gabriela
12-15-04, 05:12 PM
today i went to a school (k-9) and told the teachers' aides about what it's like to be me, kinda...
i was invited several weeks ago, and i brought along my best friend, who's got dyslexia.
before we spoke to/with the teachers' aides, we spent about half an hour talking to/with a group of sixth graders.
when the teacher introduced us, she started telling the kids about my friend ('cause the teacher used to work with adults with dyslexia, and so she knew my friend before she met me), and the dyslexia.
then she said: "...and this is gabriela, and she doesn't have dyslexia *at all*, but i'll let her tell you what she has trouble with..."
i started by saying i have adhd and add, and when i said i also have asperger syndrome, this kid, this shy-looking boy, raised his hand, and when i 'd said "yes?", this wide grin appeared on his face, and he said: "i do, too!", and he looked so *happy*!
*grinning*
it makes me feel so *good* inside; to *know* that just *maybe* i gave him some hope...
*maybe*, someday when he's really *"fed up"* with "the world" and all those people who he doesn't understand and who don't understand him, he'll remember me, and say to himself "well, at least i know *one* grown-up who *'survived'*, and so *i* can too!"
as we were leaving the classroom, this other boy came up to me and asked:
"what's *bad* about having asperger syndrome, and what's *good* about having it?"
i thought about it, and then i said:
"well...the *bad* thing is when i don't understand other people and they don't understand me, but something that's *good* about having asperger syndrome is that if you have to work really hard at learning something, it's 'easy' to focus on that one thing, because asperger syndrome 'helps' you to sort of 'forget' about everything else while you're concentrating on that one thing!"
he thanked me, said "okay, bye!", and that was it...
i actually think that was one of those rare occasions where i managed to say exactly the *right* thing at the *right* time...
:)
i was invited several weeks ago, and i brought along my best friend, who's got dyslexia.
before we spoke to/with the teachers' aides, we spent about half an hour talking to/with a group of sixth graders.
when the teacher introduced us, she started telling the kids about my friend ('cause the teacher used to work with adults with dyslexia, and so she knew my friend before she met me), and the dyslexia.
then she said: "...and this is gabriela, and she doesn't have dyslexia *at all*, but i'll let her tell you what she has trouble with..."
i started by saying i have adhd and add, and when i said i also have asperger syndrome, this kid, this shy-looking boy, raised his hand, and when i 'd said "yes?", this wide grin appeared on his face, and he said: "i do, too!", and he looked so *happy*!
*grinning*
it makes me feel so *good* inside; to *know* that just *maybe* i gave him some hope...
*maybe*, someday when he's really *"fed up"* with "the world" and all those people who he doesn't understand and who don't understand him, he'll remember me, and say to himself "well, at least i know *one* grown-up who *'survived'*, and so *i* can too!"
as we were leaving the classroom, this other boy came up to me and asked:
"what's *bad* about having asperger syndrome, and what's *good* about having it?"
i thought about it, and then i said:
"well...the *bad* thing is when i don't understand other people and they don't understand me, but something that's *good* about having asperger syndrome is that if you have to work really hard at learning something, it's 'easy' to focus on that one thing, because asperger syndrome 'helps' you to sort of 'forget' about everything else while you're concentrating on that one thing!"
he thanked me, said "okay, bye!", and that was it...
i actually think that was one of those rare occasions where i managed to say exactly the *right* thing at the *right* time...
:)