Metamorphosis- Growing up with Turner Syndrome

12. Running to live- the role of physical exercise

Like probably many of you, I all in all do not have the most pleasant memories of PE lessons, to say the least. There is mostly a long row of humiliation because of my poor coordination, stupidly standing in a corner for ages whenever the groups for some game where selected, and trying desperately to somehow keep up with everyone else- a steady flow of the very moments I felt most pathetic in I see in front of me whenever I think back to those hours I was forced to spend in PE. Few somehow athletic persons would argue, that PE lessons are about outstanding athletical performance- they rarely are. At least in my experience, they are mostly about talent, combined with sheer luck, and of course about not being the one most unathletic person of the group that gets made fun of. One or two hours a week are not nearly enough to learn a sport one is inheritely untalented at through only determination and perseverence, so in many cases, especially concerning highly technically challenging disciplines like e.g. gymnasics, swimming or badminton, you either have a degree of talent, and/ or experience in a certain sport, or you might just be screwed. And while the general population, except for one or two lucky exceptions you will find in every class, is becoming ever more sedentary and therefore unathletic, as any experienced PE teacher you speak to will confirm,- We with TS might still start of with a significant disadvantage compared to our peers when it comes to PE, despite that fact, no one should make the mistake of assuming we can not paticipate in "competitive" sports. I would not at all argue, that we should not get marks in PE like everybody else. As far as I am concerned, they can even use the same grading scale for us- I do not know it any other way, and I am not asking for allowances (although short statue might by some others be considered a glaringly obvious disadvantage that can even be meassured objectively). My main objection against the PE lessons I experienced is not, that I was forced to do exercises like high jump without standing any chance of achieving a somewhat respectable mark in the first place, I am trying hard to be okay with these kind of things- by far the most painful aspect of it is, that it was seemingly socially acceptable for my classmates to make fun of me doing high jump- and failing less than gracefully. In all "academic" subjects- especially Maths and science- it is as far, as I know more often than not downright cool to have no clue at all- at least among some groups of typical boys in their teenage years. On the other hand, making fun of someone for their performance in PE seems to be much more socially accepted among teens. This probably is the neanderthal in us all subconsicously telling us, that in order to survive one first and foremost has to be as able- bodied and athletic, as possible, and there realistically is absolutely nothing any schoolsystem could do to change that instinct- except for maybe somehow making mathematical nerds the new ideal to strive for by forcing academical excellence on anybody wishing to "succeed", which could in itself create a whole new set of  problems (look at China). Still, competition in PE can despite being deeply humiliating at the same time be incredibely motivating and helpful if it sets a somewhat realistic goal for you to achieve. For many girls with TS, their "typical" classmates in PE lessons might in fact be a motivating "competition", because trying to keep up with them will mostly be possible, but nevertheless challenging. Here, the impact of e.g. heart conditions and poor coordination on different individuals with TS might of course again vary profoundly, but we do not necessarily have to be outstandingly bad at any kind of physical exercise at all. That is, why I would be careful with encouraging girls with TS to participate in "disabled" sports. I read about such a case only once, and I am sure sports with "disabled" folks might for some people be an enriching experience. What I wanted to point out however, is, that girls with TS rarely or at least not usually have a condition that would prevent them from doing certain kinds of sports, but across the board have highly increased risks of insuline resistance, type two diabetes and everything that comes along with those conditions. So the kind of sport we do should in my opinion be "competitive" in the sense, that we regularely need to push ourselves beyond the limits of what we believe to be capable of physically- which we should obviously to do in a safe and responsible way. Physical fitness is our safeguard against all the most common causes of death among those with TS, against hypertension, obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease, ischemic heart disease, and stroke. There is a good  reason for forcing PE lessons on each and every schoolchild, which would for me be my main argument for making most girls with TS participate in regular PE without making any allowances for their short statue. We are resiliant, we are able to get through it. Another thing to consider is, that you should probably avoid making a girl with TS feel any more "different" from her peers, than she already does- So publically being labeled as "needing allowances in PE lessons" is not something every girl will be comfortable with- and from my personal perspective, I would imagine that you could in this scenario just as well officially be pronouncing her "physically disabled" in front of all her young, naive, sometimes cruel peers. There should be no stigma coming with a physical "disability" and not being able to meet the usual standards, but in reality, there more often than not is. At any rate, I would strongly argue against the assumption, that anyone is disabled JUST because they have a karyotype consistent with TS- and consequently, I would not claim any special treatment for all of us, especially seeing, as I have mentioned, that we are often quite able to keep up with others in PE. In addition to that, PE could even help a girl with TS create social bonds to teammates, although that is, as I pointed out, not a given. Once you are out of school and have left these possibly humiliating PE lessons far behind you however, you will have to find a way to stay active on your own.