My heavyweight fight for a better education

My journey for a better education was challenging. My mom and I had to fight to get an adequate education. I will tell you my story, my fight for the education I never got.

This story is about how people with disabilities can get screwed out of a legitimate education.

This is a story that the school system can go wrong for people with disabilites.

At a very early age, I found myself in special ed. Not just your regular special ed. It was special ed for people with disabilies. It was, as I like to explain it, special ed made easier.

Some people with disabilities succeed and move on to get more man-streamed in the school sytem. I was not one of those kids.

When I first started my education in elementary school. I was in a program called physically or otherwise impaired (POHI for short). The first couple of years were fine, but as the years went by in elementary school, my mom noticed that my schoolwork would never change. I just did the same work year after year. The actual spelling work and the same math homework; I was not progressing in school, nor was my schoolwork.

I tried to get into an elementary school where my sister went; it was close to home. Not that my sister and I were close. We were not. But my sister went to a better school than where I went to.

I remember my mom had a meeting with the principal of that school. It didn’t turn out that well. She didn’t think I was ready, so she said no to me coming to her school. My mom took my Aunt Wendy. I remember my mom coming home crying because they would not let me into her school. That was a massive blow to my mom and me. All I wanted was a chance at a good education. I barely could read, so not getting in there was, well, I couldn’t even find the expressions.

Fast forward in time, my mom finally found me a different school to go to to try to advance my education. But a catch at ten years old would go to a middle school in Richmond, Michigan. I would only spend a couple of years in that school. After that experience, I tried to get into that elementary school that the principal had dined me at before. This time it worked in my favor. I had to return a grade, but it would be the right decision. I feel I lost so much time trying to get the education that every kid deserves.

After two years at that particular school, it was time to go to junior high school

When I first began junior high school, I struggled right away. I tried going to regular ed classes with aid in the classroom. My mom, at one point, was crying. It was so bad as she wanted to help me with my homework. The bottom line is that I didn’t get it. After failing again, they put me in all special ed classes. That only lasted a month. My mom got married, so we moved. That move meant that I had to go to a school that had the POHI program that I was previously in. I was in some regular ed classes, but for the most part, I was inaccessible to courses that were too easy. I was frustrated because, again, I was getting classes that I felt were too easy. Though, I did struggle. I still believe that I should have been challenged more. Nothing in life should ever be easy; I don’t think kids should be overwhelmed, either.

The teaching staff told me at the end of my first year in junior high they were looking to mainstream me more; I’m pretty sure that was a lie. When I got my schedule in the mail the following year, I had only two regular ed classes. After a few weeks, they told me I couldn’t handle it. That is the problem with the education system. Teachers think either their experts. I remember they fought my mom a little bit while expressing their opinion. I ended up getting an extra class.

Let’s talk about high school. I feel sorry for anybody who says high school is the best year of their lives. There is a lot to tell about my school career. I will talk about the education part of my high school career.

In my first year of high school, I had one regular ed class, but then I got sick and missed my entire first year. In my second year of high school, I had a style and failed miserably. I was depressed because I had missed a whole year of high school. On top of that, my grandfather was in the last year of his life as he was suffering from congestive heart failure. All though I continued to fail in school, I still believed that I could do the work.

My last two years of high school were not easy I did pass. I didn’t get A’s and B’s, but I did pass. I had to go to summer school for two years, but I did it. I never said nor thought I was an honor roll student. I believed in myself.

So in closing, yes, my school career was rough. I would be lying if I said I liked school; I didn’t.

There’s been a lot of progress. However, we have a long way to go.