Odd girl in daughters class

It isn’t odd for an autistic child.

By the same token, are you ok with same sex attraction being described as ‘odd’? Cultural religious practices? Anything that’s the norm for a minority group but not for the majority?

Obviously the advice to speak to the teacher is correct. But the behaviour isn’t necessarily “odd” for someone who is neurodiverse. Anymore than it’s odd for a blind person to use a dog to help them get around. Or “odd” for someone who is homosexual to be attracted to a person their own sex.

Really? I can’t think I know a ten year old who doesn’t know the word worship? It’s hardly like the kid is telling OP’s DD she’s in limerence.

The behaviour is odd/strange - ie divergent from normal behaviour. A perfectly good description for someone who is neurodivergent and doesn’t mask it, imvho… It is odd for a 10-year old to chew everything, sing at inappropriate times and to ask the same, intrusive question every day.

No, the OP has taken the behaviour at face value - different from the norm. The rush to attach labels to every kind of different behaviour these days is alarming - especially unseen. This could have been a really helpful thread for OP. Instead she’s been chased from it in record time by a ridiculous pile on over one word that wasn’t meant the way it was taken. MN is a pit of vipers at times.

Do SEN teachers diagnose now? That’s going to make a massive difference to a lot of families.

It may seem extreme but it's true. People don't have enough shame these days.

Really? I can’t think I know a ten year old who doesn’t know the word worship? It’s hardly like the kid is telling OP’s DD she’s in limerence.

Teacher here - unfortunately I see this happen a lot. It is more convenient for teachers to partner up an unpopular child with a kind, sympathetic one and they will often encourage that. But it is not in the kind child’s interests as they can then get lumbered and then find themselves ostracised, as seems to be the case here. OP definitely needs to speak to the class teacher and ask for her daughter to be seated away from the other child, and not paired with her for PE or classroom activities. It’s too much for her to navigate on her own at that age so support is needed.

Children shouldn't be made to accept feeling uncomfortable, no matter the reason why the other person is behaving in that way. I'm nd myself but I wouldn't allow my child to be made to feel this way. It's sad for the little girl but ops daughter is not a support worker nor are the other children in the class.

Some of you are clearly very uneducated and it shows. Nobody is asking you to understand neurodivergence, but just be a little less narrow minded then to call children odd. You have no idea what these children go through, or how alien they already feel in a world clearly not willing to even attempt to understand them.

This is what l wondered. Everything has to be labelled as a condition or disability these days, but it could just as easily be something to do with the home situation.

I would speak to the school as my daughter use to help out children with sen issues until I had to put a stop to it as she was really ill one day and crying as I kept her off saying she can't miss school and would get told off as she has to look after the younger ones and I said it ain't your job to as she said it is. then it all came out that my daughter misses playtime and lunchtime to look after them she lost friends because of it and also got told off if the children with sent didn't have snack or lunch if there parents forgot to give them so she was giving her lunch away so she wouldn't get told off. I would ask the school to put boundaries down.

this girl clearly has Autism or learning difficulties- and I find it misplaced how a 10 year old would know the word “worship” when referring to this.
if you’re very concerned could you speak to the girl’s parent?

l have no idea if this child has been diagnosed with something so that is why is used the word odd.
it is not my place or business to assume someone has asd/autism etc…
she may not be sen and therefore I am ok using the word odd

This is what OP said. No offence meant. But a bucketload taken on behalf of a child people are perfectly willing to label as ND unseen. I know what l think is more damaging.

(SEN teacher here)

It sounds to me like she could have ASD.

I can imagine it would be annoying to be asked all the time, but not inappropriate- unless the daughter is uncomfortable talking about periods, in which case I’d suggest the problem lies with the way she’s been taught about them.

As for biting people’s stuff - of course it’s not ok, but that’s where education is required to remove these unacceptable behaviours.

The only other behaviour mentioned is an interest in bugs. Would it be ok if instead of bugs it was dogs? Or something cuter…kittens?

You were correct using the word odd. No idea how people could be offended by that. The girl is displaying very odd behaviour.

I have an adult child who is autistic and has a learning disability, which means their behaviour is often not that of a typical thirty-something, but never have I come across anyone that thinks they should be shamed for their disability. Luckily most people these days don't think that disabled people should be excluded from society either.