I think that compassion and understanding is something we are supposed to have as rational beings but it’s clear we are still very far from it.

We are only ready to treat with people who are like us. If anyone is out of this, they are the rare one, the target.

I once have a little kid with selective mutism. I was told by any of my coworkers that this little girl wasn’t gonna to speak to me.

Well, since I had her in my classroom, she wasn’t forced to talk even when my subject had to do with it. She could talk to me on my ear and I reproduced what she told me. She was so proud of how well she was doing everything because she was a brilliant kid.

What I mean is that there’s nothing impossible and that the OP teacher should have more care and talk with her in private. There are many moments where we can help people to be the best of themselves instead of setting obstacles to their process. A teacher always had to have this in mind.