“I thought the worst”: Mehdi’s nightmare, deprived of his allowance for disabled adults (AAH)

TESTIMONY. Deprived of the Disabled Adult Allowance (AAH) after a contested revision of his disability rate, Mehdi, 37, suffering from deafness, went through a period of extreme precariousness.

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The story could have ended very badly. “I was at rock bottom psychologically, I experienced six months of extreme precariousness. Invisible disabilities like mine are the most rejected, I have been made to understand that I do not need help.» Mehdi, 37, suffers from severe progressive hearing loss. Since the age of 22, he has been recognized as 80% disabled, which entitles him to the Disabled Adult Allowance (AAH). An additional income of around 800 euros per month, which allows him to be financially independent for around ten years.

But his life turned upside down in September 2023, when his departmental autonomy center (MDA) informed him that he was no longer entitled to AAH. So without a job, he finds himself without any income, with rent to pay, and sinks into a spiral of debt. “I thought the worst, I couldn’t stand living in debt», remembers Mehdi. Because until then and despite his handicap, Mehdi, who speaks English and German fluently, had managed to make a career in the tourism sector. For around ten years, he worked on short-term contracts abroad and made frequent trips back and forth between France and the countries in which he went to work. The young man receives the AAH intermittently, during his periods of inactivity, and only when he is in France. In the summer of 2022, Mehdi ends his activities in tourism and returns to settle permanently in France. He works on a temporary basis and continues to receive the AAH until September 2023, the amount of the allowance being adjusted according to the number of hours worked.

In October 2023, Mehdi undertakes a professional reconversion. He begins training in the human resources sector because his disability no longer allows him to work in the tourism sector. Mehdi is then contacted by his MDA, who tells him that his file has been incorrect for several years. Although he holds a disability card, Mehdi is no longer eligible for AAH because his disability rate is now considered to be less than 80%, the minimum threshold to be entitled to the allowance. “It was explained to me that my disability is not a problem for looking for work and that it has no impact on my autonomy.», he sighs.

The debt spiral

In search of a company to validate his new professional project, the young man finds himself without resources. Cornered, he looked for a food job for six months in order to meet his needs between March and August 2024, still without success. A dark period, during which Mehdi receives unemployment benefits, which he considers derisory, as his only income. “It was the equivalent of an RSA, and at the same time the CAF removed my housing assistance. I gradually fell into debt, I could no longer pay my rent, my landlord put me on notice, it was a very difficult period“, he remembers.

Fortunately, Mehdi finally manages to find a job in logistics in September 2024, which allows him to avoid eviction from his accommodation. Every month he repays part of his debts, which amount to around 4,000 euros. These include unpaid rent, late payments, and money lent to his family. At the same time, he launched an appeal within his MDA committee to try to have his disability recognized and thus be able to benefit from the AAH again. In vain. Mehdi also initiates legal proceedings to try to assert his rights, but he is once again unsuccessful. “To justify its decision, the court indicates that I am fully capable of looking for work. They don’t understand that it’s not about ability but about difficulty finding a job with a disability with the discrimination I experience“.

Medhi, who cannot initiate new procedures due to lack of resources, says she feels “the frustration, anger, sadness of seeing a justice system that does not understand what an invisible disability implies every day“. He intends to contact the Ministry of Health, in order to highlight the difficulties suffered by those with an invisible disability.