Disability in Brittany

39

Making autonomy, accessibility and participation into effective rights

Levrig 2027
Trajectory 2027 – 2032

NB: «For the sake of fluidity and concision, In this text, the masculine is used to encompass all genders.».

Summary

The French law of February 11, 2005 established a decisive principle: disability is not solely the result of a deficiency, but of the interaction between a person and an environment that limits their activity or participation. It recognized the right to compensation, access to fundamental rights, schooling in ordinary settings, and accessibility of the city. Twenty-one years later, the framework remains powerful, but its implementation remains partial and uneven.

For Yes Breizh, disability policy must not be a marginal policy or a simple medical-social policy. It must encompass housing, transport, school, employment, health, digital technology, culture, sport and democratic life. The right objective is not to adapt belatedly to some arrangements: it is to design Brittany for all from the very beginning.

Brittany combines assets – associative networks, local communities, social and solidarity economy, a tradition of cooperation – with its own specific difficulties: the dispersion of housing, remoteness from services, dependence on the automobile, aging population, shortage of professionals and fragmentation between five Départements, two administrative regions, several transport, health and education authorities. This organization produces disruptions in care and support pathways and makes a consolidated reading of Brittany as a whole impossible.

Yes Breizh proposes a change of method: starting from life projects, involving the people concerned in any decision, organizing a Brittany-wide five-departmental pilot project and guaranteeing a common baseline of deadlines, services and accessibility. The devolution must allow for a closer link between decision-making and the ground level without reducing national rights: the State would retain the guarantee of equality and national benefits; Brittany would have the means to organize, finance, monitor and evaluate territorial responses.

The priorities for Yes Breizh

• make the needs and deadlines measurable in the five Départements; ;
• ensuring a real continuity of care, from early childhood to old age; ;
• finance and monitor the accessibility of the entire transport chain; ;
• achieving inclusive schooling through stable means and trained teams; ;
• to make the ordinary employment, accompanied or protected by a chosen path; ;
• to allow people to live in their own homes and to choose their own living environment; ;
• recognizing the close relatives who provide assistance and guaranteeing the right to respite; ;
• Securing the transition to adulthood and measuring the real cost of disability; ;
• make public services, democracy and information accessible to all.

1. The principle: a Brittany designed for everyone

1.1 Disability is a situation, not a reductive identity

The French law of 2005 defines disability as an activity limitation or participation restriction experienced in the environment due to a physical, sensory, mental, cognitive or psychological impairment, a multiple disability, or an incapacitating health disorder. This definition requires action to be taken simultaneously on individual compensation and on collective obstacles.

For Yes Breizh, there is no single disability, but a diversity of situations, visible or invisible, temporary or permanent, evolving or stable. Public policies must take into account motor, sensory, intellectual, cognitive and psychological disabilities, autism, multiple disabilities, disabling diseases, and neurodevelopmental disorders, without oppressing the public or hierarchizing their needs.

1.2 «Nothing for us without us»

For Yes Breizh, the participation of the people concerned cannot be limited to a final consultation. It must be involved in defining needs, designing equipment and services, allocating funding, and evaluating and monitoring. Associations play an essential role, but representation must also include non-affiliated people, children, people with communication difficulties, and their relatives.

1.3 Universal accessibility benefits all of society

A continuous sidewalk, simple information, subtitles, legible signage, adaptable housing, or accessible digital services also serve the elderly, parents with strollers, people temporarily injured, and those who have difficulty reading. Accessibility is not a cost reserved for a minority: it is an infrastructure of freedom and quality.

20 years after the 2005 law: rights still unfulfilled

Indicator	Reference value	Lecture
People aged 15 or over living at home who report a high restriction on activity	4.6 million	France métropolitaine, French Ministry of Health (2022); the overall measure varies greatly depending on the definition used. Nothing identified in Brittany-5.
Students with a personalized school plan	563,300 by the 2024 start of the school year	86 % are enrolled exclusively in mainstream schools. There are no figures for Brittany-5.
AESH1 in operation	134,800 by the 2024 autumn semester	A function that has become central, but still marked by precariousness and incomplete time. No figures for Brittany-5.
Departmental Social Assistance Benefits for Persons with Disabilities	632,900 in 2023	Progress driven in particular by the PCH at home. No figures for Brittany-5.
Establishments open to the public (ERP) that did not engage in any accessibility efforts in 2022	About half of the 2 million ERPs	Parliamentary evaluation in 2025. No figures for Brittany-5.
Disability as a reason for discrimination among complaints	The first reason	Employment remains the first area affected according to the Rights Defender
Elderly Bretons living at home are losing their independence	60,000 in 2021	6.2 % of the 60 years or older in the administrative Brittany; a distinct but convergent issue

These data do not alone describe Brittany. They mainly show the statistical difficulty: definitions differ, the rights granted do not always correspond to the aid actually implemented, and the data are rarely consolidated across the five departments. The first reform must therefore be that of shared knowledge.

2.1 A founding law

In 2005, French legislation established four key principles: equality of rights, the right to compensation without distinction based on the origin of the disability, age or lifestyle, accessibility to ordinary institutions, and the establishment of departmental homes for people with disabilities as points of contact, for assessment and the granting of rights.

It has also set an ambition for widespread accessibility. For the existing building stock, the initial deadline of 2015 has not been met. The schedules for programmed accessibility have pushed back the deadlines, multiplied the exceptions, and reduced the clarity of the obligation.

2.2 A persistent gap between law and everyday life

The evaluation report of the French National Assembly published in July 2025 confirms the progress made, but also the persistence of gaps: incomplete accessibility, disparities between regions, difficulties for the departmental offices for persons with disabilities (MDPH)², Lack of medical and social solutions, insufficiently equipped inclusive schools, discrimination in employment and still limited access to culture.

The early closure of the territorial accessibility fund in January 2026 illustrates a methodological weakness. The underconsumption of the fund did not mean a lack of need: it revealed high out-of-pocket costs, insufficient information, too weak support, and the feeling that the accessibility of an isolated business serves no purpose when the surrounding roads or transport remain impassable.

3. The particular realities of Brittany

3.1 A geography that amplifies obstacles

In rural, coastal and island areas, the remoteness of a departmental office for persons with disabilities (MDPH), a care center, a specialized facility or an accessible employer can turn a difficulty into exclusion. The lack of an alternative to the car weighs on people who cannot drive. Reduced working hours, delays and a lack of accessible information exacerbate disruptions.

For Yes Breizh, Brittany's policy must be based on real access, not on theoretical distance. A place available fifty kilometers away, without suitable transportation and without a solution to help the person, is not an effective response.

3.2 Five Départements, two regions, fragmented routes

The Loire-Atlantique is administratively part of the Pays de la Loire, while the other four departments are part of the Brittany region. This separation complicates common observation, planning of training, organization of rare care, and coordination of transportation. The life basins, on the other hand, cross administrative boundaries. Reunification therefore has a very special meaning for the subject of disability.

3.3 Ageing and the transition of careers

The aging of the Breton population increases the needs for accessibility, home help and adaptable housing. It also raises the question of the aging of disabled people and their caregivers. The administrative boundaries between disability and old age still lead to changes in benefits, contact points or the logic of support, while the life project remains continuous.

3.4 Essential professionals, but under strain

The professions of accompaniment, care, home help, special education and interpretation are facing difficulties in recruitment, remuneration, mobility and housing. A disability policy without a policy for the professionals produced the theoretical rights. For Yes Breizh, Brittany must be able to plan training needs, improve working conditions and organize mobile teams in sparsely populated areas.

4. Path disruptions to be addressed as a priority

4.1 Access to rights and the MDPH

A Breton one-stop shop³ It will only be truly unique if the person does not have to repeat their story, provide the same documents several times, or coordinate themselves with administrations that do not communicate. Timelines, evaluation practices, and information remain variable. A notification without professional guidance, equipment, transportation, or available space does not constitute an effective right.

4.2 Early childhood and inclusive schools

Inclusive education is not just about the presence of an AESH. It requires accessible buildings, trained teachers, staff ratios compatible with differentiation, adapted pedagogical tools, access to care and re-education, continuity during the lunch break and after-school activities, as well as stable cooperation with families.

The French law of May 27, 2024 entrusted the State with the responsibility for human accompaniment during the midday break. It briefly recalls how the fragmentation of responsibilities can make the process unreadable. For Yes Breizh, through devolution, the personalized school planning project must become a mutually binding commitment to implementation, rather than an addition of notifications dependent on random resources.

Thanks to our links with our cousins across the Channel, Yes Breizh offers a flexible approach: a gradual response adapted to immediate needs, without the need for a definitive diagnosis, and access for each school to specific expertise. For Brittany, this principle would lead to coordinating the National Education Service, the medical and social teams, and the local authorities around a progressive support plan, accompanied by resource hubs for autism, neurodevelopmental disorders, and sensory disabilities.

4.3 Training and higher education

Yes Breizh believes that today, despite efforts, the accessibility of buildings, courses, exams, internships and student life remains uneven. The transition between high school, university, apprenticeship and employment creates a gap in rights and contact points. Yes Breizh believes that the CFA and training organizations must have trained referrers and quick-deployable adaptation budgets.

The transition to adulthood brings several simultaneous disruptions: the end of certain school support services, changes in teams, career guidance, access to housing, mobility, and benefits. A Breton guarantee for the transition to adulthood must therefore begin before majority age, be built with the young person and their family, and designate a responsible contact person until the effective implementation of the project.

4.4 Employment and professional activity

For Yes Breizh, work must be seen as a journey: ordinary employment with reasonable adjustments, supported employment, adapted enterprises, establishments and support services through work, independent activity or a period of training. Transitions between these statuses must be possible without a drastic loss of resources or rights.

Disability remains the primary reason for complaints to the French Human Rights Defender regarding discrimination, and employment is the first area affected. Brittany must be able to do better.

Indeed, the obligation to employ people with disabilities is not enough. Action is needed regarding recruitment, accessibility, job retention, career development, the training of managers, and the prevention of professional disengagement.

4.5 Housing, mobility and the travel chain

Housing that is accessible without commerce, sidewalks, or accessible transportation maintains isolation. Conversely, an adapted transportation network is not enough if the housing does not allow entry, movement, or access to assistance. The transportation chain must be designed as a continuous service: home, street, stop, vehicle, transfer, destination, and information.

4.6 Health and prevention

People with disabilities face physical, sensory, cognitive, and relational barriers to accessing mainstream care. The gaps are particularly severe in mental health, dental care, gynecology, screening and prevention. Caregivers themselves may abandon care due to lack of time or a solution for a substitute caregiver.

Some rare situations require an organization beyond the departmental scale. Deafblindness, for example, calls for a Breton-style programming of skills, interpretation, support, and respite solutions. Similarly, people with autism or neurodevelopmental disorders must be able to obtain a first level of support based on their needs, including when specialized diagnosis remains pending.

4.7 Digitalization, culture, sport and citizenship

Dematerialization can increase autonomy or create new exclusion. For Yes Breizh, any public initiative in Brittany must be able to offer a digital service that complies with accessibility rules, a human-friendly route, and information in clear language. Culture, sports, leisure, the media, and elections must meet the same requirements: subtitling, audio description, French Sign Language, Breton, Gallo, or English that is easy to read and understand, physical accessibility, and appropriate pricing.

5. What the devolution would change

5.1 A clear sharing of responsibilities

The central state would transfer to Brittany the guarantee of fundamental rights, benefits, non-discrimination and an identical minimum basis for the entire Brittany. Brittany would then receive organizational and adaptation competence for accessibility, medical and social care, the coordination of care pathways, transport, professional training, and local evaluation.

This devolution should not create five additional levels. On the contrary, it should reduce fragmentation, bring decision-making closer together and make responsibilities identifiable. The Départements would retain their role of proximity; a Breton authority would ensure common standards, equalization, data and services beyond the departmental scale.

5.2 A principle of non-regression

No Breton adaptation could diminish an acquired right. The transferred funding should be dynamic, calculated according to demographic and territorial needs, and accompanied by a catch-up clause. People would retain their rights during a move between Départements.

5.3 Direct participatory governance

A Breton Council for Disability and Autonomy⁴, composed for at least half of the concerned people and their close caregivers, would provide public input on budgets, standards, and programs. Its documents would be accessible and its recommendations would be subject to a reasoned response.

6. Fourteen proposals⁵ Yes Breizh for an accessible and inclusive Brittany

Proposal 1 – Create a Brittany-wide Observatory on Disability in five departments

The Observatory would compile comparable data on needs, requests, decisions, timelines, appeals, and solutions actually implemented, accessibility, schooling, employment, housing, and mobility. The results would be published by living area, in compliance with statistical confidentiality, with systematic distinction between open rights and executed rights.

Proposal 2 – Guaranteeing a Breton core of services for the MDPH

A common agreement would set target deadlines, provide accessible information, provide a referral point for complex situations, recognize the mutual recognition of assessments, and immediately transfer rights. A mutual reinforcement mechanism would intervene when a MDPH persistently exceeds the deadlines.

Proposal 3 – Establish a personal budget for the journey

For complex situations, a coordinated budget would bring together the funding currently fragmented around a plan built with the person. It would directly fund human and technical assistance, housing, mobility, communication, or respite based on the life project, with public control and free choice. This mechanism would aim in particular to avoid prolonged hospitalizations due to a lack of adaptation of the home or of an accompanying solution.

Proposal 4 – Launching a «Accessible Brittany 2032» plan»

Each living area would have a chain of movement diagnosis and an annual public program. Priorities would be given to essential services: health, food, school, town hall, justice, transportation, and culture. Physical, sensory, cognitive, and digital accessibility would be controlled using a common method.

Proposal 5 – Create a Breton accessibility fund

The fund would finance small establishments that are open to the public, with a fee structure tailored to financial capacity and end-to-end support: diagnosis, selection of works, simplified documentation and monitoring. The aid would be concentrated by street, town or route to make a complete chain accessible, rather than isolated locations.

Proposition 6 – Making inclusive education a collective responsibility

Brittany would program the localized units, mobile teams, medical-social professionals and replacement solutions on its own or (in coordination with the French National Education Department depending on the level of devolution gained). A graduated intervention would provide initial support without waiting for a definitive diagnosis. A training plan would involve teachers, AESHs, animators and catering staff; it would also develop Sign Language and a pool of specialized professionals for blind, visually impaired, deaf or deaf and blind students. No child should be deprived of a canteen, extracurricular activities or transportation due to a lack of appropriate support.

Proposition 7 – Secure the status and career path of AESHs

Yes Breizh supports full professionalism: decent remuneration, consolidated working hours, initial and ongoing training, recognized time for coordination, opportunities for advancement, and replacement teams. The continuity of support should no longer depend on the precariousness of staff.

Proposition 8 – Conclude a Breton Pact for Employment and Disability

Yes Breizh proposes the creation of a pact associating public and private employers, social partners, public agencies, employment actors and associations, trying to group them together to develop mandatory synergies. It would set recruitment, apprenticeship, retention and access to responsibilities targets. A dedicated apprenticeship program would be piloted with public employers, then open to voluntary companies. Funding for adaptation would be available before employment begins and public purchases would include inclusion clauses.

Proposition 9 – Guaranteeing the choice of housing

Yes Breizh believes that programming across five departments would develop accessible or adaptable housing, inclusive housing, home services, and small-scale units in the community. A single point would coordinate housing adaptation, technical assistance, and funding. A Breton housing database for all ages and abilities would update design standards; all new public construction would apply universal design.

Proposal 10 – Organizing mobility without disruption

According to Yes Breizh, a single travel pass and accessible information would allow the Breton networks to be used without having to re-register several times. On-demand transport and specialized services would be coordinated on a regional basis, including between Départements. The indicators would cover the entire journey and not just the vehicle itself.

Proposition 11 – Recognizing and supporting caregivers

Each Department (or country) would guarantee an effective right to a minimum offer of respite, temporary accommodation, psychological support, training, and home-based support. Regular health assessments would be offered to caregivers who wish to receive them. Special attention would be given to young caregivers and to caregivers who are aging. Access to respite would be anticipated before exhaustion and not reserved for crisis situations.

Proposition 12 – Making Breton democracy and public services fully accessible

The essential documents would be available in accessible formats: digital compliant, Braille or large print as required, audio, subtitles, French sign language and easy to read and understand. Public meetings, election campaigns, polling stations and democratic consultations would apply a controlled framework. Breton and Gallo accessibility would be developed when people wish to do so, without ever reducing access to French or Sign Language.

Proposition 13 – Ensuring the transition to adulthood

For Yes Breizh, every young person with a disability must be able to have a single plan covering training, employment, health, housing, mobility, resources, social life, and support from their loved ones, available at least two years before their expected exit from the school system. A transition coordinator would remain in charge until the effective opening of the planned rights and solutions. The plan could be revised at the request of the young person and could not be reduced to an administrative orientation.

Proposal 14 – Measuring and compensating the real cost of disability

As with other issues, Yes Breizh advocates for a regular review to measure the additional expenses borne by individuals and their families: energy for essential equipment, transportation, food, housing, technical assistance, remaining costs, and unpaid time spent assisting others. Its results would inform social pricing, emergency assistance, personal support budgets, and budgetary decisions. A program of universally accessible toilets would be deployed in key towns, transport hubs, and public facilities, with height-adjustable changing tables and lifting devices when necessary.

7. A implementation method 2027-2032

2027 – Measuring, coordinating, securing

• to set up the Breton Council for Disability and Autonomy; ;
• launch the Observatory in five departments and publish the zero status; ;
• audit the deadlines, waiting lists and gaps in progress; ;
• launching a first review of the real cost of disability and mapping accessible toilets; ;
• adopt the principle of non-regression and the common service base; ;
• identify twenty priority movement channels.

2028-2029 – Experimenting, catching up

• and deploy the Breton fund for accessibility in the main towns and pilot neighborhoods; ;
• pooling the MDPH reinforcements and testing the single referral point; ;
• opening mobile teams to support schooling and independent living; ;
• experimenting with the guarantee of transition to adulthood and supported learning; ;
• conclude pluriannual agreements with representative organizations; ;
• to conclude the pact for employment and disability; ;
• launching the Breton accessible mobility pass.

2030-2032 – Generalize and be accountable,

• generalize the devices evaluated positively; ;
• achieve the full accessibility of essential public services; ;
• to significantly reduce the time gaps between Departments; ;
• to guarantee a respite solution in each living space; ;
• to ensure territorial access to expertise on deafblindness and neurodevelopmental disorders; ;
• equip the main hubs with universally accessible sanitary facilities; ;
• publish annually the progress, gaps and corrective measures.

8. Indicators of success for the median and maximum processing time for requests from the MDPH;

• percentage of decisions actually implemented within six months; ;
• number of people without a solution or with an inadequate solution; ;
• access rate per complete travel route; ;
• percentage of students benefiting from the planned support without interruption; ;
• time between the first identified need and the first support, with or without a definitive diagnosis; ;
• selected full-time enrollment rate; ;
• percentage of young people having a transition plan two years before leaving school and rate of implementation at twelve months; ;

• employment, unemployment, retention in employment and professional advancement of people recognized as disabled; ;
• number and completion rate of apprenticeships; ;
• number of accessible or adapted housing units and time frame for adaptation; ;
• delay in access to routine care and abandonment of care; ;
• effective use of respite and satisfaction of caregivers; ;
• percentage of caregivers who were able to benefit from a proposed health assessment; ;
• evolution of the remaining costs and of the additional costs related to disability; ;
• territorial coverage of universally accessible sanitation; ;
• compliance of public websites and digital approaches; ;
• satisfaction of the persons concerned, published independently of the managers.

Average figures are not enough. Each indicator must be broken down by department, living area, age, gender and type of need when staffing allows, in order to reveal the differences rather than hide them.

Conditions of implementation

No transformation is generalized without a budget, a market opportunity, revenue and evaluation. No objective is imposed without a budget, a timeline, support, and accessible technical solution. No transfer takes place without resources. In the event of failure, the system is corrected rather than maintained for appearances’ sake. A code green, orange, red It will indicate the trajectory, but will never replace the figures and their explanation. A temporary increase in an indicator may correspond to a transition or to a better census: each evolution will be interpreted before a decision is made.

9. The ethical guarantees supported by Yes Breizh⁶

Freedom of choice

The person must not be assigned to a domicile, establishment, or professional status. The support aims at the autonomy defined by the person, including the right to change plans.

Consent and protection

Autonomy policies must respect consent, privacy, dignity, and legal capacity. Protection against violence, abuse, neglect, and discrimination must be integrated into all policies.

Territorial equality

The place of residence should not determine the quality of rights. A Breton equalization will compensate for the additional costs for rural, island or dispersed areas.

Independent evaluation

The results will be evaluated based on the real-life experiences of the people involved, not just on the number of places or decisions. The data, methods, and discrepancies will be made publicly available in accessible formats.

Conclusion – Moving from promise to action

The 2005 French law formulated a just ambition: to allow each person to fully exercise their activities and lead their life project. The failure lies not in this principle, but in the fragmentation of responsibilities, the delays, the insufficient accessibility and the distance between an administrative decision and its implementation.

Brittany can become a leading nation in universal accessibility. It has the scale, the associative networks and the culture of cooperation. Devolution would give it additional capacity, provided that it is accompanied by means, controls, a equalization mechanism and a principle of non-regression.

The approach proposed by Yes Breizh is consistent with its other guiding principles: no right without a solution, no policy without the people concerned, no part of Brittany left behind.

For Yes Breizh, an accessible Brittany is not a Brittany reserved for a few. It is a more free, more human and more accessible Brittany for everyone.

Main sources

• Law No. 2005-102 of 11 February 2005 on the equality of rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship of persons with disabilities.
• National Assembly, Information Report No. 1692 evaluating the law of February 11, 2005, July 9, 2025.
• DREES, The disability in figures, 2024, and Social assistance for elderly or disabled people, 2025.
• CNSA, Report from the Autonomy branch of Social Security, 2025.
• Human rights defender, annual report 2024 and factsheet on discrimination related to disability, 2025.
• Ministry of National Education, Benchmarks and statistical references 2025 and AESH study, March 2026.
• Insee, study on the 60,000 seniors in need of assistance at home in the administrative Brittany region, 2023.
• Decree of December 15, 2025, and article submitted regarding the closure of the territorial fund for accessibility.
• Scottish National Party, On Scotland's Side – Government Programme 2026, May 2026 (transition to adulthood, cost of disability, representative organizations, accessibility, caregivers, apprenticeship and specialized services).

Notes and clarifications

1. Accompanying students with disabilities. ↩

2. Departmental House for Persons with Disabilities  ↩

3. Any creation of an observatory or agency etc. will have to be linked to the disappearance of at least one other equivalent public entity with the full reinstatement of the staff. Adjustments may be made subsequently.
↩

4. Any creation of an observatory or agency etc. will have to be linked to the disappearance of at least one other equivalent public entity with the full reinstatement of the staff. Adjustments may be made subsequently. ↩

5. Some of these proposals may appear in other Levrig themes but could also be included in other themes! ↩

6. Here too, these guarantees must be available in a large number of other topics covered in Levrig. ↩

The thematic dossiers of Levrig 2027 by Yes Breizh

• 1. Statute, institutions, devolution and Constitution
• 2. Public finances, budget and fiscal autonomy
• 2 bis. Budgetary analysis France – Brittany 5
• 3. The public service in Brittany
• 4. Health in Brittany
• 5. Disability in Brittany
• 6. Education, training and higher education
• 7. Culture, languages and media
• 8. Breton identity, transmission and cohesion
• 9. Housing in Brittany
• 10. Employment, businesses and economic development
• 11. Economy, trade and mobility
• 12. Agriculture and food
• 13. Sea, coast and fishing
• 14. Energy, climate and the ecological transition
• 15. Digitalization and sovereignty
• 16. Security, justice and defense
• 17. Europe and internationally
• 18. Breton Diaspora and international outreach