By Dana Kozlov, CBS News Chicago
We’re spotlighting a Chicago Public Schools student with autism who we first met years ago under troubling circumstances. Now, she’s ready to tackle the world.
CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov explained how her mom’s battle with Chicago Public Schools made it possible.
For Kymera Mitchel, 18, graduating high school wasn’t just a milestone. It was a triumph.
“I feel accomplished,” Kymera said. “I feel stress-free.”
She has autism and PTSD. CBS 2 first met her seven years ago when her mother reached out after a transit driver for Chicago Public Schools left Kymera, then 11 years old, on the street without making sure an adult was home.
That’s a policy violation and it left Kymera scared and wandering the street for almost an hour.
“Her nerves were just all over the place,” said her mom Kala Mitchell back in 2016.
Kala Mitchell spoke out then and said her fight with CPS, to get her daughter the services, education, and treatment that she was legally entitled, only continued after that episode.
Kozlov: “But you didn’t give up?”
Kala: “No”
Kozlov: “Why not?”
Kala: “Because if I did, then my daughter wouldn’t be where she is today.”
It’s why Kymera’s diploma from Alcott College Prep means so much to both of them.
“I wouldn’t let anyone who doesn’t have a disability try and stop me from what I’m doing,” Kymera said.
Kymera didn’t just graduate with honors, she graduated with 18 college acceptance offers and more than $500,000 in scholarships and financial aid.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” she said. “She has this amount of money and she has full rides to some of these schools!”
All of it was vindication for this mother and daughter.
“All of the agony, it just left me,” Kala said.
Kymera, who plans to study graphic design in college, offers this advice to students with disabilities:
“To live your hopes and dreams as much as you can,” she said. “Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do this.”
So where is she going to college? She’s saving that big announcement for her graduation party later this week.
