Dishman Hills graduate topped bullies, overcame deaths

Just 20 years old, Dishman Hills High School senior Kayla Posey has endured more than most people her age: She was bullied as a child, and as a teen lived through her parents’ deaths.

The youngest of five children, Posey grew up in Bonners Ferry. In the first grade, after befriending a boy with a mental disability, Posey experienced physical and emotional bullying.

“They pushed me down on concrete, and were verbally abusive,” Posey said. “We went to the teachers but they didn’t understand how serious it was.”

The bullying continued until middle school. At that time, Posey’s parents removed her from public school and she was home-schooled by her mother.

At 14, Posey began experiencing social anxiety. She attributes the anxiety to the bullying. Shortly afterward, during Posey’s freshman year, her mother got sick.

“My mother found out she had cancer in February,” Posey said. “She passed away in April.”

Her mother died of complications related to lung cancer in 2012. Afterward, Posey and her father moved to Spokane to live with her older sister.

“After my mom passed away, my dad wasn’t doing too well,” Posey said. “He was grieving heavily and not doing anything around the house.”

Eight months after losing her mother, Posey’s father died of heart failure.

“Everything around that time is a blur,” Posey said. “I remember my mom’s funeral but I don’t remember his. I was closer to my father.”

Posey’s education halted when her mother got sick. When she eventually entered public school, she was behind in class credits. She enrolled in Dishman Hills as a sophomore on the recommendation of her niece.

“I didn’t have any credits when I started,” said Posey, who spent an average of three hours a day working on her academics. “I caught up pretty fast, though.”

When she was 16, Posey discovered Asperger’s syndrome. She recognized herself in the description of some of the traits, such as not being able to read body language or facial expressions.

“I have a lot of the symptoms,” Posey said, who has never been formally diagnosed. “I believe I have shown the symptoms since I was 5. It was a relief putting a name to what I’ve been going through.”

As a high school junior, she attended Spokane Falls Community College through Running Start.

“Kayla puts in the time to make sure every assignment is done to the best of her ability,” Dishman Hills counselor Natalie Eaton said in an email. “She wants it to be right.”

While in high school, Posey participated in Leadership and Washington Drug Free Youth. Currently, Posey volunteers at the Women’s and Children’s Free Restaurant and works on-call at a local janitorial service.

Having graduated with honors, Posey plans to study psychology at Spokane Community College.

“I want to be able to help people,” Posey said. “Help kids with Asperger’s and who have been bullied.”