Some Substitutes Should Be Screened

(I’ve always had photosensitive epilepsy — meaning, under certain light conditions, I’ll have a seizure. This is in the early 2000s, where computer screens were a little primitive, and I am not allowed to use the screens at school. We have a substitute teacher, and she takes us to the lab.)

Substitute: “[My Name]! Why aren’t you getting onto a computer?”

Me: “I can’t, or else I’ll have a seizure.”

Substitute: “Do you have a doctor’s note?”

Me: “No, but everyone knows and my mom talked to [Principal]—”

Substitute: “No note, no excuse. You’re just trying to get out of work!”

(We argue for a while, but I am afraid of getting in trouble so I hop onto a screen. Less than five minutes later, I black out, and I wake up in the principal’s a couple of hours later…)

Principal: “[My Name]! We had a meeting saying you didn’t have to get on the screens. Why did you?”

Me: “[Substitute] told me to.”

(I didn’t really see much of that substitute after that! Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only teacher that didn’t believe me, but this was the only teacher that didn’t confirm that I wasn’t lying before forcing me onto a screen.)

This story is part of our Epilepsy roundup.

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