Anonymous, 16

Hi my name is [redacted] I am 16 years old and I am going to be a junior. I suffer from juvenile rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis. During my sophomore year I had not been diagnosed yet and once I had got diagnosed I had to figure out which medications worked best for me. It was difficult adjusting to meds while being in school especially since I was in almost all AP classes. I feel like it was also difficult suffering with a chronic illness because when you tell a teacher or an older adult that you have arthritis they usually think that it’s the same as what people get when they’re older and they don’t understand that it’s an autoimmune disease. I felt like teachers don’t understand that due to my disease I have flares and terrible fatigue and that I’m not getting my school done because my joints hurt and I feel like since I’m young they didn’t take me seriously. I wish that teachers would be more understanding instead of thinking that I’m just using my chronic illness as an excuse