By Sebastian DeSimone
One of my educational goals had always been to take general education classes so I would be better prepared for college. When I was a freshman in high school, I took a 3-D design art class. At first, the teacher seemed nice but she thought I needed some help with my art projects because I’m autistic. While it is true that I struggled academically because of my autism, I was also responsible and capable of being independent. My case manager put an aide in the classroom even though I told her I was fine without one. The class aide was kind, but when I was doing a clay project, she decided to do it for me. It bothered me that she didn’t trust me to do the work by myself.
One day before the bell rang, the aide had to leave class early to get a student from another class to take him to the bus. The art teacher asked me to go with her, but I wanted to wait for the bell to ring. I wanted to listen to the afternoon announcements and leave the classroom with everyone else to go to my locker upstairs. The art teacher insisted that I go to the bus with the aide, even though I explained to her that I had cross country practice after school. There was no reason for me to leave class early. She even tried to call my special education teacher. When she couldn’t reach her on the phone, she asked me to leave class and find my special education teacher to get her permission to stay after school. I was trying to advocate for myself, but she thought I was being disrespectful. Unfortunately, I couldn’t change her mind, so I just had to leave class early.
There were other challenges in this class. The art teacher wasn’t following the modifications in my IEP. For example, she didn’t give me extra time to finish up my tests. My grades were starting to go down. When she returned tests, she would place them on the table so everyone could see my failing grades. She also told me that there was going to be a field trip to a museum of art in New York, but she said that I didn’t have to come on the trip. I felt left out and emotional about not going. Also, it felt like the teacher was treating me with discrimination. I felt bad about being autistic.
My case manager, my mom, and my cross country coach were trying to help me out with the situation. My case manager gave me a choice to stay in the 3-D design art class or to switch to a self-contained special education art class. I made the decision to switch to the special education art class so I could be with classmates from my self-contained classes and get good grades. Fortunately, I got a second chance to take the 3-D design art class with a new teacher when I was a sophomore. It was a great experience. The new art teacher was following the modifications in my IEP. She treated me with respect and made me feel that I belonged in the class.
While I was happy to have a positive experience in a general education art class, it was clear to me and my family that general education classes had to be chosen carefully. Not all teachers are tolerant of students with disabilities. I am grateful that I had the support of my family, case manager, coaches, and cross country teammates. Without them, high school would have been much more difficult. I want to be a paraprofessional so I can support struggling students.
I know it will be hard to become a paraprofessional, but I’m confident that I will succeed. As a runner I’ve learned how to work hard every day, set goals, and believe in myself. I started running cross country in middle school. In the beginning, running was tough. I was slow and I had to walk or skip to finish a race. Now I’m a varsity runner. I’m also lucky to have been a junior coach for the town Recreation Program. I enjoyed helping the kids to be confident runners. Today I am proud to say that having autism is fine with me because I love myself the way I am.
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