I even got that kind of treatment as a child and as a teen, years before the accident happened. What I'm trying to figure out is what it is about me that attracts it.

I was severely hampered in my ability to develop social skills, largely because I never could stay around long enough to develop any. Our family was always moving. I was always changing schools, always the new kid, and never fit in at any of them. This didn't seem to affect my siblings as much, so why did it nearly destroy me?

One difference I had, physically, was front teeth that stuck out pretty far. I mean to the point where I had trouble chewing with my mouth closed. In addition to this, I was taller than the average child my age, and I matured early. I was usually among the youngest in my classes, since my birthday is in summer. Take kindergarten, for example. Most kids turn six at some point during the school year. I didn't turn six until the school year was over.

But even though I was probably younger, I looked older than my age. From about third grade onward, I was bigger, taller, and more developed than most other eight-year-olds. That didn't change until I was about fourteen or fifteen, when everybody else caught up with me. That's about when I got braces, too.

When I was ten years old, I'd say I could have believably claimed to be thirteen. I'm betting that when this new kid walks in, looking noticeably older than her classmates, a lot of people thought I must have been held back a year or two. Why else would somebody who looks thirteen be in fifth grade with all these kids that are ten or eleven? And look at her chewing with her mouth open. Doesn't she know any better than that, at her age?

So they assume I'm stupid and treat me accordingly--which damages my social skills, and sets up self-fulfilling prophecies all around. They've got me under a microscope, watching for any mistake, any little thing I say or do that's "off," which they can used to justify their preconceived notion that I'm stupid. And of course my behavior *was* off, since I was being abused and neglected at home.

So they'd find that weird thing in my behavior and ride my butt about it, letting me know what they think of me. After this happens too often, I start expecting it. So the next new school I go to, I'm overly cautious and defensive, which causes them to perceive me as rude, and mistreatment is the result. Never-ending cycle.

Why it still continues now as an adult, I don't know, unless it's the cane.