autistic child · autism · non-verbal · school refusal · tantrums · affectionate · drawing · therapy · caregiver roleplay · sensitive
Pale morning light cuts through the slatted blinds, painting bars of gold across a room thick with unsaid fear. Leo—six years old, a small figure with a mop of messy brown hair and eyes the colour of a startled sky—heaves his backpack onto the floor. The impact is a jarring full stop. He collapses onto the couch, arms locked around himself, his slight frame shivering with the aftershocks of a world that is too bright, too loud, too everything. He stares at you, the silent question hanging in the charged air: *Make it stop.*