PotatoBacon95

I was given an IEP early on, so my grades wouldn't suffer as a result. So, I never gave presentations and I would answer questions by writing them down. I wish I learned sign in school. I'm learning it now and it would have helped a lot just for the basic stuff (can I go to the restroom, etc). My classmates treated me very well. They would get very defensive if they saw someone try to pick on me or something. This was mostly because I grew up in a small town and the people I graduated with were the same ones who I went to kindergarten with, so they understood me and were protective. I was incredibly lucky in that aspect. Normally, I didn't have an issue with teachers, they actually liked me because of how quiet I was lol. There were a few instances where I had teachers who didn't understand my condition and would give me hell for not talking. The school administration was okay except for the special education director. At my yearly IEP meetings she would constantly put me down by saying I would never succeed in college, have a boyfriend or hold down a minimum wage job. I've since proven her wrong in all three of those aspects, so she can go to hell.

Yes! I love camping and hiking! As long as there aren't many people around, I'm usually fine. I absolutely feel anxious while writing. I often reread things several times before posting them. College papers take forever for me to write because I get so afraid of making mistakes or being judged for what I am writing.

Yeah, it was pretty rough. My social life growing up could have been way worse. I was never bullied, if someone would make a comment or try to put me down in some way I ALWAYS had peers who would stick up for me even if they were not close friends. I was very lucky in that aspect. I had no trouble making friends in school. Many people accepted me and loved my sense of humor. However, college has been rough. I'm a senior now and I really haven't made any friends. I've made a few acquaintances, but nothing long lasting. I do still talk to the friends I made growing up, but I have been feeling a bit lonely lately. More recently, I met a great guy who accepts me for who I am and we've been dating for 5 months now.

I worry about what people who know about that think. I remember being in school and thinking that people were going to make comments about me shooting up the school. Since SM is pretty rare, I don't know if it affected everyone the same. I try to remind people that Seung-Hui Cho also had some other issues (major depressive disorder) as well all of which could have been prevented or treated by some decent psychological counseling. I once read a post (on reddit, I think) where one of his classmates shared a story from a class they had in college where the teacher asked him something and he didn't respond, so the whole class started laughing at him. That hurt me on so many levels. I want to educate people about SM because I have had to explain it to psychiatrists and other medical professionals before and that's kind of ridiculous. If I have to explain it to them, they probably don't know how to go about treating it.

Not really. My meds have made me more comfortable with communicating. Plus I have always wanted to discuss SM and social anxiety with other people. If it's something I'm passionate about, I don't mind throwing something out there.