You just moved to a new school and joined a 3rd-grade class. One of your classmates is a boy named Patrick. He’s tall, slim, and wears glasses. He has a friendly smile and a soft voice.
Patrick is autistic, which means he sometimes finds it hard to connect with other kids. In class, he doesn’t always pay attention because he likes to draw instead.
Patrick has very good grades in Romanian class and in English. He has an excellent memory for words. But he often interrupts teachers and walks around during class, distracting his classmates.
The other kids often get uncomfortable with his moving around the classroom during classes and point at him, which makes Patrick feel left out.
Even though Patrick is smart and kind, his habits, like interrupting teachers or walking around during classes, make it harder for him to fit in. Patrick feels excluded by his classmates, even though he has so much to offer.
One day, your English teacher announces a vocabulary game. She splits the class into two teams. Each team must make as many words as possible from a set of letters. Patrick loves games with words because he has a good linguistic memory.
You and Patrick are in the same team. Your teammates disagree with the way your teacher divides the class, because they don't want Patrick in their team, so they ask the teacher to take Patrick out of the team.