This is one reason why access to healthcare is so important and can help to explain achievement gaps in schools. Had TJ been diagnosed with these earlier, he could've had better treatment and more accommodations at his school that could've helped him thrive. That's why, I think schools should maybe have an expert that can help diagnose kids, or better health insurance coverage for families of low-income students, as being diagnosed with a disability shouldn't be a 'luxury' service.

As a white, middle class, disabled student, I can't imagine how much harder it must be for these students. While people doubted my success and I was alienated somewhat, I still had many encouraging teachers that helped me get to where I am today. I bet there's a lot of self-fufilling prophecy in these systems, which is unfortunate, because I bet with the proper resources a lot of them could be much more successful in school and life beyond. It makes me sad to know that these kids are being limited by the education system.

This is why I think it's important we recognize all kinds of strengths and celebrate the wins of every student, no matter how "small". Disabled or not, we all have different strengths that should be valued equally, but this is especially important for those with disabilities that may make traditional schooling or certain subjects more difficult. Students like that may thrive in more niche areas such as art, and I think it's especially important we uplift these students so they feel valued in a society that often uplifts certain skills over others.

This is something else that strongly resonates with me. In middle school, when I was first discovering my identity, I was in a Catholic school that wasn't very openly accepting of queer students, and the environment caused me to believe that my feelings weren't normal, and that I should hide them. It was only until high school when I moved where I felt comfortable coming out, and was able to find a community that was accepting of me, which made my school life and mental health so much better. This is why it's so important that educators unlearn these biases and try to make a safe space for all students.

I agree with this. It reminds me of my high school, that allotted some of our advisory/homeroom time to learning about consent, sexual harassment and bullying, which I appreciated. However, it tended to be somewhat heteronormative, and the LGBTQ+ population at my school tended to be more of a target for harassment than their cis, straight peers. I know a lot of them didn't feel protected, which is why I think we should spend more time in classrooms talking about discrimination-based bullying and harassment, while taking more precautions to protect these populations.

Going to a Catholic school in middle school, I was exposed to a lot of heterosexism and heteronormativity. In our religion class, my class was told verbatim that heterosexuality was the norm, and that though "homosexuals are deviants, we still accept them"(not to say that all Catholic schools are like this/all Catholics are like this. This is just my experience!). As a non-Catholic and new to the Catholic school system, I was shocked to hear this, but I was even more shocked that my classmates didn't find anything wrong with that statement. Before going to this school, I was used to heteronormativity being somewhat subtle (ex. boys having to dance with girls for swingdancing), so this taught me that not all schools uphold these ideologies in the same way, rather they differ based on certain factors.

This is something I haven't put a ton of thought into before, but now that I think about it, schools enforce gender roles onto students in so many ways, from school uniforms to gender-segregated play, and encouraging certain interests based on the student's gender. I can see how that could be very distressing for trans and non-binary students, being forced into a societal role they don't want thrust upon them. As a cis person, I didn't experience much distress with these gender roles, but this section helps me imagine what it would be like to be a trans student in education.