“I Don’t Believe in Popular Kids” by a Teen with Autism & Her Mom

Heather Gold author of “I Don’t Believe in Popular Kids”

Heather Gold is a 13-year-old girl with autism who didn’t have a good school experience. A culmination of difficult experiences weighed down on her, including her being bullied, a hard time blending in, and not having friends to sit with at lunch. Back in kindergarten she had no diagnosis as to why she was different; due to this she got no special education as well as no accommodations to her needs, which eventually led to bullying.

When she was bullied at 10 years old, her mom, Liz Gold, thought that a good idea to talk about this challenging situation was to write about it together. She would start telling her mom what happened at school and what she felt, and her mom would write about it. After a while, it became a regular thing where they would start having writing sessions and that was the beginning of their project together.

Because of her experience and how she couldn’t find any relief from the abuse of her bullies, she ended up writing a zin with her mom called “I Don't Believe in Popular Kids: Lessons from One Girl's Fight for Inclusion” . This zin explains her experience as an elementary school student where she explores her fight against bullying and her journey toward self-discovery.

Every chapter emphasizes on an precise feature of Gold’s experience, along with managing mechanisms and suggestions on how to deal with these types of situations. One of its chapters is called ‘Honor Your Weird’ and she hopes it can make families and kids feel less alone, and to teach them that it’s okay to speak up and to be yourself. This is perfect for someone that needs a role model or a motivation on how to help and support those in need.

“To everyone who has felt different, lost and forgotten or invisible, this handbook is for you. The worriers, the studious, the creative, the popular kids, the conformers of levels and you, too, whoever you are; you are beautiful, messy humans. You belong here with us. You aren’t alone. Stay up late and read these pages with a flashlight under your covers and maybe tomorrow, you’ll reach out across the room with words to catch a kid who is falling.”
—Heather Gold in “I Don’t Believe in Popular Kids: One Girl’s Fight for Inclusion”

By Heather Gold and Liz Gold