Seven years ago, Manny three year old Manny Noceda was in his room playing with his Doctor What toys which consisted of a phone box and a man wearing an overlong scarf and bow tie. Amity was watching her son with a smile, enjoying this little moment.
"Monster! Monster! Monster!" He exclaimed. "Monster!"
"Are they going to beat that monster, Manny?" Amity asked her son.
"Yes!" Manny exclaimed. He then looked at the toy with a stunned look on his face that eventually turned to panic. "Sonic tool! Sonic tool! Sonic tool! Sonic tool!"
Amity knew what her son was talking about and quickly began to try and find the tiny toy all while he sat in place panicking.
"Sonic tool! Sonic tool! Sonic tool!" He repeated as he panicked.
Amity quickly noticed the sonic tool on the floor and picked it up. "Mijo! Mijo!" But Manny was busy panicking instead of noticing. "Mijo! Mijo!" She grabbed ahold of him which made him see the Sonic Tool toy that he took and went back to playing like his panic attack never happened.
This baffled and confused Amity for a brief moment. Her Palisman Ghost looked to her with a head tilt before the witch shrugged her shoulders. "Toddler behaviour."
Two years later, five year old Manny was having a conversation with his 10 year old sister, Azura. "So then, me and Abuela were watching the episode with the Crying Devils and it really terrified her." Something Azura noticed about her brother was the fact he wasn't looking at her which kind of confused her.
"Uh…Manny, are you talking to me?"
"Yes."
But Azura looked confused. "Aren't you going to keep eye contact?"
"I'll try." Manny turned to her. "So Abuela tried to get me into Cosmic Frontier but I couldn't pay attention. It was very boring." As he spoke he was once again not keeping eye contact with her for whatever strange reason.
Amity watched from outside the room with a raised eyebrow. She was about to tell Manny that he wasn't looking at his sister, but she had a feeling he knew.
Eight year old Manny was sitting in the bedroom reading a book about Doctor What, his 13 year old sister was studying while his mother was proofreading a transcript of her autobiography.
Luz entered dressed in a terrible black and white suit and tie she was going to wear for a publisher's party. "Well, what do you think?" Luz asked. "I worked hard on it."
Amity, Azura and Manny cringed at what Luz was wearing. "Well, dear that looks….Amazing."
Azura clenched her fist. "Looks….Amazing Mami!"
"Why are you two lying, it looks awful." Manny said.
"Manny!" Amity exclaimed.
"What?" Manny asked. "You told me it was wrong to lie."
"Yeah but….But…When it's…."
"Mom, you can't defend it." Azura said.
Two years later, around the same time Azura got a job as a night guard, Amity was waiting in the living room of the Shack with Manny for Dr Waybright to begin the session. "When will she arrive?" Manny asked.
"She's coming." Amity replied. "She's coming from LA remember."
"Yeah, she might get lost or mauled by a bear."
Amity gave an offended laugh. "Manny! Don't say that!"
They heard a knock on the front door which Amity answered. In that moment, it was revealed to be a woman in her late 30's with a distinct mole on her right cheek, a scar on her left cheek, blonde hair, a fancy red blazer, red pants and red heels.
"Are you Amity Noceda?" She asked.
"Yes." Amity replied.
"I'm Doctor Sasha Waybright." The Doctor said. "We spoke on the phone." The two women shook hands.
"I hope coming here wasn't an issue." Amity said.
"Except for the part where I got attacked by a mutant rat." Dr Waybright laughed. "But seriously, good thing I had a rabies shot. And is this Manny?"
"Hi." Manny said.
The child psychiatrist got down on her knees to face Manny. "I'm Dr Waybright. I'm here to listen to you in an effort to try and understand what you're going through. Okay?"
Manny shrugged his shoulder. "Okay."
"Mom, could you leave me and him alone for about half an hour?"
Amity obliged and left the room to go in the kitchen. She wanted to listen in on the conversation but thought it would be rude and decided not to.
Manny sat on the couch across from the child psychiatrist as he began to talk to her. "So let's start off with something simple. Where were you born?"
"I was born August 4th 2035 in the Demon Realm." Manny explained.
"Oh, you were born down south?" Dr Waybright remarked. "Okay. Interesting way. So when did you start to notice you were different from other people?"
"I don't know." Manny replied. "I always consider myself normal. I mean sure I don't go to school but I was held back because I struggle to keep focus."
"And are you trying right now?"
"I am, yes." Manny replied.
"Okay, do you get stressed or angry like you lose focus?" She asked.
"Not for a while." Manny replied. "I used to have some worrisome panic attacks when I was young. Like when I was three I lost a toy sonic tool for my Doctor What collection and I began panicking that I didn't notice that my Mom found it." While Manny was explaining, he was glancing away from her and looking out the window which was something the psychiatrist took notice of. "And you might know what a sonic tool is, it's the gadget used by The Doctor What on my favourite show, Doctor What…."
Half an hour later, Dr Waybright was now talking to Amity. "Sometimes, when we're talking, he would suddenly go off talking about his own interests. History, inventions or Doctor What."
"Uh huh, it happened with me." The psychiatrist said. "And does Manny sometimes struggle to communicate with people? Does he have friends?"
"Well, not really." Amity said. "He hasn't tried making friends with other people. The only people he talks to are me, other family members, our friends and my daughter's friends. Hardly anyone else."
"I see he finds comfort with befriending people that are close to people that are close to him." Dr Waybright remarked. "Uh huh, well, after careful analysis, Mrs Noceda. Your son is showing clear signs of autism."
"And is that bad?!" Amity exclaimed. "What do I do?! What should I do?! Should we perform an exorcism?!"
"Woah! Woah!" Dr Waybright interjected. "Mrs Noceda, no. Your son has something a large number of people have. Heck, one of my best friends is autistic and my son is on the spectrum as well."
"But what do I do?!" Amity began to panic. "I don't know what to do! Will things change between me and Manny?"
"Mrs Noceda, I assure you that it won't happen." Dr Waybright said. "And it's an understandable fear. Some parents get worried that things will change between them and their child. So, in order for you to understand I'm gonna give you the only book I've ever written." She handed the mother a book titled On the spectrum. You and Your Neurodivergent child by Sasha Waybright. "This has helped parents communicate with their neurodivergent child and I'm happy for it. Understand this Mrs Noceda, he is your son. Nothing is going to change between you unless you try your hardest."
Amity looked at the book before sighing. "Okay. We better get back to my wife soon. Sorry she couldn't come. She just needed a good sleep and to stop doom reading."
"Understandable." Dr Waybright said. "But I'd like to speak to her when I can."
"That's not a problem." Amity assured her.
"Unless she was stabbed." Manny said.
"Manny!" Amity exclaimed, unaware of what horror she will see when she got back.