Voice column: Accomodations Needed

by an anonymous student

Have you ever seen someone who is “of” compared to everyone else? Maybe they aren’t using popular social media platforms like Tiktok. Maybe they are drifting of by themselves and wandering around campus. Maybe they have an adult aide with them, and maybe they are avoiding small talk for what seems like no reason.

If you’ve encountered anyone with most of these attributes, chances are you’ve seen a special education (special ed) kid or someone with a mental disability. I was one of these people all the way up until eighth grade, and until this year I didn’t need an instructional aide and my parents changed my IEP to a 504.

The issue I am trying to point out, however, is that students with mental disabilities (like I have), are not being understood enough and are (in our perspective) being unfairly treated by the school.

One example of this disregard towards SpEd students is the expectations of most students after school (from what I remember), which is hanging out for what seems like a few hours and maybe having an extracurricular activity, then not getting home until around 20:00 or 21:00, then having to do quite a bit of homework and not get to bed until 23:00, 0:00 or even 1:00, then oversleeping until around