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When I was in fourth grade, I spent the
year in two different schools. The first was one that I had
been attending since kindergarten. It was an average school.
It was not too difficult, but it was
challenging. I had many friends there. I was well known for
my encyclopedic knowledge.
Then, halfway through the year, my mother
persuaded me to transfer to the school at which she taught.
I went there for a day to survey it. The students seemed nice,
so I agreed to go. It was fine for the first few days.
We were then given an assignment which involved
speaking in front of the class. I have Asperger's syndrome,
which makes public speaking difficult for me. At my former
school, everyone somehow realized and respected that, even
though I had never discussed it with them. Here, however,
nobody seemed to be the least bit concerned.
Furthermore, I was the subject of much psychological
bullying. My classmates would often poke fun at my inherent
shyness. I turned to the teacher for assistance. She merely
told me to ignore them. This failed, as they were the only
people I could associate with at the time.
They continued with their insults. I tried
to ignore the, but to no avail. It was as though they were
following me everywhere for the sole purpose of making me
feel inferior. This time, I told my mother of my troubles.
She gave the exact same advice as my teacher had.
I began to feel more and more isolated as
time passed. It was as though everyone had turned against
me. This made me feel belligerent.
Times did improve slightly. A few of my
classmates began associating with me and calling me their
friend. This boosted my morale, and so I was able to ignore
the taunting for a while.
However, my newfound friends rarely supported
me in my struggle against the neurotypicals. I was too naïve
to realize this at the time, so it did not bother me.
The year ended at long last. I told my mother
that I wanted to go back to my old school. She did not understand,
but she agreed. I was finally happy again.
I later realized that I could harness my
emotions and even eliminate them entirely. This has made me
a much more contented person.
One of my friends from middle school
attends high school with these so-called "friends"
from elementary school. He informed me that they actually
despised me. However, this does not bother me in the least.
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