Once upon a time there was a Benji. He looked like a little boy. He had brown hair and big brown eyes and a very sweet smile. But Benji wasn't like other little boys.
Sometimes Benji was very quiet and the other children at school didn't think that Benji knew how to play. Sometimes Benji was very noisy and the other children didn't think that Benji knew how to be serious. And sometimes...sometimes Benji was very angry. But all the time, inside, Benji wanted to be like the other children.
He liked to watch them run on the playground. Sometimes they told him not to stare.
He liked to watch them go down the slide but he didn't like to go down the slide himself and they thought he was a sissy. He liked to play characters in movies and sometimes the kids said he was a crazy guy.
Yes, there was something very different about Benji.
Then one day, the teacher told the classroom what it was that was different. Benji was Autistic. Benji could hear and could see and could feel things. But sometimes he didn't Sometimes there were things he didn't like to touch or to taste.
The teacher explained that while Benji was just like all the other kids on the inside, sometimes things he heard or saw or touched or tasted got confused before they reached his brain. And this could make him very angry because, Benji was waiting and wanting to be friends.
She told the children that each of them was different from the rest of the class, just like Benji. Mary was the tallest girl and Angie was the shortest. Billy had the most freckles, and Charlie had the longest hair. She told the class that being different wasn't a bad thing because being tall or short or having freckles or having long hair
wasn't a bad thing. Sometimes it was very special.
She continued to go around the classroom telling each child something special about them. Toby told the funniest jokes and Max was the best speller.Tammy could run the fastest and Richard drew the best airplanes. Each child was different yet each child was special.
The teacher asked the children to try to help Benji learn how to do the things the other kids knew how to do. And she asked for them to each find out the answer to this question.
How is Benji special?
The kids decided to try to help Benji. When Benji was quiet they would talk to him by saying "It is a nice day" instead of asking him what kind of day it was. When he was loud they would say, "Benji, we have to be quiet now. We will be loud at recess."
When he watched them run on the playground they would go over to Benji and say, "Benji, will you run with me?" And when he was afraid to go down the slide, they did not call him sissy. They told him things they were afraid to do.
They played like they were characters in movies, too, and Benji joined in on their games. But most of all, they stopped calling Benji a crazy guy. Because once they got to know him...they found out what was special about Benji.
Benji was "Cool."