Well whaddyaknow. This case has actually got a follow-up. My son just told me that there will be a small birthday celebration at school for the boy in question, arranged by the teacher.

While I know this could open a whole can of worms when it comes to why him, why not everybody else, who next... in this particular case I am glad she is doing this. I sent her a short note saying so, and she replied telling me that this boy had been telling her about his upcoming birthday party for weeks and she was just crushed when she heard what happened. So I'm just really happy the class has a teacher who cares so much about her students.

I think it'll be ok actually, I think everybody realizes and accepts that this boy really is a bit different from all the others. He's not DISliked, just not very popular. He's friendly and outgoing, but acts very young for his age and lacks social antennae, and he may well have a diagnosis.

At our school we've always been given a contact list with everybody's adresses and phone numbers early each school year. Very handy!