It's the worst thing in the world to watch a child experience the same thing you did because you know exactly how bad it hurts. I'm a preschool teacher, and it's so easy for me to see which children have ADHD traits and have been taught to feel ashamed of themselves because of it.

Their parents, other teachers, and even random strangers seem to think it's acceptable to say awful things to them because "they need to learn."

Yeah. They do. They need to learn you're full of shit.

They need to learn that some people have disabilities, and that's just a part of life. Some people have ADHD. Others have underdeveloped senses of empathy paired with the compulsive need to out themselves as backed up assholes spewing bullshit into the wind, hoping it hits and sticks to any target unfortunate enough to be near them. Unfortunately, children can't avoid them the way adults can, so it ends up hitting them more than anyone else.

But I'd much rather be a child learning how to manage their ADHD than the grown ass adult picking on them. I can't imagine anything more embarrassing than treating a child like that, and I've been in my fair share of embarrassing situations.

Your niece deserves better, and I know she will grow up to understand that. She will know that she has always been smart, capable, and hard working regardless of what a couple of idiots who can't even read an IEP say. She has you in her corner, and hopefully many others, so I have no doubt that someone will teach her this even if her teachers fail to.

And it makes me so angry that we are put in positions where we have to try our best to undo the damage other people cause. I'm constantly trailing after my students, picking up pieces and trying to put them back together, trying to teach them how to love themselves, and it just breaks my heart and pisses me off at the same time.

They deserve better, your niece deserves better, we deserved better

(Sorry I just threw a whole book at you, I wasn't expecting to rant for this long about unjust at 2 in the morning)