Life is Beautiful :: Personal Narrative Essays

Life is Beautiful   I threw my hands into the air, fell back on Emilys bed, and covered my stressed eye with the palms of my hands. Suddenly Emily turned out the lights and whispered night-night in a humble voice as the door closed. She did it again. Just when I thought that I was the worst teacher in the world, torturing this sweet runty female child with incomprehensible questions that she just wouldnt answer, she does something to show me that she does chit-chat me, she can hear me, and more importantly, shes responding to me. Sitting up, I think, Oh Emily, I could just pick you up, hold you, and neer make you work again. But you wont let me hold you. That is why we pass to do this. Renewed, I was ready to start again.   Emily is a six-year-old with autism. I met her in 1996 through a baby-sitting job. This was the first time I had ever interpreted care of a person with a disability. Although I was a little afraid, I was excited that I would be able to do this. Emi lys autism causes her to produce more slowly than other children. She doesnt communicate or respond to the extraneous world as most children do. It is a rare social and aroused developmental disorder. For Emily, simple tasks, such as focusing on an intention or idea, become difficult, aggravating, and sometimes impossible. This makes it very hard for Emily to play a board game with her sister because she doesnt understand about rolling cut or moving the pieces.   A year after meeting Emily, her arrive offered me another job through an organization called Respite. I would work only with Emily to reinforce her communicating and self-motivation skills, and in turn, help to take down the communication barrier. I would accomplish this by being both her friend and teacher playing with her while prompting her to conversation and respond.   Ive been doing Respite work with Emily for 3 years and it has been an incredible experience. Of course there were times when I would ta lk to her and she would just not respond the way I wanted her to. These instances of foiling are always made up for by the times when she progresses so fast and I just have to hug her. Although I exist that with her degree of autism she will never fully overcome her disabilities, it is exhilarating to see how she has improved.