I’ve always had a hard time with talking. I was the quiet kid in class and was always seen as “so shy,” or “so quiet.” Even at home I was quiet. There would be something I wanted, like a snack or drink, but would be too afraid to ask for it. My family noticed it in school but not so much at home. Once I got to middle school, they began to pressure me to talk more. It started with my mom joking around at my IEP meeting, that if I talked to my Special Education teacher, that she would be all excited and listen to me. I dislike praise so I continued to avoid it. When high school came, my mom told me that I can’t just shut down when a teacher calls on me, and that if I don’t know the answer, to just say, “I’m not sure.” This made me mad because I hated all the pressure to talk, but also because I hated that particular class. My mom claimed I came out of my shell in middle school when she pushed me to go to a friend’s house, and if I was truly too nervous, to invite them to our house. We were practically neighbors so I did just that. My mom got all excited and made a huge post to her friend (she pressures her kid to be friends with literally everyone in the school lol). Anyway, she was all excited and told her friend what I had done and how I was really breaking out of my shell. For whatever reason I had a tendency to read my moms texts at that time, so I found a lot of stuff she said about me and my issues socializing. She believes my improvements began in middle school and that it was because I was taking an anxiety medication. This however, is not the case. My big social breakthrough happened when I was in my junior year of high school and my English teacher pressured us to talk. About half the class was quiet and never really spoke up. One day the teacher asked for our opinion on something and got really frustrated when nobody answered her. She continued to pressure us, and eventually, I raised my hand and spoke up. I continued to do this throughout the year. Once I got to college however, my mom continued with the pressure, but only in classes I wasn’t good at. She would say things like, “You better have the courage to speak up and ask your teacher questions!” My second semester of college, I ended up doing fairly well, but it wasn’t because of my mom’s pressure, but rather my passion for English and workshopping my pieces. I also used social stories to help me communicate and not feel so nervous. However, I still have a hard time asking for things I need/want, like snacks or support about adult skills. Does anyone else feel this way?