After Failing His Exams, This Autistic Student Received A Comforting Letter From His Teacher

By David Clarke

While autism can be a challenging condition to overcome, people are realizing more and more that it’s not as limiting as once thought. Some of the challenges of autism include difficulty communicating, forming relationships, using language, and understanding abstract concepts. But there are varying degrees of autism, and just because it’s more difficult it doesn’t mean an autistic person can’t live a reasonably normal life.

Those challenges were an issue for Ben, an 11-year old that recently failed his school exams. He studied and gave it his best effort, but he still didn’t get the results he was wanting.

A teacher could go one of two ways in response to this. They could blame the failed grades on a lack of studying and recommend that Ben study harder or they could encourage Ben and remind him how special he is, regardless of the test results.

Fortunately for Ben, Jane Grecic decided to go with the latter option. Grecic is the assistant head teacher in Ben’s school, and she wanted to make sure that Ben remembered how unique and smart he was even if the grades didn’t show it.

Grecic wrote Ben a letter that will melt even the coldest of hearts! She started by saying that the fact that Ben could sit through all of his exams was an accomplishment in itself. She also mentioned that these tests “only measure a little bit of you,” and that Ben had many other talents that made him special.

Some of the talents Grecic commented on included Ben’s artistic talents, independence, kindness, teamwork, free-spirited attitude, and ability to make and keep friends. The list goes on and on, and we can understand why Ben’s mother Gail was moved to tears when she read it.

Gail commented that Ben “has social and communication challenges, sensory difficulties and his the way his brain processes things is slow.” She went on to say that “he is a visual learner and needs much repetition, but much more than that, he is a kind, funny, and loving individual.”

Many are commenting that the way Jane Grecic handled the situation is a credit to the teaching profession, and Gail is hoping that this will inspire other letters like this for autistic children around the world.

Ben’s response to the letter was heartwarming, to say the least. He said, “I can’t believe that someone said all those nice things about me.”

Here’s the full letter, and it’s well worth a read.

We can only hope that other teaching professionals around the world borrow from the example of Mrs. Grecic and handle their students facing challenges in a similarly encouraging way.

Ben’s mother Gail recently shared on twitter that “Look @IPSEAcharity my son is starting at his brand new specialist school, all thanks to your help.” We wish the best of luck to Ben in the rest of his academic journies and life!