On my mum’s side of the family there’s a genetic illness that only gets carried by females. Males either have it or they don’t. It’s called Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy and I have it. My muscles lack a certain protein which slowly causes them to deteriorate. So I was born perfectly able bodied and have slowly declined from there. I found out when I was 6 and got my first chair in Y2. In Y3 I had an operation to release tension in my ankles. Then I had these big things on my legs to help me walk straight. In Y4 I got my first eclectic wheelchair but I was still walking. In Y6 I was in my wheelchair permanently.

It didn’t bother me too much at the time but when I moved up to a normal secondary school, where I was bullied, I became very aware of it. There were around 12,00 pupils and not many wheelchairs. I was the only one in my class who had one. There were some good things about being in an average secondary school like mixing with people, computers, science and maths, but I still felt left out. Practically all my friends were able bodied which was fine but on the whole I felt people treated me differently because they were aware of my wheelchair and different needs. There was only one able-bodied lad who I’d known before my wheelchair, who I felt treated me the same.

In the first few years I experienced bullying and I found it hard to make friends. As I got worse the problems got worse and I started to notice them more. There were incidents that made me feel stressed and upset in the first year. I had a problem with another kid and he got hold of my eclectic wheelchair and drove me into a door, into a wall and into a thorn bush. He even tried to push me down a flight of stairs but I managed to turn it off before he got me there. There was also someone who used to wind me up and call me a cripple which was very upsetting and frustrating. This type of thing, and the feeling that I was different, caused me a lot of unhappiness, so eventually it was suggested I move.

This is my second year at Oakespark School. Everyone here has a disability so I feel more relaxed. I feel the staff listen to me and understand more and there aren’t so many pupils so it’s less hectic and easier to get on with people.

Our disabilities are all different but we are equal. Before Oakespark I hated football because I felt it was something only for the able-bodied. At Oakespark I love playing football. Even though the facilities were good at my other school, because I was unhappy, I didn’t enjoy them. I feel relieved I don’t have all the stress of GCSEs on my back. I felt the other school focused on high standards and not individual ability like Oakespark does. I refused to do the work to make my point. I can be sweet and innocent but I’m still a teenager!

These days I don’t think about the problems and people who caused me stress at my previous school and I still keep in touch with a few good friends. The only unfortunate thing about coming to Oakespark is that I meet and interact less with able-bodies teens. My teacher Julie said in 2010 my school will join with Easthill, (a moderate learning difficulties school), in one purpose built school for special needs. It will be on the site of All Saints Secondary School, so we’ll share a lot of facilities like the dining hall. Hopefully, there will be more opportunity to integrate through the joint 6th form, with more of a balance of students than I experienced last time. Generally I don’t think able and non able-bodies people mix very much and this is a problem. My good friend Safa agrees. She wanted people to know “If able and non able-bodied people mix with each other they’ll understand more and won’t worry what they say”, and I think this is very true.

By Tom Roberts