Learning, In More Ways Than One

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School days, school days, good old golden rule days……

In this blog post I’m going to share my memories and experiences of my school days. Keep in mind when I was in school there weren’t a lot of requirements for making adaptations for those that were handicapped.

Elementary School

The first day of kindergarten was scary to me. To begin with I didn’t know anyone. I went to preschool for one year, however, it was not in the same school district as where I went to kindergarten. The girl beside me kept getting her crayons mixed up with mine. I’d pick up a crayon and look at the name on it, I didn’t know what the name was but, I knew it wasn’t mine.

When we had recess I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I wasn’t able to play on the equipment because back then there was no adaptive equipment for the handicapped. And the walk to the playground was a long one for me. I used my walker all the time so walking was a lot slower than with my crutches. But then the school arranged for my mom to come in every day and help out, which enabled me to participate in recess because she was able to get me on and off the swings, which were my favorite! I was a shy quiet kid and I don’t think I really knew how to make friends. I remember my mom getting asked a lot of questions like “what happened to her?” And “what’s wrong with her?” from the other kids. I did eventually make friends.

First grade was somewhat of a learning experience, with my brace being the way it is I found it easier to stand at my desk rather than sit. With first grade being my first year going to school all day they wanted me to sit down some of the day. But before long I was standing all day, and did all through school. My mom only came in at lunch time, so she wasn’t there for all the recesses. The ones she wasn’t there for I would just stay in the classroom by myself most of the time. Sometimes the teacher would let a friend stay with me.

Second grade is when I really started using my crutches because my classroom was on the second floor and I learned how to go up and down the stairs. To this day I have never fallen going up or down the stairs.

A couple more things I remember about second grade is my sister would come to my classroom at the end of the day to take me out to the bus. Then there was a girl in my class that would probably be considered somewhat of a bully today. She use to say she felt sorry for me, and didn’t invite me to her birthday party. But then she would sometimes sit with me on the bus.

I rode a regular bus with the other kids until fourth grade. Then I started riding the bus for handicapped kids. It had a lift that I stood on to get on and off the bus. It made things a lot easier in that sense, however it also isolated me from my peers even more then I already was.

A girl in my class also happened to be my neighbor, she was allowed to ride the bus to school with me. However, she wasn’t always nice to me either. I had a little purse in my book bag that had my catheter for the day in it. She would take it out of my bag and leave it on the bus or hide it.

When I got to 5th and 6th grade my classroom was on the third floor so I had the option to have them move it downstairs but I chose to climb three flights of stairs. That is also when the school hired an aid to help me instead of my mom coming in every day.

Gym class was another challenge. In Junior High I had it with everyone else I just didn’t participate…..well except for the chin up contest which I won two years in a row. That’s the advantage of using your arms for everything, you have more strength in your upper body than alot of people. During one of my study halls I had my own gym class with the teacher and sometimes a physical therapist where I lifted weights, which I hated. Later on in life I worked the front desk at a YMCA and just don’t understand why anyone would want to lift weights everyday. Gym class did include fun things like ping pong. They also tried to teach me how to swim and play pool, but I didn’t like either.

School was definitely a learning experience, learning to make friends, learning how to be away from my mom and figure out how to do things on my own, and of course the normal learning that goes on in school