My diagnosis is schizoaffective disorder, which in my case means schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Both symptoms and side effects affected my time in elementary and high school.
For example... I've always been very inattentive, and have always had a bad memory, which are symptoms of schizophrenia. Because of this, and because of the mania-inducing antidepressants I was put on, I was given coffee at age 6. The coffee didn't sedate me, as I'd later learn, because I didn't have ADD. I actually had bipolar type I, and the mania I would experience throughout school would deprive me of an education...
The stress of bipolar must have been enough to trigger my schizophrenia, because I began hallucinating and having many other bizzare behaviors, at age 14. The antipsychotics they put me on, both for the ever-present psychosis and the mania, ensured that I slept through literally most of high school. It was only because of my very involved mom, that I found my way into a special GED program, which made it easy for me to graduate senior year with a diploma.
It began with a 504 plan, though, which gives you the right to have special accommodations. Seeing that that wasn't enough, it was and can be up-ed to an IEP, or individualized education plan.
If you don't have anyone in your life to set things things up for you, like I did, it's important that you take on that responsibility. I'm now making A's in school again, I'm living on my own, and I have a girlfriend who both means the world to me and thinks she's lucky to have me. Life is easy to take advantage of, but nothing will change unless you change.
For example... I've always been very inattentive, and have always had a bad memory, which are symptoms of schizophrenia. Because of this, and because of the mania-inducing antidepressants I was put on, I was given coffee at age 6. The coffee didn't sedate me, as I'd later learn, because I didn't have ADD. I actually had bipolar type I, and the mania I would experience throughout school would deprive me of an education...
The stress of bipolar must have been enough to trigger my schizophrenia, because I began hallucinating and having many other bizzare behaviors, at age 14. The antipsychotics they put me on, both for the ever-present psychosis and the mania, ensured that I slept through literally most of high school. It was only because of my very involved mom, that I found my way into a special GED program, which made it easy for me to graduate senior year with a diploma.
It began with a 504 plan, though, which gives you the right to have special accommodations. Seeing that that wasn't enough, it was and can be up-ed to an IEP, or individualized education plan.
If you don't have anyone in your life to set things things up for you, like I did, it's important that you take on that responsibility. I'm now making A's in school again, I'm living on my own, and I have a girlfriend who both means the world to me and thinks she's lucky to have me. Life is easy to take advantage of, but nothing will change unless you change.
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