They had no idea how much I know and I didn’t think they believed I was smart.   They thought that functional was more important for me to learn than academics. I didn’t like that, so I never did good work and so they thought I couldn’t sort forks. I know how functional is important in life, but nobody knows how important the academics are to me.   I just want to be able to learn more and be able to go to college. I think I can do that. My teachers made me believe I can do that. I never believed I could go to a class with twenty students and be able to sit quietly and learn with my peers in general ed.