Some of these stories are breaking my heart. (((Hugs to all those who are mistreated)))

When my oldest son was in kindergarten. His teacher called a meeting a said my son talks a lot in class, is fidgety and disruptive. She said "I've seen his type before and he will end up in prison". My son has a medical condition which accounts for the fidgets and I was so pissed at that teacher. I asked her if she was familiar with self fullfilling prophecy and how it can be forced onto the person you judge. I told her that if she believed my son was a criminal waiting to happen, she was obviously treating him as such and this could CAUSE him to behave and fulfill her own prophecy. I was livid and should have gotten her azz fired.

My youngest son is VERY smart but he has aspergers ....he has coordination issues due to abnormalities in his tendons. His guidance counselors are telling him his aptitude shows he should be a welder or waiter as a career and really needs to make a decision on which of those directions he wants to go into. Working with fire with his coordination is ridiculous....carrying plates is just as silly. My son plans to go to college next year, take classes he enjoys and THEN decide what he wants or is capable of doing.

Regarding acceptance of self....sometimes I'm very good at it. I've accomplished a lot. I'm compassionate and caring, loving, intelligent and many other good things. I'm working on getting better in a 360 degree perspective. I fall sometimes but I get back up and learn what I can from the fall. Sometimes, especially when depressed I can't accept myself but I've come to "accept" that as part of the illness which is not 100% in my control. So acceptance is a back and forth thing for me and I just have to "accept" that reality. ((((Hugs)))