As you can tell by my url, I'm disabled.
As a teen, I did horrible in every class that didn't grade primarily or exclusively on test scores. Homework is inaccessible.
I had a teacher, in 12th grade, who:
Wouldn't let you turn anything in if you missed class that day unless you had a doctor's note
Wouldn't take any late work
Graded only on assignments and no tests or quizzes
Allowed a make up day at the end of the year where any student could come and turn in anything they missed through the semester, finish it, turn it in and receive reduced credit
I was medically neglected. I didn't have proper diagnosis for most of my disabilities, I didn't have any treatment, I didn't have medication, I didn't get taken to the doctor, I didn't get doctors notes, and frankly, I didn't even get called in for absences.
Every time I missed a day for illness, I would get behind in this class bc I couldn't turn anything in. So I started skipping class, because I was tired of being screamed at for things beyond my control. By the end of the year, I was failing. It wasn't the first time I'd failed classes over an accessibility issue.
When she announced the work day, I showed up as soon as it started and began working. I had already done some of the worl before then, but not been allowed to turn it in. I had 6 hours and I knew I could do everything.
I worked for over an hour. I came up to her desk with a few assignments to turn in.
She told me, "This day isn't for you. There's no way you can get all this done."
I said, "I can complete enough work to bring my grade up to passing. I might be able to do all of it. There's time."
She said, "You won't have time. You can't stay."
She said, "You can't stay. You won't be able to improve your grade even if you turn in every assignment, which you won't. You need to leave."
And she made me leave. She did not grade any of the work I turned in. She gave me an F in the class. I retook it in summer school, I got a 99% because summer school was accessible to me.
There's two things I want you to takeaway from this post:
Disabled students are left behind for simply existing and being disabled
Teachers have the ultimate power to create or destroy someone's future, and they don't consider how monumentally they are changing lives when they do it