“I Wouldn’t Trade My Special Needs for Anything”

I don’t understand why it’s so hard for people to accept others and to understand that not everyone is the same. I used to think my special needs were a setback, but oh was I so wrong. It may have taken me a little bit longer to grow up, but now I understand things in a way that I never thought I could achieve. I think so outside the box that there is no box. I can decipher metaphors, and I can comprehend people’s behavior to the point where I have patience for almost anyone. It used to be that I wasn’t the best about understanding social cues, and they are still hard for me, but I am so in tune with others’ emotions that their facial expressions are all I need. I’m what people call an empath.

I wouldn’t trade my special needs for anything. I’m proud of them. Not all people are perfect. Heck, no one’s perfect! It breaks my heart when I see people bullying others just because they talk weirdly, or walk funny, or look funny. It’s just not right. When that happens, it’s as if that bullied person has become a slave to the hate and heartache that they have to go through every day.

When I went through that hate and heartache myself, I felt like I was in shackles. I would have to deal with all the hurtful words every day; it was like I was in a dodgeball game, and every ball that hit me was a hurtful message, but I couldn’t do anything about it. No one really ever believed me, so it was like my hands were tied behind my back. We shouldn’t have to be embarrassed because of who we are; we should embrace it!

I want to be in a world where everyone can be who they are. I want to see a world where smiles replace frowns, where light replaces darkness, where kindness replaces hate, and where love replaces pain.

Liel Huppert attends the Jane Goodall Environmental Sciences Academy and is in in 10th grade. This article originally appeared in jGirls Magazine.