Different World

Part 1 : My Name is Glory

Glory came into this world at thirty-seven weeks, and she's just perfect. She's healthy, has the sweetest little face, and is absolutely adorable. With her big eyes, cute button nose, tiny lips, and chubby cheeks, she's just a bundle of joy. Being the first granddaughter on her mom's side, everyone was so excited for her arrival. And as likely the last granddaughter on her dad's side, she's brought so much happiness to the whole family.

Glory grew fast on her mom's breast milk. By the time she was two months old, her eyes would light up whenever she saw her mom, and she'd smile and make those sweet little baby sounds, like she was trying to have a conversation. At three months, her head was holding steady, and she'd eagerly look around, left and right, as if taking in the whole world. She even started trying to roll over! Her world was as big as her mom's big bed, and every time she managed to roll, she'd flash a proud little smile. Of course, she'd often get stuck and need a little help from mom to flip back, but that didn't stop her from trying again!

When Glory was six months old, her mom tried to get her attention during a little photo session by calling her name. But Glory didn't respond or even look her way. She was too busy glancing left and right, as if searching for something else. "Maybe she's just not ready to recognize her name yet," her mom thought. Every child has their own timing, right?

Glory spent her days with her grandparents, who lived nearby in a different cluster. After work, her mom would always pick her up and bring her home. The moment Glory saw her mom, she'd get so excited, crawling quickly across her grandparents' bed, climbing onto her mom, and hugging her tightly. It was in those moments that her mom felt reassured—this little one was healthy and doing just fine. Even though Glory was super active, always on the move and keeping everyone on their toes, she seemed perfectly okay. After all, she was so alert and thrilled to see her mom, even showering her with kisses.

Some people gently hinted that Glory seemed a little different from other kids her age. She was definitely more active, but her responses were just... different. It was really hard to get her attention. This went on until she was about two years old. By then, it was the "moment of truth"—the time when most kids start saying "mommy" or "daddy" and stringing a few words together into short sentences. But Glory wasn't there yet. She was still as active as ever, but she didn't look up when her name was called.

Another thing that's unique about Glory is how much she dislikes getting her clothes wet. Even a tiny drop of water would have her asking to change outfits. By the time she was two, when most kids were using regular cups, she still preferred her baby bottle or sometimes a straw. She just wouldn't drink from a glass, afraid it might spill and wet her clothes.

Then came time for kindergarten. During the entrance test, she did amazingly well. At almost three years old, Glory had already mastered counting from one to a hundred, knew all the letters from A to Z—both lowercase and uppercase—nailed her colors, and had an impressive vocabulary. The way she named each picture shown to her made her seem like a little genius.

"What is this in picture, Glory?"

"Fish."

"What number is this?"

"Ten."

"What colour is this table?"

"Red."

At kindergarten, the teachers were often puzzled because Glory had a habit of sneaking out of class. She could run super fast or slip away without anyone noticing, which left the teachers and security guards in a panic trying to find her. While most kids would head straight for the swings or slides, Glory always made a beeline for the library. It was her favorite hiding spot.

The librarian absolutely adored her. Glory would pick out a book that caught her eye, carefully read through it word by word until she was done, and then neatly put it back in its place.

"What book are you reading, Glory?" asked Mrs. Dian, a teacher at the library who was curious about her.

"This.. boy.. has.. two.. new.. toys.." Glory read word by word.

"Oh yeah, there are new toys, what are they?" Mrs. Dian asked again while fishing.

"Car? Bicycle?" she called them one by one while pointing at the pictures without looking at Mrs. Dian.

"Now, what else do you want to read, Glory?"

Glory ran away without answering any questions, busy looking for another book.

Yes, you read that right—Glory could already read fluently by the time she was three and a half years old. But even though she could read so well, she still couldn't put words together into full sentences to talk with others. She often felt bored in class, having to wait her turn or sit through lessons she didn't care for, so she always found a way to sneak out and head straight to the library.

As time went on, her mom started to worry because Glory still wasn't stringing words together. She decided to consult a child development specialist to make sure everything was okay. Deep down, she knew it was unlikely the doctor would say everything was fine—after all, it's not typical for a three-and-a-half-year-old to only be able to say "Daddy" and "Mommy" without any other words. After a series of psychological tests, it was confirmed that Glory had mild autism and would need speech therapy to help her learn to speak, along with occupational therapy to strengthen her hand muscles and sensory skills.

Finding a therapy teacher who was truly dedicated to helping Glory with her developmental delays wasn't easy. Her parents needed someone who cared about her progress, not just someone looking to make money off of a family going through a tough time.

"One speech therapy session costs fifty dollars, Honey, and we need to do it three times a week. Then there's the occupational therapy for her hand and foot muscles, and coordination—that's twice a week," Glory's mom said, trying to figure out the math. "The costs are really adding up, and we'll have to find extra income to cover everything. And they're saying this therapy could go on for a year or more."

Not to mention that the kindergarten school where Glory attended was reluctant to accept Glory at elementary school level. Academically, Glory is much smarter than other children, she can read fluently and can even count from addition, subtraction, multiplication and division which are quite complicated and can normally be done by ten-year-old children. But on the one hand, Glory couldn't write yet. The writing is very, very smooth, almost invisible because the muscles in her hand cannot yet hold the pencil properly. And the main problem was that Glory couldn't focus and follow the instructions asked by the teacher.

This rejection was very hurtful, especially for the mother who previously attended this school and the school clearly taught how God is good, God accepts all children, He never compares one child with another based on the colour of their skin, where they come from, whether they are smart or not. God also wants humans to do the same. "Love your neighbour as yourself" is a verse that is remembered and always echoed in school. Love. However, the school only theorizes and teaches, without implementing what it teaches. The reason given was very simple, "We have never had the experience to teach children like this." In Glory's mother's ears, it sounded like "Look for another place, we would rather focus on teaching children who excel to maintain the good name of the school and hope that we can send many children to national and international competitions to make the school more famous and prouder."

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