pigless in VA
Well-Known Member
I spend a lot of my time standing around in P.E. classes, distractedly observing the general education kids. There's a new girl that I've noticed, and I had deduced that she was a snotty little thing. She is always hanging on the other kids, the big group who is generally disrespectful of the P.E. teachers.
Yesterday, I was standing in the shade of a small tree watching Jack chat with a group of boys. I did walk over to them when I saw Jack doing something peculiar. The boys told me he was showing them a dance move. It looked more like someone pooping to me, but whatever.
When I returned to my tiny tree, this new girl walked over to me. At first she told me about having asthma. We had a short conversation about that. Ferb used to have asthma and outgrew it. Then she told me that sometimes the boys ask Jack inappropriate questions of a sexual nature. She said that generally they are not bullying Jack, but they sometimes laugh at the stuff he says. I told her that children with autism struggle with conversations, and that it was important for him to learn how to negotiate those on his own. She asked if he would ever be able to go through school without an aide. We talked some more about autism.
Then she shared with me that she is living in a group home in Richmond and going home to Virginia Beach to stay with her mother on week-ends. She is on probation. She talked about how much her life has changed and how much she has changed. I told her about Ferb stealing money from me and how he has matured a lot in the past 9 months. I discovered that this girl had a lot of maturity about her. She admitted that she is mother's difficult child. She is not currently living with her mother but has learned from her mistakes. She told me that she is getting good grades and now has a much better relationship with her mother. We talked about how sometimes what you think is the worst thing to happen to you turns into a learning experience. And I learned from her not to judge a teenager's inner being based on her seemingly frivolous behavior in a P.E. class.
I wish I could telephone her mother and tell her what an amazing daughter she has.
Yesterday, I was standing in the shade of a small tree watching Jack chat with a group of boys. I did walk over to them when I saw Jack doing something peculiar. The boys told me he was showing them a dance move. It looked more like someone pooping to me, but whatever.
When I returned to my tiny tree, this new girl walked over to me. At first she told me about having asthma. We had a short conversation about that. Ferb used to have asthma and outgrew it. Then she told me that sometimes the boys ask Jack inappropriate questions of a sexual nature. She said that generally they are not bullying Jack, but they sometimes laugh at the stuff he says. I told her that children with autism struggle with conversations, and that it was important for him to learn how to negotiate those on his own. She asked if he would ever be able to go through school without an aide. We talked some more about autism.
Then she shared with me that she is living in a group home in Richmond and going home to Virginia Beach to stay with her mother on week-ends. She is on probation. She talked about how much her life has changed and how much she has changed. I told her about Ferb stealing money from me and how he has matured a lot in the past 9 months. I discovered that this girl had a lot of maturity about her. She admitted that she is mother's difficult child. She is not currently living with her mother but has learned from her mistakes. She told me that she is getting good grades and now has a much better relationship with her mother. We talked about how sometimes what you think is the worst thing to happen to you turns into a learning experience. And I learned from her not to judge a teenager's inner being based on her seemingly frivolous behavior in a P.E. class.
I wish I could telephone her mother and tell her what an amazing daughter she has.