"What's Wrong With You?"

What if somebody asked you, "what's wrong with you?" How would that make you feel?

I saw this happen to a student in a classroom recently and it made me sad and angry. The situation occurred when we were doing role-plays on self-advocacy. This student is extremely shy and his teacher was trying to role-play with him what he would do if a customer asked him a question when he was working at a retail store. When the teacher did the role-play, the student got uncomfortable when he had to answer the question. This is when the girl said, "what's wrong with you?" The shy student then left the classroom. 

I responded to the girl by saying, "don't say that." 

However, now I wish I would have said more. . .

I should have said that nothing is wrong with him.
I should have said that everybody has strengths and areas that may need improvement. 
I should have said that everybody is different. 
I should have said that "normal" is boring. 

I feel that society has developed an image of what is "normal" and people who don't fit that image can be ostracized and bullied. Ironically, this is a classroom just for students with disabilities and the questioner has a disability herself. 

In my opinion, this kind of behavior can truly ruin a person's self-esteem. School should be a place where students come to grow not be beaten down by rude remarks. 

A little bit of empathy can go a long way in improving somebody's day,

Written by Sydney Breslow 


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