Ableism is defined as a set of beliefs or practices that devalue and discriminate against people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities. Here at San Ramon Valley we have many students who are special needs. Often they may be mistreated or bullied for their differences. I interviewed both a teacher and student on our campus about any possible ableism they could’ve witnessed.

I interviewed Ms. Libby, a PE teacher here at SRV who teaches a special education PE class. I asked Ms. Libby, if she had witnessed any ableism on campus. She stated “I haven’t witnessed it personally but I have heard lots of kids report witnessing it.” Ms. Libby and I discussed if ableism has gotten worse or better over the years and she summarized it with “I don’t think it’s gotten worse I just think there are more people to victimize now. Referring to how the population of special needs students has grown at SRV. We also conversed about how to deal with students who may be being ableist. Ms. Libby said “When I confront students the main thing they do is deny. They claim to have never said or done anything wrong and it’s hard to argue with them if I haven’t witnessed it myself. So I try to help them learn why what happened, even if they claim to not have done it, was wrong. Punishment just builds resentment between me and that student and in my experience doesn’t help the issue.” Finally, I asked Ms. Libby how she would like special needs students at our school being treated she responded with “I would not like all of our special needs students to be treated the same as everybody else, but with the same respect and kindness as you should be treating everybody.” 

I also interviewed a freshman student, Alizeh Italia. I asked Alizeh if she has witnessed any ableism at our school and she responded “I’ve seen other students purposefully try and make special needs students do inappropriate things. They take advantage of the fact that the special needs students don’t understand it’s wrong. For example, I’ve witnessed students egg on a special needs student to make inappropriate hand gestures”. I asked Alizeh how frequently she witnesses this and she stated that “Whenever I see a special needs student this behavior always follows them. I see this behavior almost daily at our school.” 

Ableism may be occurring at our school however, At SRV we also have many resources we can use to help and uplift our special needs students. You can be in Ms. Libby’s special needs PE class and assist them with their PE. There is also a club called “Fair Chance” that assists special needs students. I recommend either of these to anyone who would like to be of aid to our special needs students.