Being Different

As a sibling of someone with special needs, I have often felt like no one gets it and at sometimes, I have even felt pretty alone. The kids in my class up until this year never knew what it was like to have a Special needs sibling, so they didn't understand what I was going through. I always felt sort of different in the way that I didn't have anyone to relate to on a daily basis. Because I felt that way, it made the social and friend part of school a lot harder. One boy who has been in my class ever since kindergarten happens to have autism. I was (and still am) his best friend. We ate lunch together, we hung out at recess, and worked on projects together. I was definetly one of his only typical friends, most other people made fun of him for who he is but around me, he knew that he could be himself and not feel like I was going to make fun or take advantage of him. When ever someone would try to make him feel bad or make fun of him, he knew that I would stick up for him and make sure that he wasn't getting bullied. Ever since I was in kindergarten, I have just always been able to connect to people with special needs in a way that makes them feel good. But, because I was really good friends with the kids who had special needs, that also segragated me from all the other kids because they didn't know how to include kids like my sister, and sometimes the kids would even make fun of/bully me because of who I hung out with. Up until I was in fourth grade, we had a challenge program at my elementary school. Often times, instead of going out to recess I would go and help out in the challeng classroom. When I was I third grade, I ordered my lunch seperate because I would eat an hour earlier. I would eat with all of the kids who were in the challenge program and then I would go and play at recess with them. For me that was just easier than going with my class and getting bullied and some of my friends in that program would always be so excited when I would come and eat with them. Now at my new school this year, we are very segragated based upon what "team" we are on. I am on purple team which is probably the most segragated team. There are also a red, blue, and silver team. The silver team is the SSN team. Often times kids make fun of all the kids on silver team and treat them very cruely. I feel like this hurts us Special Sibz more than anyone else because we know that most likely kids are making fun of kids like our brothers and sisters. In middle school, it is hard to stick up for people but I still do it and I see some of my friends sticking up for people too. This year, one of my new friends sister has a disability also and she gets what it is like to experience all the good and bad things that come along with being a special sib. But overall, I feel as though being a sibling of someone with special needs can at times make you feel very alone and different from all of your peers. I think the reason that your peers make you feel so alone is because they don't know how to include kids like our siblings, they don't know how to talk to you about your sibling or what it is like to be you. In my opinion all it takes sometimes is being blessed by knowing, interacting or being a family member to a person like my sister to get how to act and what to say.