Advocating for Educational Rights
By Safia Khan
Mar/Apr 2024
At 12 years old, I faced a struggle that not many adults experience even in old age — I lost my hearing. That deterioration of my health and the loss of an ability shaped me. After persistent symptoms such as hours-long headaches, my hearing started to decline. Upon learning that tumors were nesting on my auditory nerves, I underwent multiple traumatic surgeries and eventually went from being hard-of-hearing to being completely deaf.
This reality caused me to feel like I no longer belonged in either the world of the hearing or of the deaf. Losing the self-confidence that had taken years to build, I felt isolated, began to doubt my capabilities and thought that the ensuing mistreatment and prejudice were deserved.
During my journey of adjusting to the loss of a sense and a change in my identity, I learned that I am not broken. I emerged from the traumatic ordeal stronger, educated about my rights and thankful for my capabilities.
High School Challenges
During my freshman and sophomore years of high school, the Department of Special Education (DSE) refused to invest time and money to provide me with needed accommodations. I was given and expected to learn from a shoddy captioning system. During my freshman year, I faced discrimination for the first time when I was kicked out of classes. Despite these obvious wrongs, DSE looked the other way.
During my sophomore year, I transferred to another high school that would provide me with the needed accommodations and support. That year, I was a student and manager, battling district officials to stay at my new high school. The discrimination I faced in my first high school taught me to advocate for myself and for those whom many people overlook.
My passion for education comes from this discrimination and my fight against this injustice. Despite facing adversity and being newly deaf, I used my challenging experience to build on my education. I learned to “show up” for myself and saw my potential. I met with a tutor, studied at the library for hours every day to reteach myself what I should have been able to learn at school and simultaneously fought for my rights to obtain technology that would allow me to graduate.
My fight for my education helped me realize my passion for advocacy and caring for the educational rights of people with disabilities. I discovered that I wanted to continue fighting and that the fight for equal educational rights does not stop with me. I hope to become a lawyer one day, insha’ Allah, to help such students understand that they don’t deserve the prejudice they face but have the right to be accommodated.
My advocacy against these district officials and for being accommodated allowed me to stay at my second high school, where I was fully accommodated and treated justly by the teachers. For the first time, my newfound disability was accepted, a reality that contributed to my positive growth.
I became involved with the school community and joined numerous clubs. In the newspaper club, I discovered my love and passion for writing. I continued to advocate for people with disabilities and for other unheard voices through the topics I chose to write about.
College Obstacles
My college also accepted and accommodated me, which enabled me to join clubs related to my interests and receive the tranquility I rarely had in high school.
However, during the second semester of my freshman year, a professor refused to use my assistive technology properly and hid behind the excuse of taking measures to prevent Covid. After having faced discrimination for the first time, I had vowed to seek justice.
With the unwavering support of my disability access specialist, I did what I once was too afraid to do for myself — initiate a self-advocacy campaign to let the professor know he was treating me unfairly. I asked him during class to use my technology correctly. His refusal to do so led me to file a complaint with the support of my access specialist.
The complaint process was a bitter, six-month battle involving lawyers, investigators and the dean of the college. It was physically and mentally draining, especially since I was recovering from health-related surgery. In the end, the investigators ruled in my favor and said so in their final report.
While my loss of hearing was devastating, my difficulties provided a growth opportunity and a new perspective. Among the aftershocks of my illness, I learned to move forward and continue my education. By accepting my disability, I learned to find my voice and direction as a deaf person. As a lawyer, I hope to educate and help others struggling to access their rights and to ensure that all individuals with disabilities are protected under Section 300.8(a) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This clause ensures that all individuals with disabilities receive their needed accommodations at school.
I am so much more than a survivor of discrimination, than who others would write off as a sick woman, than my illness. By coming forward and speaking up about injustice within our education system, I seek to inspire others to see themselves as so much more than their disability.
I would have never considered this goal if it were not for the very illness, I thought would destroy me. Instead of allowing it and the ensuing prejudice to hold me back, I learned from those experiences and decided to dedicate my life to fighting discrimination. My disability acts as a reminder to empower others who are not heard.
Safia Khan is a sophomore studying English at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She has been published in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal. She hopes to pursue a career in law one day, insha’ Allah.
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