My Beginnings at Shrine School!

When my parents were thinking about what kind of school to put me in, there were basically two options of where I could go. I could go to a normal school and be in a special classroom, it was basically like a day care. Thankfully, my parents chose the alternative which was Shrine School, which is a school dedicated to disabled people. What was good about this school is they actually taught you like you were any other kid, and they gave you the one on one time that you needed. In the third grade I was already put on a typewriter. Those first three years of schooling were a time that I really found out that I was just like any other kid, that I could learn, and also that I could get in trouble just like any other kid. In the fourth grade a decision was made to let me go through mainstream school. So I was sent to a “normal” school. Before I went, I was told that a lot of kids may make fun of me and that they may call me names. I was prepared for all of it. However, this was not the case.

Throughout my two years of going to a normal school, I had to fight time after time with the teachers to get what I needed to do my work. It all ended up with me and my parents having to threaten to sue the school just to get a computer in the classroom. My grades at the time went down to an all new low they had never been at before, not because I wasn’t doing my work but because I didn’t have the resources I needed to do my work. This is a very big deal to me still today. I really feel like disabled people should have the opportunity to go to any school they want and still get the resources they need to get the job done.