Katharina Buczek
This twenty-year-old is currently attending college and has a peer named Melissa in one of their classes. They never interacted with Melissa that much, but they do know that she has Autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
And just last week, they ended up being paired with Melissa and a few other students for a group project.
Once the group was assigned, everyone also split up into duo partners. But, after they learned their partner was Melissa, they were approached by another classmate with bizarre instructions.
“Another member of our group told me to only give Melissa the easy tasks due to her ‘condition.’ And, not wanting any trouble, I went along with it and gave her only the easy tasks,” they recalled.
However, while the whole group was working in the library one day, they realized that Melissa sped through her tasks super quickly. Meanwhile, they were still working.
They let Melissa be, though, until a few minutes later– when she apparently “mustered up all of her courage” to ask one question.
“I already finished here. Can I help you?” Melissa reportedly asked.
At first, they tried telling Melissa that they could handle the rest of their tasks on their own. But, this clearly hurt Melissa– because after staying silent for a few more minutes, she spoke up again.
“I don’t like group projects. Every time, the group never lets me participate properly– like I am incapable. It upsets me,” Melissa said.
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