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A few decades ago, students with disabilities were excluded from many of the educational opportunities that were afforded to their peers. While this is still a prevalent issue, students with disabilities have received an increased amount of attentivity to their needs. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics nearly 15% of students in the US have a disability.
Only a few decades ago, a disability prevented a student from graduating high school. This student, Ed Roberts, is considered the father of the disability movement. One of his first battles was fighting to graduate from high school because he couldn’t fulfill the P.E. and driver’s education requirements, on account of being paralyzed and requiring the use of a ventilator. In 1962, he was the first severely disabled person to attend UC Berkeley. Robert helped create the first Center of Independent Living at Berkeley, allowing people with disabilities to take care of themselves. He inspired other people with disabilities to challenge these limitations.
To ensure civil rights for people with disabilities, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, which forbids discrimination against people with a disability. ADA prohibits discrimination in employment, transportation and requires buildings to be physically accessible to those with disabilities. This law started because parents didn’t want their children to be segregated in the school system as a result of their disabilities.
In order to better understand the challenges faced by students with disabilities at Sequoia, two students shared their experiences with mental and physical disabilities. Senior Natalie Ward discusses her journey with ADHD and senior Sofia Rava describes how Complex Regional Pain Syndrome has impacted her.
Mental Disability: ADHD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects a person’s behavior and ability to concentrate. According to Forbes Health, it’s estimated around 129 million young people (5 to 19 years old) have ADHD.
One of the symptoms of ADHD is inattentiveness, meaning it’s hard for a person to finish a task and pay attention to details, or follow instructions. For those who are predominantly hyperactive, symptoms include fidgeting, talking a lot and grabbing things from people.
The average age of being diagnosed with ADHD is seven years old, though many people find out they have the disability later in life. Senior Natalie Ward was diagnosed with ADHD right before her junior year at the age of 16.
“I had a lot of mixed emotions about it because I was happy to get the diagnosis and figure out, ‘Oh this is why I have these issues.’ But I was also upset and angry because I had gone most of my life in school without that acknowledgment and help for that,” Ward said.
In addition to ADHD, Ward also has anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), which she was diagnosed with at the age of 10 and 12; these disorders manifest in uneasy feelings of stress, uncontrollable thoughts and needing things to be orderly in fear of extreme consequences. ADHD also can impact academic performance.
“I think it’s really important to always get diagnosed because, for me, I was concerned that I had dyslexia because I had trouble reading even though I have always been a super fast reader. I got tested and it wasn’t dyslexia, but my ADHD doesn’t let the processing part go into my brain properly, so I can’t follow the words as well,” Ward said. She shared that this causes an additional struggle because “it’s hard to say, ‘I have trouble with reading but then read perfectly fine.’”
Physical Disability: CRPS
Senior Sofia Rava has Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), which manifests as chronic pain that is usually concentrated in arms, hands, legs or feet and often develops after a patient undergoes surgery, a stroke or a heart attack. Rava began suffering from CRPS when she was 15 with intense pain in her right leg.
Rava went to many doctors and underwent multiple X- rays and MRIs until a doctor diagnosed her with a bone deformity. After undergoing surgery on her ankle and foot bones, she still had pain. After meeting with more doctors, specialists and therapists, she was diagnosed with CRPS in 2020. Rava experiences constant chronic pain and has a peripheral nerve stimulator implant to lessen the pain.
“I felt mostly relieved, I had waited for months for a diagnosis, and finally having a word to assign to my pain was extremely validating. I was also scared because when I researched my condition, everything I saw online was really scary,” Rava said.
In theater class, she has to adapt the dances and movements.“There were also some simple class activities for ‘team building’ that I would have to step out of because of my disability,” Rava said.
Students with disabilities face challenges that many of their classmates do not have to deal with, so it is important for students to realize that nearly 15% of the student body population faces a number of additional challenges.
What can we do?
Over the years, there have been improvements in education for people with disabilities. From support to accommodations educators are seeking to aid students to reach success. Which have positively influenced students’ education because even though they can’t participate in certain activities they still have the feeling of being involved. Overall creating a welcoming and inclusive environment.