Addie, 15

My name is Addie and I use any pronouns. I am a 15 year old who goes to one of the top boarding schools in the United States.

Being disabled has greatly impacted my freshman year. I started off the year as a strong athlete but when the knee pain I had been dealing with all my life flared up, I took a break. During my break, I got a concussion which started my downfall of symptoms. What is currently presumed to be hEDS and dysautonomia had a death grip on me when going into the second quarter.

Once I started to become sick, my energy depleted and my mobility was poor. My campus is very hilly and spaced out, getting my heart rate to 180 for minutes while walking from science to the dining hall. This made me constantly fatigued and flared, putting me in the health center for days on end. Missing classes in boarding school with 70 minute, intense classes is nothing to desire. Minus my own struggles, the administration was constantly against me. At 7:45am, I had to walk down a steep hill to clean the language building. During the winter, we had a foot of ice and snow that wasnt cleared by 8am. My already unstable joints could not walk down that safely at all. I had called the health center asking what to do, which was no help. I emailed the supervisor of my campus job, on-campus doctor, and nurses all who told me I had no medical problems documented so it is on me to get to the job. I was constantly disciplined for missing things even when absences were cleared so this was not something I would endure when it wasn't my fault. Eventually I texted my advisor who was on leave due to a family death in desperation. He had emailed them all saying I did everything I could and got the dean of my class to excuse me. All this followed by similar situations over and over with the on-campus doctor constantly telling me that my situation was unique and they never give out these accommodations so I should be grateful for their support despite the shame and gaslighting that happened every time I visited the health center.

On our campus, you need medical documentation for any assistance or accommodation (using elevators, extra time, extra help) which puts my underprivileged (mentally and physically) disabled friends in such a compromised, overwhelming situation.

During COVID everyone is stressed, especially our health center and they have taken it out on the handful of disabled students on campus. With every fight and every email we are met with shaming and pressure to damage ourselves for their convenience. I am a white, cis-passing, lower-weight person who doesnt deal with half the problems my POC and trans disabled friends face on campus.