Being that today is Teacher Appreciation Day, I thought I would share some of my former teachers' thoughts & memories of me back from when I was a student. I have always respected & admired my teachers & really valued their opinions. I was really surprised that so many of these teachers remembered such details about me when I was in school so many years ago. Reaching out to so many people who were a part of my life growing up was one of the things I did during the self-discovery process that I thought was so worthwhile. I learned SO much about myself from emailing & chatting with my former teachers. I never asked my teachers what they thought of me when I was a student in their classrooms, so asking them this question now gave me really valuable perspective, as you'll see below. I did omit my teachers' & school names to keep my & their privacy safe & secure. 💕 Email From Seventh Grade Language Arts Teacher on August 8, 2022
What a pleasant surprise to hear from you! Yes, I do remember you from Middle School Name. I remember a very kind, shy, reserved student (with black-framed glasses, if I recall correctly) in my Language Arts class. In reading the notes you've shared, I do remember what a hardworking, diligent student you were and that earning top grades was very important to you. I see that I commented that you were "not good with being caught off guard," experienced frustration with group members who are fooling around, and that you interacted better with adults than with peers. I'm so sorry to hear of the challenges you've been experiencing for so long. I wish that I could add more detail to what I remember about you back in 7th grade, but I'm afraid that these meeting notes cover what I can recall. Although I unfortunately don't think I have much to add to the information you've shared with me, I'm happy to chat by phone if you'd like. Just let me know and we can arrange a time. Thank you so much for having the courage to reach out to me, Kim. It was wonderful hearing from you! We did have a phone conversation back in August & chatted a couple more times after that as well. This teacher is no longer a middle school language arts teacher, but is a middle school special education teacher in a different district now. I truly believe that special education is her calling, what she was meant to do with her life. Those conversations I had with her helped me immensely, more than I could ever convey to her (even though I tried). Thank you so, so much for being there for me & for truly listening to what I had to say in such an overwhelming time for me. This teacher is truly an illustration of why teachers are so incredible & so amazing. I was a student in her classroom about twenty years ago & she still made time for me during a time that I was learning so much about myself & was going through so much. At the time I sent her my initial email; I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do or if I was making a fool out of myself; but after emailing, texting, & conversing with her; I knew that reaching out was the right thing for me to do purely because her kindness, compassion, & helpfulness meant so much to me. It helped me to have the strength to go through all that I was going through while I was discovering so much about myself. I could never thank her enough for her kindness & time. Email From Seventh Grade Science Teacher on August 12, 2022 Wow! So great hear to from you. I am sorry to learn that things have been challenging for you, but am impressed by your perseverance to uncover more information about yourself. In thinking back to seventh grade, I remember you as being a quiet, shy student. You always worked so hard on your assignments, often going above and beyond what was expected of you. I also remember that when we had special activities or field trips, you liked to have your mom join us. I am not sure I can offer too much more than what you have already learned from the notes and speaking with Teacher's Name, but it seems you have a pretty clear picture of your middle school self. I wish you the best of luck on this journey of self discovery. I ran into this teacher while I was walking my client's dog a couple weeks ago. It was really great to see & chat with her in person as well! I have such fond memories of being her student about twenty years ago. Email From Second Grade Teacher on August 15, 2022 Thank you for reaching out to me. I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing some health issues and hope that you are able to resolve them as soon as possible. And while it's been a very long time since you were in my class and I can't recall every detail, I do have some clear memories of you. Yes, you were a very quiet and shy child. You seemed quite content to keep to yourself, and not too interested in other children. Making eye contact and initiating conversations weren't things you did often. Lately, more often than not, there is a student in my class who is on the spectrum. Each one has his or her own characteristics - but one common denominator I've witnessed is that students often are super-focused on specific things. For you, it was the love you had for your bunnies! Books you read and stories you wrote were all about bunnies. It sounds like you are doing all the right things to determine what's going on. If you receive this diagnosis, I wouldn't be surprised. I know I haven't added much to what you already have stated but if there's anything else I can do to help you, please let me know. Email From Middle School Physical Education Teacher on August 15, 2022 Thanks so much for the message! Of course I remember you!!! You are in your thirties?!?!? I'm getting old! I appreciate the kind words you gave me. Thanks so much. I remember you being very shy to start. I was informed of your dislike for PE so I was going to change that!!!! I remember you being stubborn!!!! I would try to get you to do some things that you would just not do!!!!! I do remember getting you involved in an asteroids game in which people could get back in ONLY if you throw them an asteroid!!! I was so proud of you for participating. Everyone was calling for your help!!!! Unfortunately, he wasn't able to change my dislike of PE, but he did make a huge difference in my experience in it. His kindness & compassion made it so that PE wasn't nearly as frightening as it was in all other grade levels. When I look back on PE, I have traumatic memories of PE in all grade levels except for middle school. The reason for that is because of his kindness, compassion, & the extra time he took with me. Quotes From Phone Conversation With High School Special Education Teacher on August 23, 2022 "I can totally see what you’re saying, especially looking through your early childhood development & some of the comments that teachers made & even your dad saying that it was something in the back of their minds. I can definitely see where your primary care physician may suggest that you look into that." "Definitely now that you’re saying that you’re looking into traits that you may have exhibited that you know to be in that autism checklist, I definitely remember you being very bright & artistic, creative. You definitely needed to be pulled out if you had a question or a concern, you weren’t always comfortable expressing that. Or advocating for help with your teachers. I saw over the four years, you became much more comfortable as time went on. And as you became comfortable with me, it definitely was easier for you to ask for help & advocate for yourself." "You tended to be very withdrawn when I first met you & then definitely came out & advocated a bit more junior & senior year. And people around you also made a big difference. I noticed that depending on who was in the classroom with you, who was in your skills class, & who was seated around you, that definitely had an impact on how comfortable you were, even making eye contact or joining in a conversation." "There were some times where I would think, "Aww, she’s just not comfortable in here" & I didn’t know if it was who you were sitting near or just the class in general. And then other times, I was just so happy because you seemed more at ease & I felt like you would ask for help or accept help more readily, depending on your surroundings & who was in your class." "I would not be surprised if you received this diagnosis. I feel like if you came into high school now, just from what I’m remembering, we would have a lot of red flags, where we’d say, "Oh, well, let’s look at this & let’s connect with Kim’s doctor" & we’d look back at your history, your educational history, whether you hit those milestones, things like that. I’m definitely not surprised that your doctor brought that up & I’m just so glad that you’re pursuing this because I think it will make a huge difference." Email From Freshman Year English Teacher on September 11, 2022 Yes, I absolutely remember having you as a student- it's so nice to hear from you! However, I am very sorry to hear about your medical struggles. It must be so frustrating to have had to deal with those for so long without having any clear answers as to the causes and the remedies, so I think you're doing the right thing in getting evaluated for the possibility of having autism spectrum disorder. What I do remember is that you were one of the best students in my class: very intelligent, and an excellent writer and reader. Yes, you were shy and quiet, but I've taught lots of students who were the same way, so your traits didn't seem out of the ordinary to me at the time. Please know that I always thought very highly of you and you made quite a favorable impression; that's why when I saw your name on the email, I instantly knew who you were. Sadly, I would not be able to say the same for many of the other students from the 2005-2006 school year. Email From High School Art Teacher on September 11, 2022 Of course I remember you :). It is good to hear from you. I remember you as a very hardworking and conscientious student. You cared about doing well in school. You were always well behaved and a pleasure to have in the room. Thinking back, I would describe you as a quiet student. You did not initiate many conversations. However, you were not afraid to come talk to me if you had something on your mind. I am not sure if I would describe you as shy or just quiet. Sometimes those two characteristics might be hard to differentiate. Feel free to contact me any time. I am happy to give you any information that I can remember. Quotes From Phone Conversation With Eighth Grade Algebra Teacher on September 12, 2022 "It was a long time ago, but I do remember you & I do remember you were a very diligent, excellent student. You always tried hard, but you were a little bit more to yourself. I do remember that you weren’t super social, you were very focused on school, the academic part of school & not so much the social aspect. That’s what I remember, Hun. That’s kinda what sticks out & I remember you were very sweet, nice, lovely, hardworking student, but I do remember the social piece, as being maybe more of a struggle." "I’m not surprised to say that’s something you’ve felt about yourself & there’s so much to the autism spectrum. I do kind of see that you could’ve fit that description of someone who really, the social part really was more of a challenge. And, I was a young teacher back then, I was just maybe ten years older than you, so I was kind of paying attention to the social thing." Email From Fifth Grade Math & Science Teacher on September 28, 2022 It is so nice to hear from you! Of course I remember you! Thank you for reaching out and sharing your story with me. It sounds like it must have been a long road and I applaud you for continuing to look for some answers. I remember you as a very quiet girl in 5th grade. You didn't talk very much, but would respond with body language. You had a great smile and you smiled a lot in response when someone was talking to you. You presented as someone who was very shy and walked down the hall typically next to an adult. I also remember your movements and work completion was in a much slower manner than others. I used to think that you were just taking things in and processing them. Please feel free to reach out at anytime.
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AuthorHello! My name is Kim, I didn't know I was autistic until I was in my thirties, & this is my story. Categories
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