they have learned by being locked at home.
Quebec must continue to invest in projects of this type because these young people have the right to participate, to live and to achieve, concludes Ms. Aguiar.
To ensure that there are more graduates, Vânia Aguiar has set herself the goal of winning over one or two new companies every year. She also knows that the involvement of the education and social service networks is essential to meet the tutoring needs of trainees.
Enable adults with intellectual disabilities to better integrate into the labor market and promote their development. This is the mission of the Fondation des Petits Rois. An initiative that fills a gap, because after 21 years it is difficult to receive benefits. This unique model involves stakeholders and companies from the fields of health and education. A report by Anne-Louise Despatie.