Against all odds, 18-year-old Henry Gendreau reached his goal of studying animation at a Quebec college.
Diagnosed with autism, Henry was non-verbal until the age of five, but that never stopped him from pursuing his dreams.
“I was excited when I was going for a second semester,” said the Gatineau, Que., teen.
As part of a military family that moved often, for once he also revelled at the idea of making long-term friendships.
But those dreams were crushed after Quebec’s Education Ministry denied his request for a French-language exemption from his high school, resulting in his removal from his post-secondary studies after one semester.
“It was unfortunate when I got removed,” he said.
Henry was accepted to his CEGEP program on the condition that he obtain this exemption to his mandatory French-language requirements from his high school, from which he never graduated due to failing his French classes.
Quebec’s Charter of the French language grants children with serious learning issues a waiver allowing them to be educated in English. But the province’s Education Ministry denied that request.
“It hits me in the sense that not only I’ve lost the skills I’ve wanted to obtain, it also hits me personally because I’ve lost a lot of friends,” Gendreau said.
After a big breath, he adds, “It leads to a loneliness and emptiness I hoped I would never feel again.”
After Henry’s diagnosis, his father, Daniel Gendreau, says doctors recommended his bilingual family stick to speaking to him exclusively in English.
“French was a challenge. That was either unsurmountable, or for him to have a modicum of success, it would be at the expense of everything else,” said Gendreau.
Gendreau says he was told Henry could only apply for the necessary exemption at the end of high school – a seven-month-long process he calls “obscure and frustrating.”
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry does not communicate with parents, only with the school, which Gendreau says didn’t provide enough details.
He says it took him filing several access to information requests to the government in order to learn the reason the exemption was denied: the ministry in large part blamed Henry’s inability to learn French on the fact that he missed many days of class.
“Not because he’s learning challenged,” Gendreau said with frustration.
He says those absences were because Henry was being tutored to help pass the rest of his subjects.
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To complicate things, the Gendreaus were a military family and moved locations six times, including to the United States where Henry didn’t have access to French classes.
It’s a sacrifice Gendreau says he was happy and proud to make, but he expected a bit of understanding in return.
“When it comes to the future of a child now being limited due in a certain part to the fact that he’s moved six times in 14 years, coupled with a learning disability that’s well-documented, that’s unequivocal, it’s beyond the pale,” Gendreau said.
He also learned there is no appeal process.
“How can there be no appeal process? When we didn’t even understand the decision and we were never clearly explained why the decision was made. I think it’s just absolutely unacceptable,” he said.
Marie-Eve Lefebvre is a professor at the Université du Québec à Rimouski and specializes in higher education. Her research focuses on autistic students who want to pursue their post-secondary studies.
She says the burden to prove you can’t learn French is too high and autistic people she works with are discouraged from even applying for an exemption.
“One [reason] is they don’t know it exists. Second is that they know, but they don’t think they can do it. And the other thing is that they understand they can do it, but they’re tired,” she said.
Applying implies advocating for yourself, which Lefebvre says can be difficult for students with disabilities.
“You have to mobilize a team: basically a doctor, sometimes a psychologist, psychiatrist, your teacher, your parents. So it’s a privilege, let’s say, to just have all these people on your side to be able to advocate for your needs.”
Lefebvre says the process could end up sending a difficult message to students facing challenges: that their needs are not recognized.
“I don’t think it’s intentional, but the way the system works, and the way it’s difficult to access those exemptions kind of implies that, unfortunately,” Lefebvre said.
Christopher Craig, vice-president of the Quebec English School Boards Association, says rejections to exemption requests are frequent and impactful for students.
“They might not be allowed to achieve their full potential and might possibly leave school at high school because of these rejections,” he said.
He says former education minister Bernard Drainville told English school boards making the process easier would be a priority.
But Craig says that didn’t happen.
Current Education Minister Sonia LeBel declined CBC’s request for an interview.
Despite several requests, the Education Ministry did not provide statistics on the number of requests for exemptions filed and the rate of rejection.
“All I can say is for the governments to do better, to not make the same mistakes they did with me,” Henry said, struggling to hold back his tears.
He’s now enrolled in a private online program in Ontario so he can obtain his high school diploma.
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His father says his son has worked hard to go through school and deserves to graduate.
“Henry deserves that high school diploma,” said Gendreau.
“But right now, we’re advocating for the next Henry, for the next family, because no one, no one should have to go through what Henry’s had to go through.”
