It’s that time of year again and your anxiety level is through the roof. Back to school time is always rough on you. Even though you have the same teacher as the past two years and you are in a very small special education classroom setting you have a great amount of fear about the school year. Change is hard on you and adapting to a new school year after a long summer of freedom is something that takes your body time to adjust to. You freak if your desk is not in the same place that it was the year before, and you can’t grasp why some of your fellow classmates are no longer in your class because they moved up to the middle school level. And you fear the unknown. You have never been in the 3rd grade before. Even though you are in special education they try and mainstream you into the “norm” for a few classes each day so you can interact with your peers. In a lot of ways you are like your peers, you love the same things like video games and sports; but in other ways you are completely different. You have Autism. For you the world is a very different place. You are behind your peers in a lot of subjects and you lack the social skills that normal 8 year old children have. Striking up a conversation with you is near impossible unless a person has known you for years as you have only 100 words and some of those words are very broken. Your language is hard to understand for others. You cry a lot because you don’t fit in. You fear that will happen again this year, and I do not blame you. Children can be cruel now days when they don’t understand. I wish so badly I could be there to hold your hand and walk you through the motions. I feel so bad that you are so scared and frightened. I know in the end that you will be ok, but it is hard to watch you struggle. All I can do is reassure you that it is just another school year and that your teacher will be there if you need her. To tell you to hold your head up and do your best. That mommy is proud of you and all you have become. And as you walk into that big school all alone, I pray. I pray I am right. That in this big wide world, that you will be ok. Till then, I stand back and have faith in the school in which I placed you. Pray they shelter and guide you to become the little man I know you are inside. To help you continue to grow and overcome your many obstacles. I love you little man. Be strong.
Credits:
Little Butterfly Wings: One of a Kind, Ladies Night, Butterfly Basic's School Edition, It's Not About You Flairs, Grungy and Messy Alpha
Heather Joyce: The Gradeschool
