This started with my own experience as a mother.

I watched my child begin to question why he was being pulled out of his regular class to receive additional support. At first, it was a simple question: “Why do I have to leave my class?” But over time, I realized it was becoming something much bigger. He began questioning his own abilities and how he saw himself.

Later, when he needed something as simple as a quiet place to take a test without distractions, I saw that hesitation again.

He wasn't rejecting the support. He needed it. He was uncomfortable with what accepting that support seemed to say about who he was.

That stayed with me.

And it made me wonder: How many other students hesitate to ask for the help they need because they're afraid it will make them feel different or define how others see them?

A student may simply need a quiet room, extra time, or fewer distractions to do their best. Yet even today, students may have to go through offices with names like “Center for Students with Disabilities” to request those accommodations. For some young people, that language can make asking for help harder than it needs to be.

Why not focus on the help instead?

Names like Student Access Center or Access & Accommodations can provide the exact same services while putting the focus on what a student needs rather than how that student is defined.

This petition is not about removing rights or protections. It is about keeping every protection while making the language and experience surrounding support more respectful, welcoming, and human.

No young person should have to choose between getting the help they need and feeling comfortable with who they are.

Support should open doors, not make someone question who they are.

Keep the protections. Change the language.

We are asking California’s community colleges, DMV, public schools, testing centers, and other state agencies to review the language they use around accommodations and adopt more respectful, access-centered terminology.