By Jessica Belmosto
I hate the term “special needs.” They aren’t special needs, they are accommodations to ensure students a successful education to which they are entitled to. Whether that be extra time on a test or frequent breaks, those are things some students may require. Some students might require more than that.
It was my final semester at Massasoit Community College. I was taking care of my father whose health was declining due to high blood pressure, mini-strokes, and what we believed to be dementia. I was participating in a work-study at the local Boys and Girls Club, working as a hockey writer for a website called Puckerup Sports, and taking five classes. To say I was burnt out was an understatement. Chronic illness is something that affects my everyday life. I have Kallmann Syndrome which means my body doesn’t produce estrogen at all. I take daily medication to keep my estrogen levels healthy. Hormones play a huge role in mood, how you sleep, what you eat, just about everything. So if there’s a dip or spike in hormone levels, I can be in a lot of pain. Fibromyalgia is something that doesn’t mess around. The aches and pains come from sitting too long or even the rainy weather. Needless to say, it was an uphill battle balancing it all. I would miss class because of how exhausted I was or my pain levels. It was detrimental to my education and health.
It was a Friday afternoon and I was in my Marine Biology lab. I had to leave early because I had a migraine and could barely keep my eyes open. I sent my professor an email that night asking if there was any way I could do alternative assignments or Skype into classes to follow along. Denied.
After presenting my case to Student Services and the professor, my request was denied. I wanted nothing more than to sit at home and listen to lectures. It wasn’t about laziness or anything like that. It was about protecting my energy and putting my health first.
Flash forward a year and a half. I no longer attend Massasoit Community College. I moved to Plattsburgh New York to attend SUNY Plattsburgh. Little did I know, I would be getting my wish almost two years later.
Colleges across the country have transitioned to Zoom courses. Granted, a global pandemic was ravaging communities and making it impossible for our traditional lives to exist. It felt like a slap in the face to see my former college shift ever so seamlessly when they deemed my request impossible.
The issue wasn’t me not getting my way. It was the fact that colleges and universities across the country transitioned to Zoom. Courses were now available online and could be taken from the comfort and safety of our own homes. Obviously, COVID-19 had forced their hand but it showed that lectures over video chat have always been possible.
Moving fully remote was an easy decision when you have a highly contagious virus running rampant. This had never been done before. All of a sudden, your entire facility and student body are learning from their homes. Certainly not an easy lifestyle to maintain.
Advocating for yourself is one of those skills you acquire typically because you’ve been wronged. You stand up for yourself and let the people around you know that this isn’t right or
you deserve x over y. Thanks to growing up with Nonverbal Learning Disorder and Kallmann Syndrome, I learned how to go to bat for myself and those around me.
While being able to listen to lectures from the comfort of my own home has been delightful, I think about the future. Colleges are not going to be able to get away with the “it’s impossible” excuse anymore. If enough students have an issue, colleges could have an issue on their hands. If there’s one thing we have learned about this younger generation, it’s that they fight for what they believe in. They don’t rest until there is a solution.
There are plenty of people who can benefit from “Zoom University” but there are those who do not. I reached out to Felicia Mancuso over email. She is a former college student who is now in the workforce. Mancuso suffers from migraines and irritable bowel syndrome.
“Personally, anything on the computer triggers my migraines so I think Zoom would've been worse for that aspect and I focus a lot better in person, but I still do think it's a good option for when people really can't make it out of the house on a certain day because of their chronic illness. I think it would've been nice to have that back up just in case. Like if I had a bad IBS flare up I could've gone home and listened to the lesson from the comfort of my own house, instead of missing the lecture entirely, stuck in the school washroom.” Felicia Mancuso via email.
While I sympathize with Mancuso, I appreciate her compassion as well. At one point during the lockdowns and quarantines, it seemed as if compassion was a thing of the past. We saw students partying and ignoring social distancing guidelines throughout the pandemic. A lot of students have complained about a lack of empathy from their professors and they’re piling on the work as if there is no such thing as a school-life balance.
Colleges are slowly moving back to in-person and a limited number of Zoom courses are being offered. Zoom University was never meant to be permanent but there should be thoughts of integrating it into our classrooms. It would be beneficial for snow days, those mornings when you go out and see you’ve got a flat tire and can’t make it to class, and of course when you’re sick.
I hope that someday we’re at the point where chronically ill college students have access to the education they’re paying for without sacrificing their own well-being. There are a group of students out there who would truly benefit from this sort of accessibility.
At the end of the day, I’m very happy to see the United States slowly moving back to pre-Covid life. We’re seeing baby showers, birthday parties, and people taking vacations! I hope that the accessibility to chronically ill and disabled students does not get left behind as colleges make that shift as well.
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