Meet Teddy (Teardrop), a nonverbal girl starting high school. Despite her introverted nature, she's going to find herself connected to the centers of drama in the new high school. Between her two childhood friends (one of which has an evil twin), a...
Teddy rolled her eyes upon seeing the principal trying to hide a cheeky grin at that last statement. Looks like Leah and Penelope were right, Teddy thought. Principal Announcer is a complete troll. She typed into her AAC app to clear up the misunderstanding. "Don't worry, this is just about my IEP."
"Oh, you're okay with your friends knowing?" Principal Announcer asked.
Teddy typed into her AAC app. "It's not a big deal. Also, I think everyone probably realized that I have an IEP, since I use this to communicate. This is an accommodation, after all."
"Alright, still, protocol says that we have to talk outside the classroom. Follow me," the principal said, before leading Teddy out into the hallway.
"By the way, I know ASL," Principal Announcer said as he shut the classroom door behind them. "You can communicate using that if you wish to instead of your AAC app."
Teddy put her phone in her pocket, and switched to sign language. The first thing she asked was who was going to oversee study hall now that the principal stepped out.
The principal shrugged. "I'm sure you have a teacher's pet in your grade that will keep your class in order instead of me. Why spend our budget on a kid wrangler when you can rely on another kid to maintain order for free? Besides, I had to lay off all of the IEP case managers due to budget cuts."
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Image: Principal Announcer is shrugging while talking to Teddy. We can only the back of Teddy's head and her bun in the picture. Principal Announcer has polydactyly, which gives him seven fingers on each hand. He wears a pair of shades and a dark gray suit with a light gray button up shirt underneath.
"Pretty sure that's illegal," Teddy signed to the principal.
"...No comment." The principal then cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Are the teachers all willing to grant you the accommodations that are set up for you?"
Teddy nodded but then paused, before signing, "Professor Four's screeches hurt my ears."
"I'll try to see if I can get them to let you wear noise cancelling headphones in their class, but they have to be your own headphones. We can't buy you any due to budget cuts," Principal Announcer said.
Teddy blinked in surprise. Using sign language, she told the principal that she did have a pair at home, but then asked the principal if he wasn't worried that she was going to use them to block out everything the professor was saying.
"I've looked over your files. Based on your past grades, you seem to take academics seriously," Principal Announcer explained. "Now, what social goals do you want to set for yourself this year?"
