Hey you! The kid with the stuffed animal!

Vivian Marina Piña

How a kid goes through a day at RB with Autism

Zackary Schejbal, Staff Reporter

Have you ever wondered why that kid in the hallway carries a stuffed animal into his class? Well, that kid is here talking right now.

The kid has been struggling with Autism, a disorder that limits the person diagnosed by limiting their social life, repetitive behaviors, and so on. This kid has been diagnosed with ADHD and Autism.

The kid’s day is very stressful and a rather tragic tale at times. The kid’s mom wakes him up in the morning and gives him medication to help him pull through the day.

The kid then wakes up around 30 minutes later, wanting to not go to school due to struggles with kids laughing and talking about him in a hurtful way.

After getting dressed and throwing on his lanyard with his ID inside, the kid gets driven to school due to being scared of driving himself.

After arriving at school, he goes down to talk with the only friends he can trust who sometimes cannot talk due to working on an assignment. He enjoys talking about funny things and interests.

His day starts at 8:00 a.m. when the bell for class rings for first period, where two of his friends are: one friend very hyper, another rather calm.

He is carrying a stuffed animal at times because it makes him feel safe and helps him cope with stress throughout the school day. After having a struggle with class because he is very unorganized and loses stuff, the bell rings.

He is laughing and talking with the only friends he can, hiding the stress like a normal kid. The PE class approaches and he changes into his gym clothes, still carrying the stuffed animal.

While he paces with the stuffed animal waiting for the teacher, he talks and gives a voice to the plush animal, giving the thing life and feeling happy.

The stuffed animal is mostly a plush of the Pokemon Oshawott and he refers to the plush as Oshy. Gym begins and he can barely bend his spine due to having a stiff back and being worried about bending it too much.

After gym is over and he is dressed back in his normal clothes, the kid proceeds to third period, the only class he’s happy to express his mind in. He is still holding Oshy in his hands.

When fourth period begins, he is very stressed because Oshy is now within the backpack because he is unable to hold it in his hands because his teacher is strict. He does his lesson, barely making it through, not losing his stress when lunch begins and the kid can sigh relief.

He pulls out Oshy when lunch begins and rushes into the lunchroom to grab food to ensure time to eat. Another one of his friends is there to talk with and he is happily smiling and laughing.

Then, after lunch, Oshy goes back in the bag and the stress begins again. But now, he has an extra drink for his medication later on.

The stress builds again and he is very stressed. When the period ends, Oshy is back out of the bag and he goes to the lunchroom again.

His mother is there and gives him another pill to boost his mood to keep him focused. Now, he goes to work cleaning tables in the faculty dining room.

After his job, he is bored and the next two periods are uneventful. Until seventh period.

The kids in seventh period are rude and arrogant to him. He hates this class although he likes it, too.

After the final bell rings, the kid is out of the building and walks to a normal spot where his mother picks him up. When they arrive home, the kid instantly shuts down.

He goes up to the computer room of his house and hops on the computer. He plays it until the end of the day, drowning out anything related to school.

He drowns out any responsibilities because he is trying to cope with that day’s activities. Even though he seems happy online and a bundle of joy, in reality he’s in pain from being alone.

When he feels tired at around 7:00 p.m., he turns on a playlist of Bob Ross and listens to the playlist as he falls asleep on the couch bed in that room. Oshy is at his side while he says his goodnights to his other stuffed animals and falls asleep.

And with that, a day in this autistic kid’s life concludes. A day in the life of me.