Hello everyone,
I hope you have all had a lovely week. Today I thought I'd
post about what school is like with Cerebral Palsy. I had a suggestion from Sam
to do this post so thank you for your input.
I really don't know where to start, I have been in school
for nearly eleven years now and have attended three different schools. I have
had very negative experiences but also extremely positive ones too. I will
start at the very beginning and tell you about my first school. In the UK, we
start school when we're four years old however most people will go to preschool
before that for a couple of years. I went to preschool from the age of two and
a half, it was connected to my first school where my sister was. They were
really supportive and did everything they could so that I could be like any
other toddler and also, because I was so young, I didn't really realise or
think I was any different from anyone else. Yes, I had to wear splints and I
was a bit more 'wobbly' than the other kids but nobody really cared, as you do
in preschool I could walk up to someone, spend half an hour playing in the sand
pit and next thing you know, we'd be best friends. That was just how it worked,
everyone was so young and innocent, they didn't care who they were seen with or
what they looked like, they just enjoyed the simple pleasures of life.
At the age of four, it was time to go to school and start
learning. The first few years were fine, I played mainly, did some simple numeracy,
literacy and maybe if I was lucky I'd learn some IT skills. However, it
was too good to last. At the age of around seven, I began noticing my
disability and differences, I remember questioning an awful lot of things,
including 'why did god put me in this body?', To be honest, even to this day I
still ask myself that and I don't think I'll ever find an answer that will
satisfy me. Maybe, it's because I'm a stronger person than I would have been
without my disability? I don't know but to be honest I am really happy with my
body. Yes, I have bad days where I do question things but then again doesn't
everybody? Right, I feel like I've drifted off topic slightly so let’s get back
to it. I started doing daily physio at school with a TA, who I know will
probably be reading this and she was incredible and made my entire school
experience so much more enjoyable. Thank you! The physio exercises were tough
and as a small child, I often rebelled against them however I now know that if
I hadn't done them all those years ago, I'd be much worse today. For the
remainder of first school, nothing much changed, I still generally fitted in
and had a good time. I learnt a lot whilst still having fun!
At the age of nine and at the end of Year 4, it was time to
move on from the school which I had been at for five years to middle school
which was four times the size! I think moving from first school to middle
school is a big jump for any child but because of my disability I believe the
move was even tougher. Before we go on any further, I just like to mention that
throughout my school years I've always had full time 1:1 support, this means
that I have a TA with me every lesson. One major change that I had to endure
from first school to middle school was that we had to move to a different
classroom for each lesson. Previously, I had been in one classroom throughout
the entire day so I didn't have to move around much. The increased movement
meant there was a much higher risk of falling and therefore injury. I was
extremely tired for the first few months because my body was having to work so
much harder, all in all though the first two years of middle school were pretty
good. A couple of months into Year 7 however my health began to deteriorate, I
was experiencing very bad back pain and increased muscle spasms. As a result of
this, I had almost a term off school because I was in so much pain. When I
came back, sadly most of my friends who were there before had moved
on and forgot about me. I can fully understand that they had to make new
friends in my absence but unfortunately when I did come back they weren't
willing to welcome me into their new group of friends. As
you can probably imagine, this lead to me feeling very down and sometimes
depressed, it is a well known fact that your pain tolerance is
dramatically reduced when you're mood isn't great. So there I was, in pain and
being excluded from friendship groups. It was NOT a fun year. In Year 8, I
continued to be bullied but even worse this time, I would be called names, be
excluded from anything and everything and people would make up stories about me
and say that I'd done horrible things when I hadn't. Even though in some ways
Year 8 was worse than Year 7, I think I coped with it better because I was in
less pain and I tried not to let the bullies bring me down. My attendance was a
lot better and I realised that it wasn't long until I would leave that school
and never have to speak to my 'friends' ever again. I could just leave them
behind with all the awful memories and start fresh at upper school.
I think another reason why I hated that school was because they weren't
supportive or equipped to help people with physical disabilities, I was the
only physically disabled child there and I felt really alone.
When I was thirteen, I finally left middle school and came
to my current upper school. Most people were really nervous about leaving
but I couldn't wait! All I wanted was a fresh start. I am currently in Year 10
and taking my GCSE options. This school is definitely a lot better than my
middle school. They're really supportive and caring. I get daily physio is
a specialised department which is incredible because before I barely was
allowed to even do it and when I did, I was in a room so small it felt
like a cupboard! It is also nice because everywhere is accessible and there are
about fifteen students in total with physical disabilities so I have people to
talk to who I can relate with. The lessons are really good as well and most of
the teachers are really supportive and will do anything they can to make
sure you're included and just like any other student. The support staff
are amazing too and since I have started having seizures, they are not fazed
and know what to do which is a reassurance. I have made some really brilliant
new friends both in my tutor group and in lessons. Yes, they are still the
odd one or two people who are bitchy or discriminative but I just try to
ignore them and focus on the people who really do care. Obviously, the past few
months haven't been great with the seizure and medication but overall I
enjoy school and I am absolutely loving that I am now back full time after over
three months!
In other news, I pick up my new splints and orthopaedic
shoes on Wednesday which will be good as I have been feeling a lot less stable
over the past few months so hopefully this will help. On a slightly more
negative note, I had quite a large cluster of seizures lasting over half an
hour on Thursday therefore, because of the school's protocol, I was taken up to
hospital by ambulance. Luckily, I wasn't admitted and after about an hour and a
half I was discharged from A&E. This has left me extremely tired and I'm
still in quite a lot of pain now but I am getting better and before Thursday I
hadn't had a large seizure in almost a month so that's a positive. I am still
awaiting my EEG results but I should hear from my doctor soon who hopefully
will be able to give my family and I more information about the nature of
my seizures which will be good. Thank you again Sam for suggesting this topic and I hope you have all enjoyed reading this post.
Thank you,
Evie :) x
