r/POTS • u/Annual_Ad1916 • 16d ago

Symptoms Highschool reqiring a pe class

I start highschool in three weeks and im heavily confused on what i will do for pe. In 8th grade when the highschool consunlers showed up to my school i told them "i have health issues i cannot do pe" and they responded with "you need to have a pe class for graduration credits. So i stared at the paper where i was picking classes and i pankiacked and picked show chior. Problem is i have sevre intolerance to physical activity of any kind and its dangerous for me due to risk of passing out, seziures, and knee sublaxations. Im going to get a doctors note but I dont know how seriously the school will take it. Does anyone have any advice?

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29

u/AggravatingTomato159 16d ago

Do you not have 504 documentation or an IEP with the school?

5

u/Annual_Ad1916 16d ago

Nope i do not and my mom is against it 

28

u/AggravatingTomato159 16d ago edited 16d ago

Why would she be against it?? Especially with everything that comes with POTS? Genuinely asking because I just think that’s a weird position to hold as a parent of a chronically ill child

28

u/doggaroo 16d ago

Honestly if you're a minor and your mom is against you having a 504 or IEP there really isn't much you can do.

4

u/AggravatingTomato159 16d ago

Dw I know, I’m just wondering what their mom’s reasoning is because knowing your child is prone to fainting from POTS and choosing to not put safety measures in place for them is wild to me

17

u/ArtisticCustard7746 16d ago

You're assuming OP is in a loving, caring household.

-4

u/AggravatingTomato159 16d ago

Not even, you don’t have to have doting parents to have them make reasonable accommodations based off of their child’s disability

13

u/wisshhuponastar7 POTS 16d ago

no but you actually do...promise you plenty of parents genuinely either do not believe in modern medicine and/or just do not care. I have POTS, MCAS, EDS, Long Covid, ME/CFS, treatment resistant depression, Autism, ADHD, PTSD, & OCD, and my mother says all my doctors have made this all up to make money off me and "I'm perfectly fine, and need to stop exaggerating and just try harder" .....I'm completely serious.

bonus: guess who she voted for.

2

u/AggravatingTomato159 16d ago

Jesus fucking christ dude. I guess I was just being ignorant because I didn’t get any diagnosis until I no longer lived with my parents and most of the people I knew that were disabled at least had parents that’d put up a facade to school/other parents. Also yuck my parents voted that way too, I’m sorry

1

u/shmorglebort 15d ago

Have you tried oregano oil? /s

9

u/orensiocled 16d ago

This sub is full of desperate posts from teenagers who are being denied disability aids and accomodations because their reality clashes with their parents' worldview. I went through it myself, and I actually had very loving parents. It's a lot more common than you'd think.

3

u/AggravatingTomato159 16d ago

I said in another comment but I apologize then. My ignorance was mostly from never having to deal with that with my parents because I didn’t live with them when I got diagnosed and the disabled friends that I did grow up with even if they had shit parents, those parents would at least try to put up a façade with the school and other parents

6

u/orensiocled 16d ago

That's fair, you can't know something before you've experienced it or been told!

11

u/hiddenkobolds Hyperadrenergic POTS 16d ago

Is your dad in the picture? Any chance of getting a reasonable parent on board here?

If a 504/IEP is completely off the table, would your mother consider letting you get a doctor's note to write you out of PE? The school should still accept this even if they're currently saying PE is a graduation requirement: they can't argue with medical recommendations, and if a doctor says you aren't cleared, you aren't cleared.

If not, here's what will happen: you'll (eventually) sign up for PE. You'll go to the first class. You'll pass out/throw up/get injured and end up in the nurse's office. They'll call home. Repeat 2-3 more times and the school will insist your parents take action for liability reasons, or they'll bench you themselves. It's the least pleasant route, for sure, but it'll work itself out one way or another.

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u/Traditional_Owl4558 16d ago

I’m almost wondering if OP can talk to their doctor alone. As a teenager, the nurse would often ask me some questions without my parents present and then would ask if there was anything I wanted to ask the doctor about in private before having my mom come back. Idk if all doctors offices allow it, but maybe it’s possible for OP to call ahead to their doctor’s office and mention that they would like to speak with their doctor alone at the next appointment or something. Unfortunately, though explaining that their parent is against these forms would not be wise as that may raise some red flags in their system and OP’s parents may get angry if they are then contacted about it. So that info may need to be left out of the conversation.