My cousin is autistic and my brother has a sensory processing disorder. I have lived a lot of my life with a subtle awareness and acceptance of special needs in my personal life. In school, however, I had never quite had the opportunity to interact with my special need peers during elementary and middle school. Prior to high school, I largely lived life unaware of the impact said people can have on one’s life.

Up until he was four, my brother had therapists making frequent visits to our house. Whenever I was home for one of these visits, I observed the exercises each therapist led him through and saw his sensory skills being challenged and enhanced. I saw how the therapist made him do tasks like picking up balls while balancing on his stomach on a scooter. I also saw how he was often calmed down with our “peanut ball” and the “spiky mat.” We lived with a trampoline in our family room which Nate used whenever he got overstimulated and we always had sour candy in our pantry for Nate to eat because his sensory disorder made him love their tart taste.

I never realized this was different. This was just a part of our lives and since my sister had a speech therapist when she was younger and I had trouble distinguishing between a speech therapist and an occupational therapist, I assumed everyone had therapists frequented their homes.

In the Spring of my freshman year, I decided to apply for the Leadership gym class. As I was filling out the application, I noticed that there was an option for a “Sensory PE” class along with “Adapted PE.” I had a vague idea of what adapted was, but I had never heard of sensory. I brought that application back to the PE office and asked the receptionist how they differed.

I learned that Sensory PE is a smaller class that works primarily with autistic students, or those with any autism spectrum or sensory disorder. Intrigued by my personal experience, I pursued this class and eventually applied. During my interview, I felt a sense of confidence that I had never before felt. Even though my only hands on experience was with my young brother, I felt that I understood what was needed to handle an autistic peer.

Luckily, I was accepted into the program and I met my peer soon after, let’s call her Maria. The first time I met Maria, she wouldn’t let go of my hand. I thought this was sweet so I let her. However, I quickly learned that as a normal 15-year-old wouldn’t be allowed to hold my hand, neither should she. The same went for helping her stand up, sit down and go up stairs. These, among other things, were included in the learning curve I experienced in Sensory.

As the years went on, I became more perceptive of Maria’s non-verbality. I learned that when she jumped and shook her hands she was overstimulated and that the best way to cope with that was me breathing slowly and squeezing her arms. I also learned that she has weak wrists and is stronger than she lets on. She finds it hilarious when I have the hiccups and although getting in the poor is a sensory overload and a daily fight, she is truly a fish in the water. I have learned that her smile is the most genuine I have ever experienced and she is obsessed with the gymnastics rings. She loves to look at herself in the mirror and hates to run. In essence, she is a normal teenage girl, just with a few quirks. However, throughout our time together, I feel that my bond with her, which is made with eye contact and hand squeezes rather than conversation and jokes, is one of the deepest I have experienced.

My teacher often tells us how we have impacted these student’s lives, but I am truly in awe of how they’ve impacted mine. Maria has made me a more perceptive, compassionate and aware individual. I don’t say this to sound cocky or anything like that, but I truly feel that she has shaped me into who I am today. Regardless of what is going on in my personal life, I feel so excited to see her every day. She always greets me with a smile and is a constant friend.

Sometimes you meet people who are just like you. You become close and bond because of your shared experienced. But in high school, I encourage everyone to expand themselves and interact with those who are not like them. There’s a beautiful thing in experiencing someone with different life experience and, who knows, they may just end up being a close friend.