Learning the Hard Way: Ensuring Safety for Students with Disabilities

When I was in school, I had a personal aide who accompanied me every day and followed me through several grades. She knew all about me, my specific needs, and my spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). My aide was aware of what my body could and couldn’t do on its own. As a small child, I was still grasping what my body could do and my own strengths and weaknesses, so I relied heavily on my aide's knowledge of my disease and what she gleaned from my parents.

I didn’t know my own weakness, and it bit me on the butt in a huge way.

Unable to tell my aide all he needed to know

One day, my personal aide had to take the day off work, which meant I’d be getting help from a substitute personal aide who worked for my school district at the time. Which was fine! I was somewhat self-aware enough to tell the new aide what I needed help with and what was expected of her for the day as far as helping with my disability.

However, my tiny brain forgot that she didn’t know everything I could or couldn’t safely do, and during recess, I asked her to place me on the swing as I’d done with my usual personal aide. Usually, she would hold me on the swing, and I’d get gentle, slow pushes. Anything more would have knocked me over with my balance being so awful and the inability to hold myself up. We found a way to make swinging with friends work and enjoyable, and it was just something we did.

My substitute aide pushed me too hard

In my mind I assumed this aide new what to do. Unfortunately, she didn’t. That day, she placed me on the swing gently and, then, without asking, gave me a huge push like you would any other child. In that moment I knew I was in trouble. In a split second I was shoved forward and ended up flipping off the swing backwards, landing in mulch.

Injured in the playground

Immediately, I was crying and in pain. My head hurt, my lip was busted, my knee was twisted. I was extremely panicked. Of course so was the substitute aide. It wasn’t something I expected to happen. The nurse was called and I was transfered back to my chair. After the initial shock of the fall I was treated with ice packs and sent to the nurses office. Once I calmed down I was able to rest in the nurses office for a while.

Adult me wonders why ambulance hadn’t been called that day.

I was semi okay, just sore and had a swollen lip. I didn’t realize the extent of my injuries. My mom was called and informed of the accident. She was ready to come get me but was told it was close to the end of the day and that I’d been okay to go back to class, they were going to send me home at the end of the day per usual.

When I got home and saw my moms reaction to my busted head and lip and severely swollen knee I knew how bad this was. My pain had increased significantly from the time of the accident to the end of the day. I still had mulch in my hair and somehow in my underwear.

A trip to the emergency room

At that point I was taken to the emergency room to be sure I didn’t have a concussion or serious head injuries and to have my knee looked at. Thankfully I didn’t have a concussion, just a severely sprained knee.

As a kid, this ordeal made me realize that I was a lot different from my peers. I could be injured severely much more easily. I needed to be self aware to what was going on around me and who was taking care of me when I didn’t have my regular aide. The school should’ve handled things a lot better too, by not brushing it off as a common playground scraped knee. They should have called an ambulance to look at me immediately due to me being in a wheelchair and so fragile with my SMA.

Better training and protocols in schools

Reflecting on this experience as an adult, I recognize it as a pivotal moment in understanding my vulnerabilities and the critical importance of clear communication regarding my needs. It highlighted not only my reliance on knowledgeable aides but also the necessity for those around me to be thoroughly informed about my condition.

This incident was a sobering lesson for everyone involved, emphasizing the need for better training and protocols in schools to ensure the safety and well-being of students with disabilities. My journey through this painful episode underscored the importance of advocacy and awareness, shaping my approach to self-care and interaction with caregivers in all aspects of life.