Once my friend Henry was accused of wearing wireless headphones by a substitute so she said for him to hand them over so he took them off and handed them to her. Then later on she asked him a question and he didn’t respond so she said it louder and he still didn’t respond. She asked why he was not responding and he said “I can’t understand you ma'am, you took my hearing aids.”
HOLY SHIT
Teachers are such shit with disability. I had a gym teacher that thought hyper-mobility disorder was something my friend made up, so he made her keep running laps and her fucking knee popped out of place… and he didn’t believe that it actually did.
Same friend had fatal scent allergies, and the guidance counsellors made her stay in a class with strong scents because they figured she was making it up to skip math or smth, and she had an allergy attack, and they knew they’d get in shit so they told her to go sit outside the building and that it was just a panic attack, and they wouldn’t let her call any of her emergency contacts, so she had to use a friend’s phone to call her brother out of work to drive her to the hospital. (This was before everyone had a cellphone. She did not, at the time.)
Those same guidance counsellors tried to threaten my brother into coming out to our parents as trans, and they told me when I was first diagnosed with anxiety disorder and depression that they couldn’t even be bothered to look at my required accommodations at the moment because they had “more important things to do.” Even though it was literally their job.
Public schools are absolute shit when it comes to almost everything. You have to fight for basic shit, and even if he told that subsitute that they were hearing aids, I sincerely doubt she’d have paid him any mind. I’ve seen students try to explain similar things until they’re blue in the face, but some teachers just have this mentality of “oh please, I’ve heard these excuses before.”
It’s really gross and entire inappropriate.
As for the students with the actual disability-handicaps I find it appalling the teacher did not KNOW via just paperwork. Someone didn’t do their job getting that to the teacher: either the special ed department or the parents. (Like, an email? I even have parents email me to say, “Hey, Johnny used to have an IEP for this reason, but doesn’t anymore and here’s why, just a heads up…)
Like, even if a student is entirely academically capable, their disability/handicap is documented for any accommodation needed even if never used. I had a student with CP and leg braces once. He had extended bathroom privileges two times a day, so we know to never count him tardy.
I know one of my students is allergic to RASPBERRIES for Pete’s sake.
As for 504 plans for mental health, make sure your therapist directly works with the special ed co-op or the admin to get that done. They can be a great advocate for you, and make sure your parents follow up. Parents making noise gets things done.
Schools are still stuck between a rock and hard place when it comes to trans issues. And my own school is facing this and I think is genuinely trying to find a balance. They have a responsibility to let the family know if something could negatively impact your school experience. If it’s bullying, illness, social problems, failing grades, etc. How do we handle coming out as trans in the midst of that, which can have negative repercussions on the school experience? Schools have little to no guidance to delicately handle this. (Unless you’re 18, and you can tell the school, “Stop calling my parents,” and they legally have to–THANKS FERPA.)
Icon by @ThatSpookyAgent. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. The X-Files. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.