I found this article at nypost.com this afternoon:
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Teen with fear of large crowds asking for school reassignment
By Kathianne Boniello
July 26, 2015 | 10:30am
A Brooklyn girl with a debilitating fear of large crowds is asking a judge to let her enroll in a small Upper
West Side high school.
The student, a 14-year-old incoming freshman identified as T.M. in court papers, breaks out in hives and has
panic attacks when she finds herself surrounded by people.
“When she was in the sixth grade she went to a concert and suffered a panic attack. Once she saw that she was
surrounded by a large crowd she started hyperventilating, crying and she broke out with hives all over her skin,”
according to the Manhattan Supreme Court filing against the city Department of Education.
When T.M. applied for high schools in the spring, she listed her first choice as The Beacon School on West 61st
Street, which offers a “technology and arts infused” curriculum for roughly 1,200 students.
She also applied to Edward R. Murrow HS in her home borough, but didn’t know how large the Midwood school was,
according to the legal claim.
T.M. didn’t get into Beacon, but was accepted into Murrow.
“She found out that Edward R. Murrow High School is actually a large high school with approximately 4,000
students. The school is five floors and is larger than two or three city blocks,” according to court papers.
The teeming hallways “would cause T.M. to have panic attacks that would impact her health and success at school.
Beacon High School is a much smaller school with much fewer students,” the family says in court papers.
“If T.M. is not allowed to attend Beacon High School and instead she is forced to attend Edward R. Murrow High
School, this would have a great negative impact on her health,” she alleges in the court petition. “Not only
would T.M. experience frequent panic attacks, anxiety, high stress and hives.”
In addition, the petition claims, “her scholastic performance will suffer profoundly as she will be unable to
concentrate due to her phobia.”
And she would stand out from the crowd for all the wrong reasons, the filing continues.
She “will be a social outcast due to her condition … it would be hard for [her] to interact and make friends.”
Her pediatrician, who wrote a letter to the DOE asking that the girl be allowed to switch schools, diagnosed her
with her phobia in the sixth grade after she’d had a second panic attack at a Soho store, her filing claims.
“As a result of her condition [she] cannot . . . go to events such as concerts, baseball games, the Macy’s
fireworks, parades.”"
The city will review the legal claim, a spokeswoman said.
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Learn to Love the CrowdFear is a very real thing.
This young lady is going through great lengths to deal with her fear.
Her childhood will be radically different than most teens her age because of Agoraphobia.
I hope that she is allowed to change schools, but then what?
After high school, what will she do for college?
After College, if she gets a job offer in a city with a busy commute, what will she do then?
How much of her life is she missing out on?
Unfortunately, there will be
many moments that "T.M" will miss out on simply because of her fear of crowds.
Are you a social outcast? Is a fear or phobia keeping you from getting the most out of your life?
If you suffer from Agoraphobia and are tired of it limiting your life,
click here.If you don't suffer from Agoraphobia, but something else,
click here.
We may be able to help.
Wishing you all the best,
Tal Smith
PS.
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