Forgive and Forget.....Not so much!

As school ended this past year, we simply put in a request for Ashley to be in a class with as little of the same classmates as possible from this year.  Our idea was that it would give Ashley a little more time to mature and the classmates time to forgive and forget.  The teacher didn't seem too concerned and in fact said, "oh, she will be fine."

Well....It's August and Ashley ran into a classmate today at the pool.  She didn't even stand a chance.  We walked through the gate and already three girls were running away saying there she is and then proceeded by don't follow us Ashley. This was heart wrenching.  More than sixty days had gone by and Ashley was still greeted with a pool full of rejection!  It's tough to think about, it's tough to write about and even more tough to watch!

John couldn't stand to watch it either....and as it continued, he said, "I'm going under water....this is too hard to watch." I just looked away.  For all, rejection is a hard pill to swallow and it took everything in me not to cry.

So I hopped out of the pool and sat there and thought...thought about the reasons Ashley has little to no social skills, thought about the many things and times we have tried to provide her with the skills she needs and then continued to wonder why can't she retain them and use them to make friends.

My hope is that one day there will be a person who understands that Ashley's intentions are not to be harmful, but rather it's the only way she knows, it is who she is and her end result is the same as others: she just wants to be loved and to love!  She's caring, she's nurturing, she likes similar things as those her own age and just wants to be a part of a social environment.

On a positive note, I believe there was a bit of a lesson learned today.  Ashley was able to recognize the rejection and dealt with it by moving on.  Although she didn't cry or complain, we saw some slight emotions from her and for her...this was a step in the right direction.  Being able to feel these emotions might be her way of telling us that she is beginning to understand some parts of this social game.