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Seeking a Post-Secondary Education
People have constantly told me that I would never be able to attend a university and become a psychologist for the physically challenged. Being born a quadriplegic who has a severe case of Cerebral Palsy has not stopped me from achieving my long and short-term goals. Hearing silly remarks such as, "Yvonne, how can you go to college when you do not know basic algebra? You can not even count change. And besides, you do not have normal intelligence to complete with normal students" made me work harder to overcome my obstacles. My family taught me to always strive to become a better individual and that you can never fail as long you keep trying. These words of advice have helped me to develop a positive attitude that anything can be achieved.
Since people tend to judge me by observing my physical disability, they always assume that I am also mentally retarded. They never fail to notice my wheelchair, my arms and legs flailing in all crazy directions, and my speech impediment. Proving that I have a brilliant mind has always been a frustrating challenge because most people never take the time to look beyond the surface and recognize my intelligence. For instance, school psychologists and learning specialists had difficulties determining how smart I was. In other words, these professionals administered a batch of standardized tests that require me to point with a finger and verbally express my thoughts. I scored very poorly on these tests because I did not have any voluntary control to point with my finger and the professionals had trouble understanding my speech. This happened frequently throughout my school years. Although I was extremely angry to be labeled as having very low intelligence, I was able to demonstrate that I had above intelligence by performing quite well in my honors classes.
During my high school career, I was not allowed to complete homework assignments and examinations on computers due to an unexplainable administrative reason. As a result, I had to verbally dictate test answers and essays to my full-time aide. This was the beginning of a four years and eight months crisis. Since my aide could not understand my speech and did not know any of the subject materials, I did very poorly in my classes. In addition, I was extremely frustrated because I knew and understood my subjects well, but I could not successfully communicate what I wanted to say. Being constantly reminded that I had low intelligence and I should enroll in an United Cerebral Palsy School made me extremely depressed. After visiting an UCP School and witnessing other physically disabled students not engaging in learning anything, I spent a whole week crying in bed.
Suddenly, I just decided to stand up for my educational rights because I simply refused to spend the rest of my life gazing at the ceiling. Moreover, I found the courage to see my counselor about seeking alternatives for testing my knowledge. My counselor slowly realized that I had a mind; furthermore, he arranged to have a tutor assist me with tests and homework assignments. Verbally dictating answers to a tutor was one hundred percent better than to my uneducated aide. However, I was still angry and depressed because I had to start taking resource classes due my poor grades. Taking these classes insulted my intelligence. There were numerous times when I wanted to commit suicide; nevertheless, I never gave up pursuing my ambitions. Learning that most physically handicapped children are forced to waste away and eventually wind up in adult training centers designed for the mentally retarded just caused me fight with all of my might to become a well educated individual.
After graduating from high school, I was forced to enroll in two state institutions designed to assist the physically handicapped to become productive members of society. Since I always had a burning desire to attend college, I was completely dumbfounded to hear my high school teachers, Child Study Team (a group of educational experts who help disabled students adjust to public school), counselors, and parents casually decide that college was inappropriate for me. My world shattered into pieces as soon as I realized that all of my hard work was for nothing and my own parents had lost faith in me. I rebelled because I certainly did not want to be isolated from society and I did not want to give up my dream of becoming a psychologist for the physically disabled.
Since nobody thought that I could attend any college, I spent the next eight months being physically, psychologically, and verbally abused by the faculty in the two state institutions. Convincing the staff members that I wanted to lead an independent life and attend college only made matters worse. The abusive treatment was so unbearable that I stopped eating and I was tempted to commit suicide. Writing epic poems and joining the Mormon Church were temporary solutions to escape. Finally, I was able to convince my parents to bring me back home. My family was outraged to realize that I was on the verge of death.
In short, I spent the next month recovering at home in bed. My bed became a safety net because I felt that nobody could harm me there. Then, Mother read an article about a computer program for the physically disabled that was being offered at Brookdale Community College. Since by then I thought that I was a first class moron, I was very hesitant about starting life all over again. Once I enrolled in the computer program, I felt like a different person because I was able to successfully demonstrate my knowledge without being sounded down. After being in the program for one day, the director encouraged me to take the Basic Skills Test and enroll in college level classes!
Passing the test with flying colors and competing with normal college students restored my will power. Suddenly, I had brand new energy to overcome my daily obstacles. There were times when various professors were so frightened that they did not want to teach me. Therefore, I sought affirmative action by speaking and writing letters to the dean. It felt terrific to stand up for my rights and solve these petty problems.
To conclude, if I had not sought affirmative action, I certainly would not be attending Monmouth University. I believe now that when any person is told that he or she is too disabled to attend college, that person should seek affirmative action. He or she may write a formal letter to the president of the college explaining that handicapped people do have the ability to learn. In addition, it is possible to arrange to have somebody advocate for one's educational rights. Once people have risen above their obstacles, they will be able to pursue their education, become lifelong learners, and prepare to become more self- sufficient.
Yvonne Singer has Masters in Psychology from Walden University (2002). Prior to this, she earned an Associates degree in Liberal Arts from Brookdale Community College (1994) and a Bachelors in Psychology from Monmouth University (1999). You can reach her at ysinger@worldnet.att.net
This article is in the public domain and can be freely copied and used in trainings as handouts at parent and community meetings, and in creating your school or district programs. (Please cite all sources of materials you use.)
This information is provided by:
Office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Special Education
P O Box 47200
Olympia, WA 98504-7200
(360) 725-6088
Fax (360)586-1631
E-mail: dgill@ospi.wednet.edu
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