Not so long ago, that time of year rolled around for buying a new pencil case, checking that the second-hand uniform still fitted, before recharging your electric wheelchair to make sure the battery hasn’t kicked the bucket over summer.
Interview: Melissa Cassidy
See, going back to school couldn’t look less like the jolly adverts in catalogues when you’re disabled. It usually starts with me turning up at the learning support hub and each assistant claiming that I’m not on their timetable. It’s like some ‘welcome back to school’ game of Cluedo. After this, I’ll proceed to attend classes and start the guesswork of how I’ll need things adapted going forward. When I was younger, I was always determined to be doing exactly the same as my peers in classes at all times. These days I have the confidence to look at a task and proceed to tell the teachers how I’ll be adapting things (some teachers are pretty forward-thinking with adapting work, others I feel owe me a cut of their salary as I explain what will have to change to make their subject accessible).
Going back to school has changed over the years. This year, as I see the finish line in the distance, I’m almost mournful that there will no longer be small children coming up to me asking me why I’m in a wheelchair to which I like to reply with two simple words: ‘shark attack’. It’s also comforting that I made it to being a senior despite the many challenges I’ve faced that almost led me to quitting school at 16 and a sense of gratitude that I arrived here hating the fact I’m different and I will leave knowing that I have not only embraced my disability but began building a career from it. My school is also (in my opinion) one of the least accessible schools in Scotland, so I’m leaving with the confidence that I have the ability to break down some of the biggest barriers I’ll face as a disabled adult.
Social isolation has also been a running theme for the past six years of my life but I had thought I’d have it figured out by now – I haven’t. The thing is though, that I’ve learned that having a friendship group isn’t always as incredible as it looks from the outside and that being able to comfortably make small talk with a stranger is a skill more valuable than the comfort of talking to the same one or two people every day.
If you are a disabled student, or even a parent that recently sent your precious offspring into the battlefield that school can be: stay positive. Our schools are not set up to be the places of equality they should be, but as more disabled people go through the system, advocating for themselves and teaching teachers to adapt – the experience will constantly improve for the next generation of disabled students.
About Melissa Cassidy
Melissa Cassidy discusses topics surrounding disability as well as her own experiences as a teenager with cerebral palsy. She has also published a children’s book called ‘Doodle The Poodle’s Big Day Out’ (published by Alder Books).
Visit her blog at: buttonsandramps.wordpress.com
Twitter: @ramps_and
Instagram: @buttonsandramps
