OC HIGH / STUDENT NEWS & VIEWS : Beyond Barriers : Schools: Teen-agers with disabilities enter the mainstream in programs adapted to individual needs.

Most high school students struggle to balance schoolwork, jobs, sports and social lives. Students with disabilities deal with those things and more--such as navigating physical barriers and other obstacles, including the misconceptions of others.

Thousands of teens with a wide range of disabilities attend regular and specialized classes at Orange County high schools; some need no special services; others need programs adapted to their individual situation.

Ryan Berger, a junior at Irvine High School, has osteogenesis imperfecta, better known as brittle bone disease. Because his disease causes the bones to break if they’re even slightly jarred, Berger is confined to a wheelchair.

“It bugs me a little bit because I can’t go to parties and that kind of stuff, but it’s no biggie,” Berger said.

Georgie Mendonca, an aide, takes Berger to and from his classes and lunch to protect him from jarring. “The student body has been friendly for the most part; nobody’s been rude with Ryan,” Mendonca said. Still, Mendonca says students need more information about those with disabilities.

“Students in general need to be made more aware of the differences here on campus, and they need to more fully understand and accept these students for who they are,” Mendonca said.

Andi Drayer, also a junior at Irvine High, has a visual disability and short stature as a result of a brain tumor at age 12.

To help her reading, Drayer uses a magnifier, large-print books and a special monitor in the school library that enlarges an entire page of a book.

“I don’t find it difficult to fit in with everybody else--I’m just an average person,” Drayer said.

“The school’s goal for the special education students is to include them as completely as possible in the regular education program,” Irvine High School principal Gail Richards said.

“We also provide support services in every way possible with instructional aides, like computers and instruments to enlarge type for students with visual problems,” Richards added.

Although mixing special education and mainstream students is a goal of the Irvine Unified School District, that isn’t the case in all districts.

“The attitude of most school districts is that the special education students need to be treated differently, and there’s usually a reluctance to include them in normal academic and social activities,” said Nancy Melgares, a program specialist in the Irvine Unified School District.

In some cases, the Irvine programs for specific conditions are centered at a particular school.

“At University High, there’s a program in place to help the hearing-impaired as well as the disabled, and different needs are met at both University and Woodbridge (high schools) through buses for the students, as well as job coaches,” Irvine school psychologist Susan Rashap said.

“Our goal is to provide an individual educational plan for each special education student, and it’s tailor-made to meet the strengths and weaknesses of each student. We try to provide as much mainstream as possible, and there’s also individual and small groups working on social skills,” Rashap said.

One of the biggest problems, say some students, is getting noticed on campus.

“Everybody has been very nice and considerate with me. They don’t consider me a student with a disability; rather, they consider me like any other student on campus,” said Irvine High special education student Maryam Abdollahi.

Richards thinks the mainstream approach has been a success.

“I’ve heard from students and faculty members alike that they appreciate the diversity of having special education students in the classrooms, because it’s another way to look at people as individuals.”

And it has helped others see the whole person.

“The mainstream students get to know the person inside, instead of making a judgment based on the handicapped students’ external characteristics,” Richards said.