Hi! I’m Kaye Anderson. I’m 24 years old, and I’m in my first year as a 10-11 grade teacher at a rural high school. I earned my BA from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, where I majored in English education and psychology.
Hi! I’m Makenzie Kaput. I’m 22 years old, and I’m in my first year as a 6-8 grade teacher at a Catholic middle school. I earned my BA from the University Wisconsin – Parkside, where I majored in history and secondary education.
Tell us a little bit about your diagnosis.
KAYE: I was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis at the age of 10. My journey started off with what my parents and I thought was frostbite on my toes. After it did not go away and my toes continued to swell, my primary doctor referred us to a rheumatologist. After a few appointments with tests that did not show much, I was diagnosed with JIA and pernio.
During this time, I had a hard time in school. I was always uncomfortable, struggled to pay attention, and, often times, could not adhere to the norms of classroom behavior. Using a pencil was hard and the chunky grips did not help. So being the artist and inventor I was, I rubber-banded three pencils together. And it worked. My other accommodations were not seen as kindly by my teacher. I was assigned a yoga ball to sit on so that I could move my joints while sitting down. She saw this as a distraction and often called me out for bouncing. I was allowed to sit on a chair during circle time, but getting up to get that chair during circle time was also frowned upon. I was supposed to anticipate my needs ahead of time, which to a 10-year-old with a newly diagnosed condition, was very difficult.
After elementary school, things got easier. I found ways to advocate for myself and learned that typing was easier than writing. I mastered the art of asking to take breaks discretely and wrote to teachers before school started to let them know of my 504 (and later on, IEP).
MAKENZIE: I still have not been diagnosed with a specific disease, but I do know that I have some kind of autoimmune condition. I first got really sick right before my junior year of college. I had been having daily headaches for a few years at that point, and my neurologist was trying to find a balance of medication and other treatment that would help me. Unfortunately, the medicine I tried the summer before my junior year was incredibly hard on my body. I was nauseous almost every day and was finding it difficult to even make it class at all. Even when I could, I wasn’t fully present.
In October of 2022, I noticed that my hands were really swollen and my fingers were stiff. At first, I thought nothing of it because I played soccer in college and had just played a series of games in snow/very cold temperatures. When it didn’t go away after a few days, I started to wonder if something else was going on. I already had an appointment with a doctor at the Mayo Clinic for my headaches, so I figured they could give me some more insight. Unfortunately, they concluded that it was unrelated to the headaches and I would have to connect with a rheumatologist when I got back home. After that, I kept getting more and more fatigued and I was quickly losing function in my fingers, wrists, and other major joints. My feet hurt with every step. I started the long and frustrating process of getting to an autoimmune diagnosis, one that I still do not have. I went back to the Mayo Clinic in April of 2023, but they were unable to be 100% certain about a diagnosis.
What was it like managing a chronic condition as a college student?
KAYE: By the time that I got to college, I was fairly stable and did not often have flares. With that being said, the cold was extremely triggering and my medication side effects were not great. I only missed a few days of school due to pain, the other times it was due to nausea or fatigue.
I went to college in my hometown, so my parents were able to help me out when I needed it. As we all remember covid hit in 2020, during my second semester and I was even more thankful to be living at home.
During college, I was really able to explore my identity as a chronically ill person. I signed up for accommodations right away and was told to apply to be a member of a new group of young adults with autoimmune conditions (now known as YP AREA). In this position, and as a mentor for incoming students with disabilities/accommodations, I thrived. I loved being able to guide people as they navigate college and independence while also shining a light on the intersectionality of living with a disability as a young person.
MAKENZIE: In my junior year, I really struggled to make it to class a lot of the time. Luckily for me, I went to a smaller school and already had two years under my belt, so most of my teachers knew me and what kind of student I was. I applied for accommodations through my school’s student accessibility services department, and it was one of the best decisions I could have made. Even though I ended up not needing to use them all that much, it brought me such peace of mind to know that I could do as much as my body could handle, communicate with my professors, and still get the education that I deserved. Every school’s resources may look different, but I would highly recommend looking into services even if you think you won’t need them. It is always better to have a plan in place in case something ever comes up.
I also played college soccer for four years, and the biggest thing that taught me was to listen to my body and be okay that I couldn’t do the same things as everyone else. At the end of the day, getting any kind of movement for your body is huge, especially with an autoimmune disease. My weight room routines looked a little bit different from the rest of my team, but I knew that I was doing what my body needed and could handle. It’s hard to accept that reality sometimes, but I think it is important for us to remember that we simply create a new reality.
What is hard for you about being a teacher with a chronic condition?
KAYE: I think the hardest part of teaching for me would be working when I am having a hard day. I have had a handful of days where I have had to teach while being extremely nauseous. These days, I find myself having to replan lessons to make sure that I am not over-exerting myself. So far, my students have been pretty understanding and I have had a few that even remember to check on me the next day to see how I am feeling.
Another thing that has been tricky to navigate is my energy level. I am able to get through the school day, but I can definitely feel that I am not as engaging during my afternoon classes. To help with this, I have been going to bed pretty early to make sure that I can put my best foot forward.
MAKENZIE: Prioritizing is hard. There are all these things that I want to do in my classroom that I simply don’t have the energy or capacity for at this time. One of the hardest things is figuring out the balance between making everything fun and engaging for the students while also still having time for myself and not getting burnt out.
What coping strategies do you have for managing your condition in the classroom?
KAYE: I think this is something I am still working on, but right now my biggest self-care strategy is getting enough sleep. I regularly hear co-workers or students talking about how late they were awake, but I am keeping myself to a hard deadline of when I need to put work down and when I need to be asleep.
In terms of managing pain, I think it is a bit easier in my own classroom because I can move when I need to or ask students to come back to my desk to talk. During the colder months, I use a heat pack on my lower back.
To help with my mental health, I like being able to walk my dog and be outside in my garden. During the colder months here in the Midwest, I listen to audiobooks and do paint-by-numbers.
MAKENZIE: I try to always have a project or two (sewing, painting, crochet, etc) going on that I can work on when I need brain breaks. I’ve found that these types of projects are great for my mind AND great to keep my hands moving and working. Aside from that, I just ask for help when I need it. I used to really hate asking for help, and then suddenly one day I was at this point where there were things I simply couldn’t do if I didn’t have help. Over time, I started accepting that I can’t do everything by myself and that there are so many people who want to help me. Realizing that and being smart and realistic about when I need help has been a game changer.
Did you disclose your condition to your students?
KAYE: I find that being in the disability community and my work in advocacy is a big part of who I am, because of this, I felt comfortable sharing about it at the beginning of the year. I did not list specifics, but I said that I had arthritis and that I work to share research about autoimmune conditions with young adults. Later on, I found myself mentioning to some of my classes that I was having a rough day and reminded them about my condition.
MAKENZIE: I did end up sharing a little bit with my students when it came up in conversation. We had a reading lesson on a story that was teaching us to never judge someone else and always be kind because you never know what they are going through. Coincidentally, I was in a flare up at this time, and when I am my eye gets a little bit red and swollen/bruised. It looks like a black eye. The students were asking, and I knew it would be a really good way to show them first hand that you never know what is going on in someone else’s life.
When it gets cold, I also have to wear compression gloves if I want to be able to do all the things we need our hands for in a day. Since they look like motorcycle gloves lol, I fielded a lot of questions about why I wear them and what they are for.
I also wanted them to understand that there will be times we go through rough periods and it might seem like things won’t get better but they do. The fact that a year and a half ago I couldn’t even open a water bottle or the door to my own apartment by myself and now I’m a teacher with my own classroom, I want them to know that it’s possible.
Did you disclose your condition to your coworkers?
KAYE: Throughout the year, I have become more comfortable mentioning my condition to my coworkers. Some of them seem to understand it more than others. I am thankful for how understanding they are, but also worry that they see me differently when I am going through flares or dealing with medication side effects.
Have you set up accommodations at work?
KAYE: I am currently working through the process to get a prep period in the middle of the school day. While having my own classroom means that I can make my own adjustments to be comfortable, I find that I need a period in the day where I can be more active if need be or warm up my heat pack. I think that the fatigue also plays a role here as I need some time to regroup before I go back to teaching classes.
What makes being a teacher with a chronic condition worth it?
KAYE: I love the one-on-one interactions that I get to have with my students. I appreciate being able to take the time to walk them through a skill they are learning and joking around with them during downtime. I also love seeing students excel. It brings me so much joy to grade assignments where the students absolutely nail it.
MAKENZIE: Although they can be exhausting, the kids make it so worth it. At the end of the day, I know that I am making a difference and I can see the difference I’m making every day. I feel like I am paying it forward from all of the people who helped and cared about me when I got sick (and still now). These kids deserve someone who cares about them and wants to succeed, and it is so worth it to know that I can be that, even on frustrating days.
