Learning disabilities, speech impairments, how do they affect our students day to day? According to the Idaho department of education, 11.6 percent of students of the 2021-2022 school year had learning disabilities. 36,871 students out of 317,069.
That is a large number. An important number. Every student deserves a fair chance at success. Every student deserves a good education and fair treatment at school. How do we help these students succeed? How do they learn to live with impediments? What does it feel like to have a disability?
Gabe Mckay, an 18-year-old senior here at Blackfoot who struggles with ADHD and autism, said this about his disabilities, “If you ever meet someone with ADHD, always read the book before reading the cover.”
Mckay spoke on the importance of truly getting to know people with disabilities on a personal level, and the importance of encouraging them, to make sure that they feel ok, and that they have a reason to keep going.
“The most important thing you can do for a person with ADHD is to encourage them, most days I don’t know if people want to die or hurt themselves…because of their Adhd or autism,” Mckay said.
Eugene Pubigee, a 17-year-old senior student I interviewed on Tuesday, September 17, talked about his stutter, an impairment he has struggled with since he was a child.
When asked about how this affects him, Pubigee said “You learn to live with it, I have had this for so long I have learned it’s just part of me.” Pubigee talked about how eventually it became a simple part of his life, and even though it is difficult to speak, he has learned that it’s part of his life.
Finally, Luisrey Moreno Zamora, a 17-year-old senior says that his stutter can frustrate and stress him out. “It almost feels as though my tongue is stuck in my throat, not letting me speak until I force it out or just give up when it flares up”
Moreno Zamora has struggled with a stutter his whole life and went to a year of speech therapy in elementary school.
To conclude, it is important we see these people, try to understand them, and help them in any way possible. It is important to understand that these kids are people just like us.
