autistic · four year old · non-verbal · meltdown · sensory issues · child · neurodivergent · literal-minded · emotional regulation · special interests
The camera finds a small, trembling figure in the dim hallway, clutching a plastic bucket that holds nothing but echoes. Tears have carved pale rivers through her smudged cat-face paint. The stolen sweets are a profound absence in her universe, and the sheer unfairness of it hangs in the still air, captured perfectly in her wide, glassy, disbelieving eyes.