See The Problem?

This blog is a way for me to raise awareness for everyday problems I see/experience. A lot of them are related to my being in a wheelchair all my life.

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Inclusion Made Simple

I have the best friends. Ever. It snowed today in Houston for the first time in my life, and like the mature high schoolers that we are, my friends and I decided to go outside and throw snow at each other. I couldn't reach any of the snow, so I was just going to watch. Then one of my friends started placing snowballs on my tray and distracting people so I could get close enough to hit them. It sounds stupid, but it was one of the best days of my high school life. This really got me thinking about inclusion. So many people think inclusion is impossible because it would involve changing an entire activity for one person. However, I think inclusion is more about giving someone the tools they need to participate. My friends didn't avoid chasing a kid up a tree just because I couldn't climb a tree, they just made me a smaller snowball so I could throw it higher (hit him on the third try). Long rambly post short, I think people should take a lesson from people like my friend. Inclusion can be as simple as taking 30 seconds to hand someone a snowball.

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Makes Perfect Sense...

Bus Driver: You're in special ed, not regular ed.

Me (in my head): Yeah, I'm just in three college level classes, level two of a foreign language, competed in theater UIL, made two honor societies, and qualified for state in journalism UIL. But you're right. I can't possibly be in regular ed. I am in a wheelchair, after all.

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Stupidest Things Said by School Special Ed Teachers Part 3: Bus Driver Edition

I realize they aren’t actually teachers, but special ed bus drivers still have to have some training in order to work with us (I’d love to sit in on that training, given how they act).  So much has gone down with my bus drivers this year (which I will elaborate more on in a future post), so I thought I would share some of their best quotes.

“The bell isn’t for you guys, it’s for the regular ed kids.” (So, where does that leave those of us who ride the special ed bus but are in all regular ed classes?  Also, since when does school end at a different time for special ed kids?)

“If you’re not out here at 2:35, you’re late, and that’s not okay.” (Yeah, school ends at 2:40.  Why do we have to leave before school ends?)

“Why can’t you leave class 10 minutes early?  What do you even do in there?”  (It’s college level English, obviously we just sit around and pick our noses.)

“Stop talking to yourself, it’s annoying.” (My friend mutters to himself when he gets overwhelmed, and the drivers find it annoying.  First off, why would you work with special ed kids, and then get mad when they do things like that?  And second, she sings really badly to the radio all the radio all the time, and I don’t complain about it.)

“It’s cool that they let kids like you do theater.” (Seriously?  Seriously.  I audition just like everyone else.  I’m still not over this comment.)

Since the school year isn’t over yet, I’m guessing there’s more of these to come.

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Stupidest Things Said by School Special Ed Teachers Part 2

Since there are an infinite number of stupid things special ed teachers say, here’s some more of the stupidest things I’ve heard.

“It doesn’t matter what I say.  It’s not like he can understand me.” (My bus driver said this when I told her she shouldn’t talk about a nonverbal boy as if he’s not sitting right next to her.  Apparently, inability to respond equals inability to understand.)

“It’s okay if you miss class.  You’re smart.” (So smart now means you can learn the class material without actually being in class when it’s taught.  I guess I’m psychic now.)

“We can’t change everything we do just for one student.” (I asked for them to assign a student assistant to one of my classes to help me get stuff out of my backpack.  It literally costs no money and requires no work on their part.)

“You don’t need in-class support.   You’re in an AP class.”  (In-class support is supposed to help students with disabilities succeed in regular ed classes.  Apparently, my wheelchair, poor fine motor skills, and inability to take notes in a note intensive class don’t count.  Good thing I’m psychic.)

“I don’t see why it matters if those kids are in class or not.  They’re still learning how to write their name at age 20.” (They said this about the kids in the class for kids with mental disabilities.  Literally had to bite my own tongue to keep from responding.  It would not have ended well.)

“Maybe if you exercised, you’d get better.” (Seriously?  I wish someone had told me this sooner.  I could’ve been walking this whole time.)

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Why Are Special Ed Students Allowed to be Bullied?

So, bullying is a pretty common thing that students face, especially for students that are identified as special ed (like your’s truly).  However, my high school works a little bit differently.  While I’ve faced bullying from other kids in the past, I don’t get any of that now.  In fact, students bullying students is pretty uncommon.  This does not, however, mean that there is no bullying at my school.  Most of the bullying we special ed kids face comes from the so-called “trained” special ed teachers and helpers.  For some reason, these people have in their heads that we’re stupid, worthless kids who don’t understand or care what they say about us.  And if we try to report any of this bullying, we’re told to go to the same people who cause it.  Here’s an example of how this works.  My bus drivers have never been nice to us.  Unlike on the regular buses, we’re not allowed to speak.  Ever.  We’re expected to leave class insanely early to get to the bus “on time,” and we aren’t supposed to care if we’re late to school in the morning.  My opinion of them has never been very high, but there was one day that they could not have stooped any lower.  There was another kid in a wheelchair on my bus, except unlike me, he couldn’t talk or move himself at all.  One day on the way to school, I saw the two “adults” on my bus making fun of him, mocking his movements, the way he sat in his chair, the sounds he made.  When we got to the school, I went to the associate principal, who did what he could but eventually had to turn it over to the special ed people.  When he did this, he found out that another boy on the bus had reported them TWO WEEKS BEFORE, but they didn’t do anything because they didn’t believe him.

See the problem?

Special ed workers are allowed to get away with bullying students because nobody believes them.  The students are told to go to the bullies for help, so nothing gets addressed.  Here’s what should happen.  Special ed teachers should face consequences for bullying students, and school administrators should be able to help like they would for any other kid.  It’s as simple as that.

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So, I usually write about problems, but I really feel like writing about something awesome that happened

Theater Teacher: I really want to cast you in this show, but I think your power wheelchair would ruin this whole 1930s thing we've got going...

Me: (thinking I'm not going to get casted) Oh.

Theater Teacher: So I wanted to know what modifications we need to make to that old time wheelchair we have to make it comfortable for you.

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Stupidest Things Said by School Special Ed Teachers

Special Ed Teachers are supposedly trained to work with kids with special needs kids, but sometimes they say things that most people would never say to anyone, special needs or not.  I can’t list every dumb thing they’ve ever said (because the list would stretch on forever) but here are some of my personal favorites in terms of stupidity.

“If you can move your legs, why can’t you walk?” (For the thousandth time, not everyone in a wheelchair is paralyzed!)

“It’s so sweet that those girls let you sit with them.” (Yes, it’s so sweet and unusual that my best friends eat lunch with me.)

“Speddies.” (This is what they call special ed kids.  I don’t even know how to respond to that.)

“They let you be in a regular theater class?” (This was said by the attendant on my bus.  I responded with “Yeah, and they let me be in AP classes, too.”  She looked extremely confused.)

“You’re in (algebra, Latin, chemistry, history, etc.)?  You must be super smart!” (Not like I’m required to take these classes or anything…)

“I wish every kid in this school was like you.” (Really, because you always act like I’m such an inconvenience to you.)

More to come in a future post!

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Fake Girl Gamers?

So, here’s a term that gets tossed around a lot. Fake Girl Gamer. What is a fake girl gamer? Supposedly, it’s a girl who pretends to be into gaming just to attract the attention of boys. A girl who’s not really good at a game, and does not know anything about the game. If a boy displayed these traits, he would be called a noob. See the problem? I’m trying to just impartially describe the term, but I can’t anymore. This is just stupid. Now, I myself am an avid gamer, but I have a muscle condition that makes gaming hard. I understand the games, and the fundamentals, but find actually playing the game difficult. When people see me play games, they assume I’m a fake gamer because I’m a girl. If I was a boy, I would be just a noob. And let me just say, I find it amusing that the boys who call me this think so highly of themselves that they actually think I’d spend money on game related merchandise, and time learning about games just to impress them. This hypocrisy drives me crazy. I’m not saying this method for impressing doesn’t ever happen, but I think both sides are guilty in this manner. Why are there no fake boy gamers? Why can’t boys pretend they like games to impress girls? There’s no difference. The solution is simple. Put a rest to this term! It’s sexist, offensive, demeaning, and frankly, just obnoxious. There’s a solution. Let me know if you come up with another.

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Things to Say if You Like Getting Sent to the Counselor

Here are a few things you can say if you want to get sent to the counselor’s office, (and what your teacher says she’s sending you for).

"I can honestly say I’ve never lied to you." (Lying) “Did I do something to you I’m not aware of?” (Attitude) “The fact that I’m a girl does not mean I can sing high.” (Attitude) (This was actually to the music teacher). “I swear, I did not shut myself in that closet on purpose.” (Lying) “Just because you here one side of the story first does not make it true.” (Attitude) “Why don’t you ever believe me?” (Attitude) “One day, me and my robot army will rule the world.” (Being Violent) “If I had one wish, it would be to be homeschooled.” (Attitude)

"Please don't send me to the counselor's office again." (Attitude)

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Please reblog and donate to my fundraiser to help find a cure for muscular dystrophy. Money goes to help kids and adults like me.

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Disabled American Girl Doll

Please sign this petition for 10-year-old Melissa. She is trying to get American Girl to release a Girl of the Year that has a disability and uses a wheelchair. Her reason is simply that disabled girls are American girls too. Please support her! http://www.change.org/americangirl

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Robots Are Apparantly Banned

So, my other posts have all been about my current experiences in 8th grade, but I realized that all the best stories come from 5th grade. That was the year I managed to end up with 2 stupid teachers, a lazy counselor, an insensitive assistant principal and a bunch of kids with a cruel sense of humor. I must have done something to my teachers I’m not aware of, because they always seemed to despise me. I was always getting sent to the counselor’s office for some weird thing, like asking why she was always sending me to the counselor’s office (ironic, huh?). Long blog post short, I’ve decided to start writing about some of the crazy things that happened that year. I have to say though, no matter how weird some of these stories are, they are all 100% true. The first one is about something that apparently gets you sent to the counselor. One day, some kids pushed me down, (as usual), and my teacher told me not to lay on the ground, (also as usual). I tried to tell her why I was on the ground, but she just told me to go back to my seat. As I went back to my seat, I muttered “One day, me and my robot army will rule the world,” (this is made a little bit funnier by knowing the fact that I use an electric wheelchair). That was my first, (and unfortunately not last), time being sent to the counselor’s office.

Do I even need to say See the Problem?

This is just the first in a long line of stupid things my teachers did.

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Lights, Camera, Nothing

Here’s another problem I have with my school: the theater department.  Theater in a school is supposed to do fundraisers, go to tournaments, go on fieldtrips, and do plays.  Our school theater?  Nope, barely, nope, and it was a disaster.  The reason?  Our teacher.  Our teacher just sits behind his desk the whole time and lets the class get out of control.  Long story short, he doesn’t teach.  See the problem?  Thanks to our teacher, after 6th grade, theater doesn’t exist.  None of the kids who know this teacher sign up for his class.  What kind of school hires a teacher that doesn’t teach?  Most of the kids who join his class only join to hang out with their friends and get a high school credit.  It's basically a free 100.  They don't care about theater, and apparently, neither does he.  My friends and I complained many times last year, but no one ever did anything.  At one of the few tournaments I went to, I learned that all the other schools think our theater program is a joke, and they’re right.  Now, there’s a very simple solution to this problem: FIRE HIM!  You’d think if a teacher wasn’t doing his job, they wouldn’t want him to work there.  Why would a school hire a teacher who does nothing, and how bad do you have to be to get fired?  Plus, I’m sure there are enough people looking for a job that know about theater for them to be able to easily replace him.  There’s a solution.  Let me know if you come up with another one.  

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Who Cares Where We Sit?

Here’s what’s going on during lunch at my school.  We’re 8th graders, yet they make us sit with our 4th period class at lunch.  So, because none of the kids in my 4th period class like me, (due to a different problem I have at school,) I have to sit alone at lunch even though my friends are 4 tables away?  I tried to talk to the kids at my table, but they start talking in Spanish as soon as I try to talk to them, (I don’t speak Spanish).  Our school administration told us that we can have freedom when everyone can follow directions.  That hasn’t happened yet, because most people aren’t following directions and are sitting wherever they want.  They don’t care if we get freedom, because they’re already sitting with they’re friends.  See the problem?  My school is basically punishing the kids who are being good for other kids not following directions.  My lunch table does not have a single empty seat, but there are about 4 kids at my table, including me, that are in my class.  Now, if they made the kids move back to their table, that would be one thing.  But if their only way to enforce this is to lengthen the time we spend on what they call “lockdown”, nothing is going to change.   They managed to get themselves stuck in an infinite loop.  Here’s what should happen.  The school should either punish the kids who are doing this by making them move back to their table, or they should have a few tables for the kids who can follow directions to sit together.  There’s a solution.  Let me know if you come up with another one.

Just a quick note saying the school stopped caring where we sat 2 weeks after I wrote this.