I woke up, showered, got dressed, and then came to the kitchen where I saw Olivia picking at her food while Mom tried to braid her hair. I gave one last try to convince Mom not to send Olivia to school with me.
" Mom, seventh grade is too hard for her!".
"That's not true Alice. Olivia has made so much progress!" Mom responded without looking up. I looked at Olivia.
"Well you can't send her looking like that!". Olivia was wearing a ratty, dirty, disgusting shirt from the fifth grade (Olivia is very small) that was one of the only shirts she would wear. Olivia's autism gives her sensory sensitivity which means a shirt that is soft to us she might not be able to handle because she thinks it's so itchy. But Mom looked at me strangely as if my suggesting she did not wear the most disgusting shirt in the world was strange. I ate my breakfast and eventually we all packed into the car and drove to school.
