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While Gideon has experienced many acts of discrimination throughout his life, his educational opportunity has been one act that has stood out from the rest in both the severity and length of the act. Injustice is one of the most prevalent things today for people with disabilities. He asks that you read the below article, and follow the instructions to speak-out. Speaking out is one of the most crucial influences and responsibilities in the hands of witnesses to injustice.

The following is a writing piece composed by Gideon Sofer.

Education for the Disabled: Ensuring an Equal Opportunity

America: The land of hopes and dreams. Well, not for all. An astonishing 20% of people with disabilities never even graduate high school. That's one in every five persons with a disability; double the average population's record at one in ten. Just recently, the US Department of Education has reported that at least one school in every state nationwide has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in some way, shape, or form. In other words, each state has at least one school district who has unlawfully discriminated against a particular student with a disability.

When it comes to the term "education," what comes to your mind? Learning, schooling, teaching, all sorts of things to that effect, right? Sure, education means all of those things, but on a a greater level, what does it mean? Seeing the world from a challenged perspective , "education," is one's legal right to learn. Not just being taught just like every other peer you come in contact with, but being schooled to the same level of equality; and that is indeed, the definition of "education."

Since the presidential election in November of 2000, one of the main themes behind Al Gore's and George W. Bush's campaigns were to "leave no child behind." Unfortunately, this is one of America's biggest problem: not discriminating against people with disabilities, giving them an equal opportunity in all areas of life, but for kids, primarily education.

There are several services that, by law, should be provided to ensure an equal opportunity for those who are disabled. In the 1970s, the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) was introduced and passed through Congress. The main theme in the ADA is that all persons with disabilities should receive fair treatment, should be accommodated for, and should not be discriminated against because they have a disability. Since then, I must admit significant progress has been made since the 70s, but not nearly enough.

We are living in the 21st century. Technology is flying above our heads. America is the leader in civil rights, economic growth, you name it. If the human capability to problem solve is there, why aren't we doing it? The ADA is not being fully enforced. The people with disabilities are still at the bottom of the food chain. Federal funds being distributed to school districts are not being properly used to students' benefits. The bottom line is, students with disabilities are still not being given a equal opportunity in the educational system.

Ever since I was small I had medical problems, so I was always missing days of school now and then. To put is short, my attendance record wasn't the cream of the crop. It slid further into dangerous territory when I was first diagnosed with Crohn's in November of 1996. That year, with my surgery and all, I missed about half the school year, or 90 high school calendar days. On the school's end, they had a tutor visit me once. ONE time out of ninety full days being out of school for all of my subjects.

My health problems progressed through middleschool (grades 7&8), and unfortunately, I received very little help there as well. To be honest, NO help. I missed on average, a third of the school year, each year of middleschool. My education was being affected by my health, yes. But my education was also being negatively impacted by my school district. I'm not saying that my district was liable for "coming to my (educational) rescue," but the least they could've done was help me, just a little bit. Instead, I was expected to constantly go after school for long, long hours to teachers and have them catch me up independently as best they could.

My first year in High School in 1999 looked to be an optimistic one as my Crohn's was in was in remission at the start. I had started a miraculous trial drug called "Thalidomide," which completely healed all of my apathous ulcers throughout my gastrointestinal tract. Minor side-effects such as drowsiness and fatigue were simple to cope with, considering the immense wonders it did for me. As high school started, the first marking period went just fine, as nothing abnormal happened to me, meaning, my Crohn's was "the usual." Staggered absences always come along with feeling good, but that's just part of the deal. So, seconding marking period began, and, my immune system at a disadvantage, caught an acute case of pneumonia. I was hospitalized in December for about ten days, (at one point) almost entering the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) due to the severity. The adolescent nurses disallowed that to happen, of course!

"If the human capability to problem solve is there, why aren't we doing it?"-Gideon Sofer

As I was still taking this trial drug through my bout with pneumonia, I had not one ulcer reappeared in my mouth. This was absolutely amazing. Before I started the drug, I practically caught sores from simple cold.-Nevertheless, I missed the entire month at school, which later broke for Winter vacation. I came back to school in January, and I knew I was in for a long ride. Out twenty days, and I felt like I was slapped with yet another, monstrous mountain to climb. I was so far behind and at the same time, midterms were scheduled for the third week in January.

So, let's stop the show here for a moment to think; what, educationally, is supposed to happen to a kid in that situation? Extra assistance in catching up? Yeah, that would help, just a bit...

I shortly received assistance in two, out of five subjects-English and History. Spanish came mid-January, and Math and Science, try very little, to no help at all. -Just a reminder here, midterms, third week in January-but, what happened to the four weeks I was out in December? Now, honestly speaking, I was really not feeling well enough to be schooled when I was in the hospital when I had pneumonia, but what about Winter vacation? What about the first week in January? What about Spanish for only a week and a half before midterms? Lastly, what about practically no assistance in Math & Science? There is a strict problem here that needs to be addressed before we go back into our story: Inadequate help before a huge round of tests, which make up ten percent of your final grade in every class; otherwise known as midterms Now, it wasn't only the actual help that I as receiving that was inadequate, it as simply the timing, and yet, expectations which I inevitably agreed to-taking the midterms as scheduled, with minimal help due to time constraints. Time constraints which could've been prevented had the extra assistance been in place earlier on.

Back to the chronicle here: I stomached the pain of not knowing half the material I missed before the midterms, and moved on. I accepted the sub-par grades that I as capable of getting, and moved on. I overlooked the assistance that was/wasn't given to me, and simply concluded it was all right, and moved on. February passed, and feeling well enough, I flew through the third marking period by surprise, and it was the best attendance record all year long-I wasn't present every day, but it was good enough.

Next, came one of the biggest disappointments of my life. Due to so-called "tingling" from the Thalidomide, I was forced to stop the drug. Tingling is associated with irreversible peripheral neuropathy, which is the permanent damage to nerves in your feet and hands. The tingling is "warning sign," to stop the drug before permanent damage kicks in. Meanwhile, my body was mentally and physically traumatized from the discontinuation of the drug. For eight months, I was able to truly enjoy the taste of food, and digest it more completely than ever before, without the use of steroids. Those happy days, as I knew it, were over.

A week of loose stools, and still attending school (yet skipping lunches because it was too painful to eat),I was shortly admitted to the hospital for a Crohn's-flare, and lost fifteen pounds in the process. I was even further upset when I found out the news which I anticipated, I had to use steroids to treat my setback. {One thing that really struck my mind during this hospitalization was that steroids are too much of a "default" drug for patients who come in banged up like I was. That really got to me because steroids are not very safe drugs to use for the long term. As I was already on them for three years before I was able to discontinue it, I knew the terminal side-effects of the drug such as liver or kidney failure. Even as this is a "temporary" decision to treat the flare, it is practically the only drug which can help Crohn's patients in tight situations. Looking at that side of the use helps me come to terms with the inevitable decision to use it almost every time you experience an acute flare-up. This is yet another example of the motivation gained through my health, which was put into this Campaign.}

In the meantime, school days were passing yet again, and I got no help when I was in the hospital, and even after I was discharged. My condition in the hospital this time was slightly different, considering I did not have the same obstacles. This time, I could definitely admit that, yes, indeed I was physically able to meet with tutors. Even so, nobody was provided. Taking into the consideration the time period, I was forced to consider the option of home schooling. Fears grew, as this would be the first time I would be home schooled. Having to cope with not seeing friends, disciplining myself to work by myself, and the thought of being home alone instead of going to school made my stomach churn. This was the exact opposite of what I needed after leaving the hospital, more pressure.

It took until the following week until I was back to complete activity, and my decision was made: Home schooling for the rest of the year for all subjects. I told myself that I could handle it, and I knew that I was motivated to complete assignments by myself, and be independent. I swallowed the social aspect of it, simply because of the thought of finishing the year, and then starting fresh in my sophomore year. Looking forward to my stamp project was also an added encouragement. It was simply the best decision for me, to be less stressed, to accomplish personal things, and to take on the enormous task of "time management."

That same Monday that I was in to meet with my guidance counselor and my child study coordinator. I was soon to find out that, not only did the district not hire tutors for my subjects, but they hadn't even looked to it. No single tutor-other than the ongoing help I received before hand for the two subjects-was spoken to. I was furious; help was nonexistent, and nothing was dealt with at all.

Later on, meetings with my guidance counselor revealed that I was entitled to five hours a week total, for all classes. When you are in school, you receive about twenty hours of instruction, so, on the whole, and I was down to a quarter to that. "This is absurd," I thought to myself. I later asked, "well, can't that be changed?" Sure, it was changed in a matter of seconds. My educational services coordinator, John Masters, revealed that quite simply, it could be bumped to six hours: one full juicy hour more to help me with the two weeks out. Just over an hour per subject to tackle forty hours missed in the classroom. I continued on my little adventure that day to take to my child study coordinator, and I told her very assertively that six quite simply, didn't cut it. "Ok," she replied. Masters had made decisions that, if I asked for the extra hours, I would be eligible for them.

Slide show pause: Let's quickly discover the inside fury here. First, I come into school in a practically smashing mood, feeling healthy for the first time in two whole weeks. The first news is, people sat for about two weeks, ignored my situation, and didn't take my situation seriously. Next, I was soon to find out, that I could get five hours to help me catch up and finish the year on home instruction. Later on, I then encountered a little glitch in the system. I was mystically able to easily switch my number of allocated hours from five, to six, then to to ten.... why not go for a 100? All right, so then the next hurdle: when would the tutors be put in place?

Later that week I received help in Math. It wasn't until May 30, which I received assistance in Spanish. Almost a full month, and not a single session of Spanish. Biology was special situation, because I still had unfinished quarters from the first semester due to the insufficient tutoring when I caught pneumonia. Quite simply, Biology piled up, and today, June 9, was my first session. The original Math tutor was supposed to help me in Biology, but due to time constraints with working on Geometry, and him not being a Biology major, most of the work was completed independently before my first adequate session.

Indeed, there were issues all over the place, but to tell you the truth, I have no interest in complaining about what "was." The fact is, in my situation was handled inappropriately and inadequately, and violated the federal ADA laws by not providing me with the help and services that I needed in a an adequate amount of time frame. The reality is, disabled students receive the same run-around that I did on a daily basis, nationwide, and go unheard. I listen to parents of younger children at times, and they tell me "we did not get the help he/she needed on time, but the teachers forgot about the work." I mean, is is a good idea for teachers to forget about assignments so the students could move on? Sure, it's a splendid idea to a certain extent...

I am not the typical student who loves to just "forget" about work missed. Yes, it's a reality that when I am out, it is difficult to make up for lost time. Even so, if I am given the proper assistance, I will work to the best of my ability to catch-up and complete every single assignment missed. When I am not given that chance because of nonsensical actions and laziness expressed by my school district, I cannot effectively accomplish that. But on that topic, I should note that for ever assignment lost, so is a future piece of knowledge that would've come in handy.

Having agreed to take my midterms on time, even with little help, I was not handed the equal opportunity that my peers were. I ended up receiving grades in three out of five classes that were not to the best of my ability. That is a whopping 60% of a single grading period being affected on your report card. My guidance counselor though I was neurotic, and couldn't accept getting B+ instead of an A-, and I said: "No, that's where your wrong." Not to bad-mouth him, but to get him to see my side of things. I don't care if it is a and 88 instead of what should be an 89, that small hair is "missed opportunity" because of insufficient help, and if these examples of unequal opportunity can be fixed and/or prevented, they should be.

The Latest:

Since last year, many events have occurred with my school district during my sophomore year. I was forced to start the year on home instruction due to a Crohn's flare in August. My intentions were to come back to school later on, but this never became a reality due to my health, and more grief from my school district. At one time I was begging for my teachers to compile work for me to pickup and complete. At another time, my personal health privacy was invaded countless times by employees of the district. At another, I was begging not to be excluded from extracurricular activities due to being hospitalized. I've been down on my knees to obtain my my civil rights for many years now, and it's time for a change.

No person with an disability should be given the treatment that I've been given. No person with a disability should be denied his/her education. No person with a disability should have to beg to be included in an extracurricular program. No person with a disability should have to fight to keep his/her personal health information confidential. No person with a disability should be discriminated against. The Americans With Disabilities Act states exactly this, yet these things still go on in America every day.

I intend to do whatever it takes to improve the educational services in my district, and districts across the nation. Not giving people with disabilities an equal opportunity is like closing the door to life on them. This could, quite possibly, explain why 20% of people with disabilities never obtain a high school diploma. But I'll tell you something. I'm going to get my diploma, and am willing to do whatever it takes to do so. At the same time, I will makes sure that my school district stops the discriminatory treatment against people with disabilities. I've said this in the past to many people, and I'll say it again. This educational problem isn't just about me. It's a systemic problem across America. The question is, what will be done about it? I will do absolutely everything in my power to work with legislators to use my situation as an example of the injust discrimination that still exists in the public schools of America.

The actions being taken by Gideon to fix this systemic problem are strictly confidential at this time. He will come forward with the actions taken after the problem is solved. In the meantime, you can help Gideon and the rest of people with disabilities in his district obtain his proper education and respect by following the instructions below:

You can also help speak out:

If you have feelings to express about the ADA, or education and people with disabilities, email: speakout@ibdcure.org. Your comments will be shared with legislators around the nation, and we'll also be posting your feedback regarding this issue. If you would like to contact the Highland Park School District, the district which Gideon attends, please write: speakout@ibdcure.org OR write:

Highland Park Public Schools

President of the Board of Education

435 Mansfield Street

Highland Park, New Jersey 08904

United States of America

...tell them to stop discriminating against people with disabilities and violating federal law!

A final note to people who might be in a similar position: Make sure you obtain every single piece of education you deserve by being heard. Stand up for your rights, never give up, and don't, ever, ever, settle for lesser opportunity. Dream your dreams, and follow them, regardless of what injustices stand in your way.

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