tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794893825407092443.post2880112996121367388..comments2023-12-29T04:36:07.964-04:00Comments on Square 8: Nerds 'R UsBevhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06766614739853100172noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794893825407092443.post-13585536378024372042010-09-14T12:06:09.116-04:002010-09-14T12:06:09.116-04:00I was bullied pretty much all the way through high...I was bullied pretty much all the way through high school and it really messed up what little self-esteem I had. I am now clinically depressed and extremely lonely. I just can't stand the fact that people think that they are better than others. Being called a "nerd" or a "geek" is like being cut down from being human. It feels like they are saying that I am an overly simplified stereotype that is inferior to the rest of humanity. Thats what it feels like to me. I don't know if I have aspergers or not but to me, its not a syndrome. Its not a DISORDER. THEY ARE THE DISORDER. It is so humiliating to me to know that people think that they are so much better than so called "nerds". Now they call it a disorder...Enoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794893825407092443.post-53854416249589014612007-06-01T21:42:00.000-04:002007-06-01T21:42:00.000-04:00Ms. Clark:That is so absolutely true that people j...Ms. Clark:<BR/>That is so absolutely true that people just assume everything we do is intentional. It happens to me all the time, yet I never thought about it in this context.<BR/><BR/>I suppose the best revenge is living happily and nerdily amongst the cooler, sadder detractors.Bevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06766614739853100172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794893825407092443.post-13401870317668231372007-05-31T22:23:00.000-04:002007-05-31T22:23:00.000-04:00Melissa, I say the same thing. : )- MissyMelissa, I say the same thing. : )<BR/>- MissyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794893825407092443.post-56633293978836574702007-05-30T23:40:00.000-04:002007-05-30T23:40:00.000-04:00Missy, It's amazing... my son too (will be 5 in Au...Missy, It's amazing... my son too (will be 5 in Aug.) started telling me he was different when he started preschool. My first reaction was, "Where did you hear that from? Did someone tell you you were different?" Then after a moment, I believed him. And I told him that he was indeed different and wonderful too. I also told him the world is full of people who are unique and different, and that it is a good thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794893825407092443.post-72669084771622818322007-05-30T22:47:00.000-04:002007-05-30T22:47:00.000-04:00Hi, Bev - I, too, watched the show with great anti...Hi, Bev - I, too, watched the show with great anticipation. I am a movie buff and fascinated by directing. I really enjoyed the whole thing except this one horrible film. Even sadder to me was that the next night, it was voted one of the 3 best by viewers at home, even though the 3 judges did complain. I am sometimes still shocked myself at how uncaring (mean) people are as a society. As you know, my Aspie daughter is 4 and very much knows when she is being teased. Lately, she says to me, "Mommy, I'm different from the other children." Oh, how I dread the inevitable bullying to come. <BR/>- MissyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794893825407092443.post-73865987028693384762007-05-30T21:19:00.000-04:002007-05-30T21:19:00.000-04:00I agree that tolerance must be taught. I teach 8t...I agree that tolerance must be taught. I teach 8th grade American History and as you know, the US's history is riddled with zillions of examples of intolerance. Most of my students were shocked to find this stuff out. Like they knew about slavery, but didn't really know what that meant.<BR/><BR/>We have discussed all year how one of the most powerful tools we have is our own voice. That we MUST stand up for others or change will NEVER HAPPEN.<BR/><BR/>I have heard my students use the word "retard" to each other and I jump right down their throats. I won't tolerate it in my classroom, even if they are using it as slang. I have no place for it.<BR/><BR/>My son (he's 6) thankfully does not yet know when he's being teased. He's very trusting and loving and doesn't read social cues well enough to decipher what's going on with regards to teasing at this point. I will do my best to give him the tools to defend himself when the time comes. I, too, try to build his self-esteem right now. I think it's working -- we had his IEP a few weeks ago and when I told him where I was going, he said, "what are you going to talk about there?" I said, "What do you think?" and he said, "About how great I am!" with a big smile.<BR/><BR/>Karen in CAAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794893825407092443.post-38282418677611434842007-05-30T18:31:00.000-04:002007-05-30T18:31:00.000-04:00"Nerds are presumed to be smart, I guess, and thus..."Nerds are presumed to be smart, I guess, and thus have the resources to defend themselves."<BR/><BR/>I think it's more than that. There's an assumption that they are smart, and so they have no "right" to make social mistakes. Their social mistakes, like an Asperger's adult I know who wore a slide rule on his belt at school, and the more classic ones of wearing pants that are too short, and the wrong shirt, buttoned the wrong way, the wrong glasses... the wrong posture, the wrong vocabulary (obviously), the wrong interests....<BR/>all their social misdeeds are done DELIBERATELY TO IRRITATE THE OTHERS. Therefore, the bullies are totally justified in retaliating. How dare Barney F. show up with those shoes when he KNOWS that we'll have to beat him up if he does. <BR/><BR/>There's something even uglier. "Nerds" are not allowed to be happy. If they act happy in the presence of the "upper classes" they need to be crushed, basically. They are not allowed to enjoy being nerds, they need to pay, constantly for being a nerd... because they are annoying and have no right to be.<BR/><BR/>The fallout of this is heinous and lasts a very long time, maybe for the rest of the "nerds" life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794893825407092443.post-82231021307413641552007-05-30T13:40:00.000-04:002007-05-30T13:40:00.000-04:00While tolerance may be a characteristic innate in ...While tolerance may be a characteristic innate in some, I think the vast majority of children must be taught it, whether it be through an elder that the child respects or even something like Sesame Street. In addition to intolerance, much of the acting out to others who are "lower on the hierarchy" comes from children with low self esteem. <BR/><BR/>Being a parent of an almost five year old child with Asperger's, bullying is a concern that I spend many hours worrying about. Next year my son begins Kindergarten and already I notice intolerance for him by some of the "rougher" kids in his preschool class.<BR/><BR/>When I read blogs like this one and accounts from others who have encountered so much bullying it makes me so sad and worried. I am hoping that all the praise that I have given him and all of the wonderful characteristics that I continually remind him that he possesses will give him the self esteem to not tolerate the bullying, the courage to stand up to it, and the knowledge that he is head and shoulders above those that bully him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com