The list of times teachers have been insensitive to my autism and noise sensetivity is a long one. Back in first grade I keep disrupting class because I was having panic attacks due to overstimulation because of all the noise. My teacher told me that because of that my friends didn't like me and even went so far as to ask one of my friends to control my behavior. In second grade, my teacher suggested that my mom make lots of noise at home (which was my safe space) so I could get used to it. Thankfully, Mom didn't comply. There was also an incident in fourth grade that, while I was not a part of, I was a witness to. This kid is a bit distracted in class so the teacher tells him he has to stay after school. Kid starts crying because he has a doctor's appointment that day that he can't miss. Teacher yells at him for crying, which only makes things worse, and we're all watching wide-eyed as he does this going "what the frick, man?" Teachers can be surprisingly abusive at times...

As a child I used to have UTI's a lot and when I had to pee, there was no waiting. I had a teacher that wouldn't let me go, and I wet my pants right in my chair. They called my dad for clean clothes and the teacher was acting like my Dad should be upset with me. I remember him asking to see her in the hallway. I don't know what was said, but from that time on I was allowed to use the bathroom anytime I wanted.

I have a skin condition that causes my skin to have different darker color splotches and in junior high I got called to the counselors because a teacher reported me and said I wasn't showering. So the school counselor literally asked me if I showered. I cried my eyes out. Yes bitch I shower this is a genetic problem. Crushed me

Gym teacher called my mom in for a meeting to discuss how I was lazy and always made excuses to get out of class. I avoided the exercises because I was clumsy and I seemed to hurt myself doing anything. Dodgeball? Couldn't throw for s**t and getting hit by the ball would bring me to tears. Years later I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, so the normal pain anyone would get from a potential hockey ball to the face would be amplified on me. I was right to fear pain.

I have a few issues, because of them I have a 504 in school, which means teachers aren't allowed to grade my handwriting. Back in fourth grade, I had teacher who made my classmates and I write a lot of notes and definitions. At the end of the day, we would take our journals to the front of class and the teacher would look at them. He would approve everyone else's notes, but when he looked at my journal he would say things like "You're being lazy" and "Your handwriting should not be that sloppy." On time, I was writing the most notes I'd ever done. My hand was aching by the time I was done. The teacher took one look at my notes and said "All of this needs to be rewritten." On top of that, he also wrote rude comments like "Your handwriting is terrible!" on my tests. My mother was furious when I brought home my first graded test with a comment on it. She spoke with the principal. It was fine though, due to an unrelated reason we moved away in the middle of the school year.

Students and children are not perfect, they do not no everything by instinct, and they are not adults either! I am absolutely disgusted

Uncommon Boston

Uncommon Boston

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First day of first grade. We were given a pencil, reader and math workbook, then told to organize our desks. I read the book and started the math workbook. The teacher was furious and made me stand in front of the class and say oink oink. How could a desk with only 3 things in it be messy? Organizing my desk was absurd. I was considered a problem, a reputation that stuck. We moved, suddenly I was considered smart and well behaved.

I have ADHD, borderline and anxiety disorders, had them all my life. But litterally nobody ever thought that would mean I might struggle with some things or feeling uncomfortable because of something. Because nobody listened to me, I learned to answer every problem with extreme stubbornness and aggressiveness because it was the only way to make them listen and respect my needs. The only thing it lead to was making me prone to get anger outbursts when I get into problem situations, and I can't control it most of the time. It's awful - just because nobody wanted to listen. Not even my own parents.

At age 6 I was afraid of being underwater and would refuse to put my head in the water in swimming pools etc. The swim teacher at my school first mocked me for this, then tried to "fix" it by putting her foot on my head and literally keeping me fully underwater like that. I have no idea how long, and dont actually remember this, but I do remember the therapy sessions that followed.. Im now 35 and still panic when water hits my face.

All these stories are terrible! It honestly sucks that so many people have experiences like this. I thought my teachers were okay until I realized recently that they constantly ignored my social anxiety (participation grades are the worst).

I used to get shamed for falling asleep in all of my classes. I'm narcoleptic.

My elementary school teacher told the another teacher that I'am the ugliest kid that he ever met in front of me. I wanted to be a model when I was a kid. I lost my confidence. It took me 10years to recover, and start to dress up again

A lot of these are not just examples of unnecessary ableism, but also examples of misuse of power and psychological/emotional abuse. I find it especially horrible when the teacher is the abuser/bully, because he/she/they chose this profession and can negatively effect so many children or young adults through out the years. I think this a very serious problem that should not be taken lightly! Victims of psychological abuse can develop similar or worse (!) mental health problems than victims of sexual or physical abuse. Mental health problems like low self-esteem, ptsd, anxiety, depression or suicidal tendencies. I am really sorry for all the victims of these abusive teachers. This should have never happened and I hope they are all doing well now. Schools should be safe places for learning and developing skills and it should not matter if you have a physical/mental disability or a neurodiverse brain (the same goes for gender, partner preference, race, ethnicity, culture, etc).

I once got my mouth sellotaped to my head for asking/testing a teacher.

This isn't ableist at all, these teachers are just straight up assholes.

Our school had a tornado warning and we had to hurry to take shelter. I had a panic attack and started crying, and our school vice principal told me loudly to stop crying because I was scaring the other kids. I was in fourth grade at the time.

This is evil. I have bad handwriting, and have been somewhat shamed for it, but this is insane. I can't imagine it. For any kid who can relate to this- ask your parents to homeschool and tell them your reasons. This is a ridiculous and I feel that at least half are white and grew up from the 40-60s when this was actually WAY more common. I did not believe we lived in a George-and-Harold world, but we do. I am terrified to see this, and all of these teachers need to get fired.

Had a biology teacher make fun of me everytime we did dissection in class for wearing gloves. I finally said i wanted to talk to her in the hall and INFORMED her that formyldhyde (sorry bad at spelling it) was absorbed thru the skin. My mother taught in the biology dept of the local junior college. And had an english teacher that found a note i wrote (she was a horrible teacher even by moms standards) and read it out loud to everyone of her classes. It was my last class and everybody told me what she was doing. Another english teach refused to help me when i couldnt do somerhing she asked us to do claiming nobody else knew either. Everybody was half way thru the assignment asked my best friend ro help me then the teacher decided to shed help told her never mind i got someone to help. Yeah strqight to the principles office. I had a learning disability and adhd all in my records. The principle understood my issues and helped when he could. Home life was hell and achool was hell.

DOODLING, drawing or note taking: If you, as a teacher, are too ignorant to know that different people learn differently, and some of us need to keep our hands and/or eyes occupied while we listen and concentrate on what we're hearing, then you need better training or you need to find a new career.

I was called careless and lazy for years when it came to reading and writing work. I wasn't diagnosed with dyslexia until my second attempt at university. I have been told that if it happened today it would be caught and there would be help, so at least I hope it's better now.

I had numerous teachers accuse me of cheating due to I write differently all the time with a pen due to nerve damage in my hands. I also had a teacher not believe I needed glasses so I needed to sit in the front. Which was only reserved for the jocks who were on his basketball team. Even my mother tried calling no luck stuck in the back. He got so bad and said just do what you want I don't care so he eventually failed me for not being about to see the write board. We could not afford glasses at the time due to insurance restrictions.