I was in the fourth grade when I first learned that I had Asperger's. That was a very difficult time for me, and it became even more difficult because of Hurricane Katrina. My family and I were living in Slidell at the time, and while Katrina spared our entire neighborhood, we had no electricity for about a month and the school I was going to at the time was closed. That meant that I had to change schools, and I was very afraid of doing that.
I had a few friends back in Slidell, but the thought of making friends at my new school in Texas absolutely terrified me. I didn't have a whole lot of social skills and would constantly talk to myself, and because of that, I was a subject of constant bullying. On top of that, I'm a pretty emotional person. I was at lunch with one of my friends, and I didn't understand a question that she was asking me. She called me the "r-word," and it hurt me so much that I cried right on the spot. What made it even worse is that instead of comforting me, she got up from the table we were sitting at and sat with her other friends.
Despite all of the negative things that were going on, there were lots of positives that happened in my life. Children who have Aspergers usually have higher functions of learning, and I did pretty well in school. I even got straight A's for two semesters back in seventh grade, and that was a huge accomplishment for me. When I was going to school in Texas, I let all of my nerves go and made lots of new friends in the process. And while there were some people that tried to bring me down, I looked more on the brighter side of things.
Things were really looking up for me when I moved to Madisonville in sixth grade. I started doing Talented Theatre, and I absolutely enjoyed it from the very first moment I stepped on stage. I loved each and every one of my teachers, and to this day, they still talk about what an absolute joy it was for me to be in their classes. I even became a more confident person, as making new friends became more natural. I made more friends in Madisonville that I could ever imagine, and I was so well-liked by my classmates to the point that I was voted as the friendliest female of my senior class.
What I've learned throughout my life is that it's not always easy, but it's definitely worth living. I'm happy with the way my life is going right now, and I wouldn't trade it away for anything else in the entire world.
