Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Growing up with Muscular Dystrophy: The High School years

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When I found myself in high school, I did face a few challenges related to living with Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy. The first issue I had to deal with climbing stairs, and over the next four years this became a part of my daily routine. You see, many of my classes took place on the second floor so there was no way for me to avoid using the stairs. Thankfully at the time when I was in high school climbing stairs was still possible, even though it was a pretty hard thing for me to do. The worst thing about climbing stairs in high school was that I was very slow when it came to doing it, which usually resulted in a long line of kids waiting for me to make it up the stairs. Eventually, I had to become really creative when it came to dealing with stairs at school. The first thing I started doing was trying my best to get to the stairs before everyone else, that way I could avoid climbing stairs in front of the other students. I also learned pretty quickly that it was best to use the one set of stairs in the school that no one else really used. These two things really went a long way in helping me survive four years of climbing stairs at high school.

When it came to other issues at school, some of them had nothing to do with me having muscular dystrophy. You see, during my school years bullying was a major issue for me and it didn’t end when I reached high school. Since I didn’t have any friends, the other kids at my school viewed me as an easy target - so I learned early to deal with insults and not being included. Sadly, there was even a time during high school when a few kids spit on me during class. Thinking back, I can’t believe I put up with that kind of treatment - all I know is that if it happened today it would be a different story. Sadly, not being able to fight back meant I just had to sit there and take it. Thankfully there were a few moments when I could fight back without getting physical. I actually remember a time when my English teacher wanted us to complete group projects. Long story short, I was put into a group and they expressed disappointment with me being a part of their group. It was at this point I decided that I was going to do my own project separate from what they were doing. When it came time to hand in my project I received the highest mark in the class. My teacher even asked if he could keep my work to be used as an example in his other classes. In the end, I achieved my goal of making them regret not including me in their group.

As you can see, not all the challenges we face will always be related to our condition. All I can say is that I was very happy when the day came that I graduated from high school since the challenges of fitting in and climbing stairs were finally over. One thing I am very thankfully for is that I made it through school - sure it wasn’t fun at the time but I survived. In life, we will face all types of challenges, some related to muscular dystrophy and some are just a part of life, but one thing that is good about school is that one day it will be over with and it’s at that point when life truly begins.





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