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This episode of P.S. Weekly dives into New York City’s notoriously complex special education system, which serves 1 in 5 students — or more than 200,000 children.

Students with disabilities have the right to customized support — listed on individualized education programs, or IEPs, or 504 plans — that spell out what accommodations they need, from smaller classes to frequent breaks. But securing a learning plan, and getting the services listed on it, can be an uphill battle.

Our first segment focuses on those challenges through the eyes of two Beacon High School students who have a common accommodation: extra time on tests. Beacon senior Zoe Lazaros tells student producer Ava Stryker-Robbins that they faced a monthslong process to get that accommodation.

“I would not have gotten through my junior year without it,” Zoe says. “But I'm now realizing, like, so many people don't have access to therapy or a psychiatrist or a parent that will stand up for them. And even with that, it was almost impossible for me to get [a 504 plan].” 

Stryker-Robbins also digs into the stigma and trade-offs students can face when they try to use extra time, including missing out on classroom instruction.

Next, student producers Santana Roach and Dorothy Ha explore the broader experiences of students with disabilities through short-form interviews at Frederick Douglass Academy II Secondary School and Stuyvesant High School.

“Not everyone wants to be treated, like, differently,” one student says. “No matter of your race, or gender, or even if you have autism.”

P.S. Weekly is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Be sure to drop a review in your app or shoot an email to PSWeekly@chalkbeat.org. Tell us what you learned in this episode or what you’re still wondering. We just might read your comment on a future episode.

P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between Chalkbeat and The Bell. Listen for new episodes Wednesdays this spring.