Just A Little About Me
Hi! My name is Kyra (@kyra_oxxo). I was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at 9 months old, my parents noticed when I started dragging my leg when I would walk. At 2 years old I stopped walking completely. At around 7 years old I had to undergo spinal surgery because my spine was an " S " shape. It was challenging to breathe and I had asthma. Before the surgery, I could still stand, pull myself up, and walk on a walker. After my surgery, I went home, I was prescribed Penicillin and amoxicillin, both of which I had a terrible allergic reaction to. My back had reopened and I had to be rushed back to the hospital. After the whole recovery process, I had to go through a lot of physical therapy due to being in bed for so long to recover. My ability to do things was declining very fast. Physical therapy was the worst thing ever, they were trying to see if I would be able to walk or stand up in a standing frame. My disability makes my legs constricted, they don't stretch out all the way. So they would put me in casts and braces and force my legs straight. It was the most painful thing I have experienced. I would feel the bones in my knees breaking. In the end, my legs did stretch all the way out but an X-ray was done on my knees: they were broken.
I was homeschooled after the entire process. I became better and was able to attend school again. It was the best feeling, but there were things I was starting to notice. Everyone with disabilities was in the same classes and everyone else without a disability was in a different one. I started living with my dad and we moved to the suburbs so I switched schools, which was horrible. 4th grade is when I started to fight to be in General ed classes because they would just put me in elective classes. From 6th to 8th grade I was fighting to get put into these classes. It was not until the end of 7th grade that I was starting to be in all of them. Once I switched the bullying got horrible I would be asked why I was in their classes, and if I knew how to read or write. When it came to group projects, nobody would ever work with me or pick me to be in a group. I would always have to work by myself or the teacher would put me into a group and everyone would ignore me. High school was worse, I was in all general ed classes and I would still experience bullying. Additionally, people would stab me in my legs because people didn't believe I was not paralyzed. They asked if the battery under my chair was my toilet. I only had one friend in high school, my best friend and she was always there to protect me. Sadly, she switched schools. I started eating lunch in this place my school called the commons area because people would spit in my food at me. If I went to a table to sit I would get dirty looks. Since I switched schools I have been fighting depression because I never understood why people with disabilities are getting treated poorly, why I was singled out, or why we can’t all have equal opportunities. Going through all this made me want to do the impossible and that's why I'm studying to be a real estate agent, am working to be a model, and to be an advocate for disabilities. -this is only a piece of my story it gets deeper
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