From Downtown Magnets High School

In January of 2008 we noticed the first signs of some speech slurring. This was after Winter Break of my sixth of nine years at DMHS. Almost a year and a half later, on May 8, 2009, I was diagnosed with Progressive Bulbar Palsy, and had an intense emotional reaction. This was a little over a month before the end of my 7th year at DMHS.

During the eighth year my speech continued to degenerate. I got my portable DynaVox speech device in November 2010, just before winter break.

In the first week of the 9th and final year that I had to get through to get lifetime medical benefits, my voice gave out from my over ambitious scheduling. The Principal, who had found ways to get rid of many vulnerable teachers during my time as chapter chair, set her sights on me. Luckily, when I asked Dan Barnhart of UTLA for support, he put me in touch with the ADA compliance officer for the district.

The day before the principal called me in to tell me the bad news, I obtained the forms and wrote up my accommodation plan, which involved using my adaptive speech device. Instead of whisking me out of the school, she had to sign an agreement with the force of federal law guaranteeing me the right to do my job using the accommodations for my disability.

To really guarantee a fantastic final year, she was promoted the same week to a position at district headquarters , and the assistant principal was hired to replace her. He was a great ally, who had developed a lot of respect for me in his year as AP. I narrowly escaped the executioner, and had a triumphant final year.

#6.6 of SA6. Teaching