Special Report
Special Education Opinion

A Special Education Student Speaks: I Navigate ‘Parallel Universes’

A ‘twice exceptional’ student copes with structural stumbling blocks
By Jack Bradley — December 04, 2018 3 min read
Jack Bradley is an 18-year-old high school student who is gifted in math and taking college-level courses. He also has autism and other disabilities.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

I live in parallel universes—the universe of special education and the universe of not-so-special education. For most of high school, I spent half of every school day in a resource room and the other half in AP classes. Every day I was split in two. Students like me are called “twice exceptional” because we have disabilities and we are also considered gifted.

“Gifted” and “disabled” are just two of my many labels. Autistic, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dysgraphia, Tourette’s, and microcephaly are a few other terms often applied to my apparently atypical brain. They are not, however, the way I define myself.

In one universe, I am expected to conform with the mostly unspoken expectations and assumptions about students with “special needs": that we are different from other human beings (and a little bit less human), that getting a minimal educational experience is good enough for us, that being taken to a pep rally means we’ve been “included,” and that “dis"-abilities that can be seen are more real than those that cannot.

In the other universe, I must conform with the rules of a peculiar society—the culture of “regular” education. In the world of regular education, if I need to get up and move around, I have to ask permission. If I need extra time to finish a test, I miss out on what the “regular” class is doing. If the teacher asks the students to choose a group to work on a project, I am rarely chosen.

In both universes, people don’t always say what they mean, but I am still expected to understand what they’ve said. Speaking the truth is OK, as long as it’s not too true. If I don’t look someone in the eye or shake their hand, I am seen as being rude.

I am told that I must “self” advocate, but I know that if I point out to my teacher that I have limited stamina and that using up my store to memorize all 43 African nations means that I will have little energy left for the higher order (and way more interesting) analysis project she also assigned, my comments will not be viewed as advocacy. (For sure, I must not point out the research that confirms the limited value of rote memorization.)

If I explain that my inability to explain how I arrived at an answer to a calculus problem does not mean I do not understand, or that I cheated, or that I am lazy, I know that my explanation will not be accepted.

On my college applications, if I disclose my disabilities, will I truly be viewed the same as other candidates, or as someone trying to gain an unfair advantage or elicit sympathy?

Although it is tempting to stay silent, I choose to speak out. Unfortunately, my voice is mostly drowned out by the voices of people who do not really see me, do not really know me, and who do not usually seek to hear my thoughts or ideas or dreams. I often feel like a stranger in a strange land.

Like many students with disabilities, getting an “appropriate” education has been a constant battle to be understood. Imagine having to negotiate with your mail carrier every day to get your mail. Or provide daily evidence that wearing glasses doesn’t mean you can’t read or that your glasses don’t give you an unfair advantage.

The battle started quite early and for me resulted in being home-educated until high school—less stressful for me and for my family. But all of us realized that I would need to experience a more typical school setting to achieve my goal of going to a top research university.

I am but one of millions of both students and teachers for whom the special education system is not working. That is why, with the help of my family and others, we started an advocacy group, JackBeNimble. We aim to reimagine the special education system. In our RISE! (ReImagine Special Ed) forums, we bring students, families, educators, administrators, and policymakers together to actually get to know each other, to hear each other, and to basically spend a few hours standing in each other’s shoes.

Our goal is to help communities reimagine their special education systems, so that they work for everyone. Closing the empathy gap through communication is the first step. It’s pretty ironic that it is an autistic person (me) trying to get “neurotypical” people to be more empathetic!

Now imagine an education universe in which there is no such thing as “special” or “gifted.” Imagine instead that every student has an individualized education program which they help create and which is delivered by educators who have the appreciation, resources, and training they need and deserve. That is the universe in which I want to be educated.

A version of this article appeared in the December 05, 2018 edition of Education Week as Navigating ‘Parallel Universes’

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Special Education Video Inside an Inclusive Classroom: How Two Teachers Work Together
This model for inclusive education benefits students of all abilities, and the teachers instructing them.
1 min read
Special Education Using Technology for Students in Special Education: What the Feds Want Schools to Know
Assistive technology can improve outcomes for students in special education, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
4 min read
Black students using laptop in the lab with white female teacher- including a female student with special needs.
E+/Getty
Special Education Q&A Schools Should Boost Inclusion of Students With Disabilities, Special Olympics Leader Says
Schools have work to do to ensure students with intellectual and developmental disabilities feel a sense of belonging, Tim Shriver said.
6 min read
Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver greets a child at one of the organization’s events.
Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver greets a child at one of the organization’s events.
Courtesy of Special Olympics
Special Education Spotlight Spotlight on the Science of Reading for Students with Disabilities
This Spotlight will empower you with strategies to apply the science of reading to support students with learning differences and more.