As Junior year has progressed, I’ve progressed as a person. I’ve become more confident in myself as a person and as a student. I’ve grown to accept my accomodations. At the end of eighth grade, I took the accommodation tests to decide if I needed accommodations after my teacher recommended me for the tests. When I found out I had received accommodations, I knew high school would be fine.
During ninth grade, I had a teacher who shamed me for my accomodations. The experience left me seeking help from my parents, advisor, and learning specialist. As they guided me through the difficult experience, I tried to remain confident in my need for accommodations but I still experienced self doubt. I felt I didn’t deserve the accommodations I was given because my teacher said I couldn’t use all of them. When eleventh grade came around, I had overcome the shame in my accommodations but didn’t truly understand why they were so necessary. As Erin Shlansky, my costuming friend and math partner, and I talked about math during our pre-calculus breaks, we chatted about our accommodations. We both have the formula card accomodation that lets us write out essential math formulas. Erin explained to me the importance of the formula cards as they help put us on the same playing field as ‘normal’ students. Even with our formula cards, neither of us do as well as the ‘normal’ students. Erin knows she doesn’t have an advantage in math because she still struggles to solve problems with a formula card. Erin’s perception on accommodations helped me believe in myself and my accomodations. My accomodations do not define me as a person. I’m more than my accomodations. They help put my school performance closer to ‘normal’ students. Erin gave me the confidence to believe in myself and accommodations which I’m eternally grateful for. |