Nothing is going Max's way today. The teacher told him he had to go outside with the other children instead of eating in the classroom by himself.

He finds a bench far away from the noisy kids on the playground and pulls out his lunch.

Max realizes his Dad cut his sandwich into triangles instead of squares. Usually, his mother cuts it into squares, but today she is sick. Max feels uneasy when things aren't the same all the time.

Max is autistic. This means that his brain works differently than other kids. This isn't a bad thing. Like everyone, his brain was great at some things but not others. All he wants is to be loved and accepted by those who are around him.

A crying girl walks up to Max and sits down on the bench beside him. Max doesn't know what to do, and when he looks into another person's eyes, he feels uncomfortable, so instead, he starts the conversation with, "You are crying."

The girl was angered by his comment, "Yes, I'm crying! Thank you, Captain Obvious! You forgot to ask my name! It's Rosie by the way!" Even though she was not impressed by this boy, she told him why she was upset.

"My class has a substitute teacher today," says Rosie, "and he changed the schedule. Tuesday is supposed to be math and then science, and he did science and then English! I don't like it when we have a different teacher, they always change things so I don't know what we are going to do in class."

Max understands how she feels. He likes to know what to expect too.

Max pulls out a piece of fuzzy yellow cloth out of his pocket and tells Rosie "this helps me calm down when I'm upset."

He begins to rub the fabric on his cheek. As the warm, soft cloth helps to soothe Max, he can take slower, deeper breaths, to help calm himself down.

"Where did you get that?" Rosie asks as she stares at the yellow cloth. 

"Miss Stacey helped me pick it out," says Max. 

"Who's that?" Rosie asks.

"My ABA therapist. I used to see her almost every day before I started elementary school. Now I see her on Tuesdays and Fridays after school. I'm autistic, so my brain has some super skills. She helps me learn how to function and talk to others," says Max.

Suddenly, Rosie starts to flap her hands with excitement. "YAYYYYY, someone like me! I'm autistic too!" says Rosie.

"Hey! Sometimes I do that too!" says Max.

"Suddenly, she declares, "My favorite show is Giant Jungle. I know all the facts about it. Gordie Gorilla is the best character, and I know all his moves." Rosie can remember a ton of details about the things that fascinate her.

Max focuses on his lunch as she explains each of Gordie the Gorilla's tree-hopping actions. He has been learning a lot about his autism, so he knows that some autistic people know a lot of facts about one thing.

Eventually, Rosie asks if Max wants to play Giant Jungle on the playground with her.

"No," says Max, "I don't play pretend, and there's too many loud kids over there! It hurts my ears." Max feels his body tense up as he thinks about them surrounding him, bumping, yelling, and looking at him. It's like a fire truck speeding through his head, and the sirens are wailing.

Max rubs his piece of cloth on his cheek. he places his other hand on his belly and takes three deep, long breaths, just like Miss Stacey taught him. He can see his hand slowly rising and falling as his body fills with air and deflates. He begins to relax.