Scholastic Award Winner: A World of Sound and Sight

A World of Sound and Sight

Silver Key in Personal Essay

By Anna
Grade 8

I woke up. It’s 8:00. Early, but not too early.

I get out of bed, then get my pants. They feel tight. I don’t like it. Pressure. Too tight.

I get my iPad. It helps me take time to relax, to take my mind somewhere else.I like to watch cooking videos, but I like to put the volume up all the way. I also like music. The music is Mozart. I like Mozart. The Mozart music is very popular. like the Lullaby, and the magic flute.

I open the device and log in. I open YouTube and start watching cooking videos. I like food, so the food videos also make me happy. Because of my hyper-focus on things, my eyes pick up some details on everything. The small sounds, the metal flashing…. My ears pick up small sounds that are normal to others but more overwhelming to me.

I was diagnosed with autism at 3. I didn’t have any other symptoms. I could not start making sounds to speak somewhat until I was 4. My adopted sister, Anna, spoke at 2. She is not autistic. She is a typical child, a child people call “normal”. When I was 3 and 1/2, I finally learned to touch my nose. It took 2 months for me to learn it. It’s hard to do things that normal people can. Such as driving and speaking coherently. Staying still, not making noises, or not letting off steam normally.

I just put the iPad on full volume and put it right next to my ear. It’s supposed to hurt others when they do it, but not me. I am okay with it; it’s nice. It feels good to me to have the music in my ears.

After I stay in my room for a little, I go eat food. I like Chinese food, and also spicy treats. Spicy treats are good because they taste so yummy, and the sensory is good.

I stay in my room all day, watching videos on the iPad or learning to read. I do it with my mom. She has me sit down at the desk, and work with her to pronounce better. I think it’s ok, but i’d rather do other things like swim, or watch videos again.

I tire of exercises, and instead get up and leave to go shower. I like the shower. It lets me feel the water running down my back and through my hair. Also, it sounds nice, very repetitive. It also is very nice to feel it on my skin and face. I enjoy it because of its sensory details. The repetition of the water is nice, a very good feeling.

I shower 3 times a day, maybe. The water helps me with a sensory feeling.

In the afternoon when it isn’t so hot, I go swimming in our pool. Just like the shower, I like the water. I love it when the water rushes over my head, and I get to sink in. then I go back up and repeat.

After I’m done, I wind down for the day. I watch a movie, sometimes; rarely, I watch it with my sister. Today we watched the beginning of Sound of Music. I like all the colors and the sounds. The sounds are very satisfying. The pictures dance before my eyes, because the music is nice. When I watch movies or listen to songs, I listen to them on repeat, because either the song is good, or the movie is good with all the pictures and sounds.

One day I’m on my iPad, and i feel the need to use the restroom. I get up, but then i feel dizzy. Really dizzy. I lean against the wall and close my eyes. The feeling is terrible.

Suddenly i hear someone’s footsteps rushing towards me; my dad.

He puts me onto the bed and has me sit there, while i hear my mom coming up the stairs. Everything else feels like a blur to me. it’s like i don’t know what’s happening.

People come in and people leave. The officers come in and try to help me. It takes 15 minutes. They don’t know what’s happening inside my body or what happened, so they take me to the hospital. They bring in a roller stretcher, but i struggle against it.

I don’t like new things all that much, i never did. When they get me out of the house, they put me in the ambulance full of tubes and little wires. They try to take my vitals. They put the i. v tube in, but i take it out. I do it twice before I give up. I just let it sit there in my arm, as my mom touches my arm and tells me to leave it there. I then just sit there and wait nervously as i try to make sense of the officer’s plan.

‘for a while…..clothes…..don’t know…..hospital….for a few days…’