In a previous post, I shared my experience of how my mother attempted to claim I had autism to increase our welfare benefits. Now, I'll delve into the events that transpired once I entered high school.
Coming into high school, my mother blamed me for not getting the extra benefits she wanted, convinced that I had deliberately sabotaged her plans. She spitefully re-enrolled me in special education, even though I was clearly too advanced for it.
At the start of the year, everyone had to take a reading and comprehension test. The average reading level for high school students in my city was around fourth grade, but I blew the test away. My scores were off the charts, showing that I read and understood at a college level.
I used this as leverage with my guidance counselor, arguing that I was too smart to be in special education. I explained my situation with my mother, but the counselor didn't want to get involved. Instead, they offered to give me an aptitude test.
After some negotiating, my mother agreed to let me take the test, but on one condition: they couldn't tell me how well I did. The test was pretty easy, so I was confident that I had done well.
My guidance counselor was so impressed with my results that they encouraged me to take an advanced engineering class. But my mother wouldn't give up. She insisted that I still have a special education teacher follow me around to every class, even though I was clearly capable of handling my own coursework.
This was a deal-breaker for me. I couldn't handle the humiliation of having a special education teacher shadowing me everywhere I went. So, I made the decision to stop going to class altogether. I started cutting class basically self-sabotage.
Coming into high school, my mother blamed me for not getting the extra benefits she wanted, convinced that I had deliberately sabotaged her plans. She spitefully re-enrolled me in special education, even though I was clearly too advanced for it.
At the start of the year, everyone had to take a reading and comprehension test. The average reading level for high school students in my city was around fourth grade, but I blew the test away. My scores were off the charts, showing that I read and understood at a college level.
I used this as leverage with my guidance counselor, arguing that I was too smart to be in special education. I explained my situation with my mother, but the counselor didn't want to get involved. Instead, they offered to give me an aptitude test.
After some negotiating, my mother agreed to let me take the test, but on one condition: they couldn't tell me how well I did. The test was pretty easy, so I was confident that I had done well.
My guidance counselor was so impressed with my results that they encouraged me to take an advanced engineering class. But my mother wouldn't give up. She insisted that I still have a special education teacher follow me around to every class, even though I was clearly capable of handling my own coursework.
This was a deal-breaker for me. I couldn't handle the humiliation of having a special education teacher shadowing me everywhere I went. So, I made the decision to stop going to class altogether. I started cutting class basically self-sabotage.