Have you ever seen someone having a hard time using parts of their body?
Well, I’ve had challenges using the right side of mine since I was born. Growing up, it was difficult to do certain moves—like tying my hair or shoelaces, or typing on keyboards. Some actions were required for school.
But, guess what? My grades dropped, because I couldn’t type as fast as other students, I didn’t follow some instructions correctly, and I wasn’t able to complete class worksheets on time. When I started middle school, however, I found out about 504, which is an individual educational plan that supports students with disabilities. Many students that have similar problems as me aren’t familiar with 504, or don’t have enough courage to speak about it to the principal.
‘I always wanted to do rock climbing, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.’
But I think that students with health problems shouldn’t be stressing out that their grades are dropping because of the lack of school support. In 50 years, I want the Bay Area to adequately support people with disabilities, so they can thrive in school.
There are plenty of difficulties that students with disabilities have to go through, and one of the biggest challenges is transportation. I had ELA 5th period, and PE 6th period last year. You might ask, “What does that have to do with students that have disabilities?” Well, my ELA classroom was located at one edge of campus, and the girl’s locker room is located at the other. Our transfer time between each period was only five minutes. And after I arrived, I didn’t have enough time to change into my PE clothes. In the future, I want the school to extend the transfer time for students that have disabilities, so they don’t put themselves at risk of tripping or falling.
Personally, I also have a hard experience in PE, especially in the “Fitness Unit,” where we try a variety of strengthening exercises. In 6th grade, some of the exercises were: rope-climbing, rock climbing and weight lifting.
I always wanted to do rock climbing, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pull myself for even two steps. So, I went to my occupational therapist, and she explained that my core muscles were weaker than other students. She suggested instead of rock climbing I could stretch with my therapy band. Boring!
In 50 years I want schools to have technological devices that wrap around the student’s hips: the teacher can press the button on a remote that activates the belt to trigger the student’s core muscles to work more effectively. These kinds of changes will allow more students with disabilities to be able to participate in enjoyable PE activities.
Solving these problems is important to me and the community. I want to enjoy the activities that other students get to do. And there are a lot of people in the Bay Area who are dealing with disabilities.
Chloe Ma is a local high school student who writes to escape from the stress of homework. She says writing helps her to open a new world of imagination. This article originally appeared on The Teen Journal, an online publishing platform for young writers in the Bay Area. It has been lightly edited.
