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I wish I was like all the other kids, I would really like to have lots of friends. I wish I didn't struggle in my classes in school and have to be in Special Ed. I get teased a lot in school and get called names like retarded. This makes me feel sad.

When I was eight and a half my younger brother, who is also autistic, poked me in the eye and damaged my eye, so I had to wear a patch on my eye after surgery. Kids at school teased me about it.

When I go to lunch I sit by myself. I don't like to get teased, so I like to sit all by myself at a different table and eat and enjoy my delicious food.

I have special needs. People help me with my work; it makes me happy when they help me.

Sometimes when I get excited I feel very energetic and happy. I show it in a different way than other kids do. Sometimes other kids laugh at me because of how I show my feelings. This makes me sad.

When I am happy I like to sing and skip. Sometimes on the school bus I see people laughing at me. Kids make fun of me on the bus. I don't like to ride the bus sometimes. They tease me by calling me the wrong name. They call me retarded, and that's not my name.

When I get teased a lot, sometimes I act bad because it makes me upset, and that is how I know how to deal with it. I wish I could behave like the other kids.

I have Luther Social Services help me every weekday. They help me with things like cooking, cleaning, helping with homework and going out in the community. They help me learn things I don't know how to do.

Sometimes I have a hard time with changes. I like when I can have the same schedule so I don't get confused. This makes me worry. Then I get excited and don't know how to act sometimes.

I am very smart. I wish other kids would be nice to me. When I was seven, I ran away to a friend's house. I didn't know that I was suppose to ask permission from my parents to go. When I was a teenager, I bit my friend in the arm. I was just excited when the teacher was out in the hall, and that's how I showed my feelings.

I feel this is discrimination because of Article 1, Right to Equality. When children are born they are free and each should be treated in the same way. They have reasons and conscience and should act towards one another in a friendly manner.

I feel we could correct the way people treat handicapped children and adults by talking to people and let them know how they are hurting other people. It's not okay to do this to people. Some people that are mentally handicapped hate coming to school because they get teased every day. Everyone has equal rights and should be treated the same. It makes me upset when kids think they're better than I am.

When I go to school I get aides to work with me in school. I feel happy when aides help me in school. We are what we are, and that is how God made us. Some people are luckier than others. Some people are slower than others, but it's not our choice how we are born.

By writing my story I hope it will affect some people. Sometimes I wish I could be them and they could be me, so they would know how I feel. I have feelings, too.

I wish everyone could be treated equal.