Lake County Gazette

Junior Eva Kott, a student at Adlai E. Stevenson High School, is sharing her journey of self-advocacy and resilience after facing significant challenges due to cerebral palsy and dystonia. “I was born with cerebral palsy and dystonia,” Eva explains. “This means that I cannot walk or use my arms, but I can use my head to drive my chair. Everything was great until last year, when my chair broke.”

For Eva, her wheelchair is essential for independence. “Basically, my wheelchair is my legs,” she says. “When I cannot drive or use my iPad, my independence is gone.” She experienced a five-month period without her functional wheelchair, which she described as a time of frustration and boredom.

Despite these difficulties, Eva relied on support from her family and friends to stay positive. “My friends, my parents, and my boyfriend, Travis. They’re supportive,” she says. “I would hang out with my younger sister and talk to my parents about how I’m feeling. She’s 10. We both love watching Dance Moms.” This period led her to focus on self-advocacy.

Earlier this year, Eva began working with Samantha Alloway from The Arc of Illinois to share her story publicly for the first time. “It was very exciting, but I was also very nervous. I had never done something like this before,” Eva says. “This experience taught me to become a better advocate by being confident in myself.”

Eva produced a video highlighting her experiences with disability and equipment repair delays: “Because I want to tell the world what I’ve been through,” she says.

Reflecting on this process, Eva said: “It felt good...I felt very confident talking about my story, and hopefully, my story will inspire people to change how wheelchairs get fixed - and how they treat people with disabilities.”

She emphasizes the importance of advocacy not just for awareness but for building connections: “I feel like my voice is a powerful tool - that I need people to hear me,” she says. She hopes others facing similar challenges will feel represented and empowered.

Looking ahead, Eva wants greater respect for people with disabilities: “I’m hoping that more people will start to respect and help people with disabilities,” she says. “I don’t want people to treat me differently because of my disability, just treat me like an average 16-year-old girl.”

Eva encourages other students interested in advocacy: “Dream it, believe it, work hard and achieve it! Just be yourself, and the right people will love you for who you are, whether you have a disability or not.”

As she continues in school at Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125—which serves Lake County according to https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/—Eva expects advocacy will remain central in her life: “I think advocacy will be a major part of my future,” she says. “I love it.”

The district itself serves a diverse population—53 percent White students alongside Asian (34 percent), Hispanic (7 percent), and Black (2 percent) populations (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). It spends over $34,000 per student each year (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/) and employs 282 teachers whose average salary exceeds $100,000 annually (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).