I went to Credon infant school in Upton Park, east London, and the teacher I remember most from there was Lesley Singleton. She helped me with swimming.

Everyone went swimming, but because of my disability from polio it took me a year to learn. All the other kids learned quickly and I was lagging behind. It was distressing for me because I could see it was down to my disability. Miss Singleton didn’t give up on me. She designed a float that I could tie to my leg to keep it buoyant. Once I could stay up I learned to swim within a couple of months. Her hard work and thought was really valuable. That is one of my fondest memories of school.

People always ask if I suffered bullying because of my disability. I was walking with calipers in those days, so I had a severe limp, but that wasn’t my biggest problem at the beginning. On my first day my mum dressed me in these bright pink flared checked trousers, and did my hair in a massive Afro with a side parting the size of the Blackwall Tunnel. I was far more worried that I was going to school dressed as a freak than anything else, and took some teasing.

Sport was the saviour, especially football. I managed to get picked for a playground game and was put in goal because no one else wanted to play in that position. Then I saved a shot and they were all really amazed. I was lying on the floor with my leg exposed and all the top boys came over, the hard lot, and they were looking at the metal rods coming out of my leg.

From then on they thought I was a top geezer and told me if I had any trouble to let them know - I was sorted.

The school wasn’t accessible at all. It was hard work. It was one of those pre-First World War red brick schools built on four floors. As you went through the years you went up a floor, so by the fourth year I had to climb four sets of stairs. My teachers were really cool, though. They took an active part in helping me, and my mates sometimes carried me up and down.

I think I was lucky because when I went to secondary school I was already pretty clued up about prejudice and knew how to get on with able-bodied people. Some of the kids who came from disabled primary schools had a hard time. It was a big transition for them. The local council had wanted me to go to a disabled school, but my dad fought tooth and nail for me to go to the local school.

I went on to Southern Road juniors in Plaistow and then to Lister Community School, also in Plaistow. The footballer Sol Campbell was there too, in the year below me. The teacher I remember from Lister was Tim Kerrin. He was my English teacher and he really helped me when I was going through a hard time at home.

In my teens I was already playing wheelchair basketball and I knew that was all I wanted to do, but my parents were more keen on my education. We fought like mad. I left home at 16 and got my own place after telling the council I’d been kicked out. Mr Kerrin was there to talk to when I needed it. He used to make sure I was all right and I really appreciated that.

The other one was Joyce N’duka. She made sure I got my GCSEs because I was ready to leave without even sitting them to go and play basketball. But she made me do them, and I got good ones too.

I made up with my family a few years later, once I’d proved I could cope.

My parents still live in the area and I still go back to the schools to give talks sometimes. Going to a mainstream school was right for me, but not everyone’s the same. We’re all individuals.

Ade Adepitan was a member of Britain’s bronze medal-winning wheelchair basketball team at the Paralympic Games in Athens. He is also a presenter on Children’s BBC TV and an ambassador for the London 2012 Olympic bid. He was talking to Matthew Brown

The story so far

1973 Born in Lagos, Nigeria. Contracts polio, which disables left leg

1977-84 Credon infant school, Upton Park, London, and Southern Road junior school, Plaistow

1984-89 Lister community school, Plaistow

1988 Introduced to wheelchair basketball 1989 Plays for London wheelchair basketball club, Tottenham Tigers

1991 Picked for Great Britain squad

2000 Starts presenting daily X-Change programme for CBBC

2002 Joint captain of GB side that wins silver medal at World Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan

2004 Becomes ambassador for the London 2012 Olympic bid. Wins bronze medal with GB team at Athens Paralympic Games