When I was a young child I was extremely hyper and way too impressionable, at one point I wanted to be like my family dog so I started to eat cicadas and cicada shells after seeing him do it. I also modeled myself after one of my close family friends, Michael, who had a learning disability. We have apparently known each other since birth and he was one of my first friends. Of course, at time I had no idea that he was any different from other children. When I was about twelve I realized that he had a disability, and started noticing how unfairly those not close to him would treat him. Everyone around Michael would expect him to never act out and they would become visibly angry when he did something they did not agree with. I noticed that Michael started to become extremely reserved in public with anyone outside his close circle of people he knew would only support him.
One of his biggest supporters was my mother; Michael was often over, and my mom would set realistic goals for him to meet as well as teach him to be more confident. Whenever Michael reached these goals both he and my mother became ecstatic. Over the years Michael has become one of the most self-disciplined people I know; everyday he runs outside and goes to the gym, he plays ice hockey for a rec team, and only continues to grow as a person.
Michael learned how to read social cues and understands what is considered appropriate behavior, but the impressions he’s made on others when he was still learning has stuck. Many of those who knew him choose to pretend he doesn’t exist and are unwilling to compromise on their belief that he could not have changed. It’s always upsetting to see that all of Michael’s hard work is sometimes moot just because people can’t believe that someone with a serious learning disability could actually learn and be a productive member of society.
Unruly Bodies 
I have a friend who is autistic, and it’s funny because once they told me I started noticing all the little things they did that made sense through the lens of autism, but until that point I don’t think I ever would have thought of them as any different. I think the labels we put on our differences are often more impairing than the actual impairments.
My younger brother also has a learning disability and has been in the special education program since kindergarten. My parents always refuse to accept the fact that he has a disability. Instead, they just criticize him as being lazy even though he really is trying in his classes. He’s finally in high school now and his reading and math skills have significantly improved. He is still in the special education program because he needs that extra bit of help sometimes, but my parents still refuse to acknowledge his accomplishments academically. They still believe that if he stopped being lazy, he wouldn’t be in the special education program, especially after twelve years of schooling. It really is a shame to see that some people can’t understand how much harder it is to excel in classes and how much more effort has to be put in to change and adjust to standardized curriculum with learning disabilities.
I feel like Michael’s experience is like many situations in which people are expected to mask their habits that flow out of the status quo or norm. People will always expect you to change and fit into what they believe to be our standards. With disorders such as autism many people refuse to accept that others can’t pick up on certain social cues. Instead of immediately getting angry I think we need to have a practice of empathy and understanding.