Teachers write loving letters to autistic students after failing exams; story goes viral.

A child’s autism diagnosis might be scary. Major health or development issues may cause conflict. Kids and families can cope with ASD with knowledge and resources.

Ben Twist manages autism at 11. A letter from Ben astonished his mother Gail after his SAT failure. The letter told of anything other than excellent grades. Ben’s teacher sent a viral letter despite the failing exam.

The Letter

Mrs. Clarkson wrote a nice note praising him.

The letter states:

“Dear Ben,

I am writing you to congratulate you on your attitude and success in completing your end of key stage SATs.

Gil, Lynn, Angela, Steph and Anne have worked so well with you this year and you have made some fabulous progress.

I have written to you and your parents to tell you the results of the tests.

A very important piece of information I want you to understand is that these tests only measure a little bit of you and your abilities. They are important and you have done so well, but Ben Twist is made up of many other skills and talents that we at Lansbury Bridge see and measure in other ways.”

The response

The world needs more Ms. Clarksons! Sending Ben a note explaining how to improve is easier. Smart and caring individuals like Mrs. Clarkson know that assessing a fish by its tree-climbing prowess is like judging a monkey by its deep-water swimming abilities.

We hope Ben recalls his teacher’s remarks and never values himself by his school test scores.