"Ugly pig!"
My daughter was called that by a girl at school this week.
Ugly. Pig.
Hard to understand the bullying and name calling when they're so young, so fragile. Obviously, if it was an adult that said this to another adult, there would be an argument or a conflict, but this was an NT 8-year-old saying this to an autistic 7-year-old.
My daughter has, since this incident, broken down crying several times, hidden away in her room, and violently destroyed her glasses. She's also gotten destructive with chairs, cups and food.
Two words did that.
Hopefully, we can get her to understand that words are simply tools people use and can be accepted, challenged and discarded. They only have power if we let them.
For now, we will teach her more self-advocacy skills to give her weapons against those that would try to harm her emotionally or physically. It may never be enough, I can remember several times in my life when I was told something and it still stings, but she has no defenses at all.
I'll add "ugly pig" to the list of words that have caused me pain. I'll try to teach her to forget them and move on.
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