From Bad-Mannered Burritos To Best Buddies

CONTENT WARNING: Child Abuse

I was born with cataracts and had surgery as an infant to remove the lenses in my eyes. Both because my eyes have no lenses and from complications from the surgeries I’ve had on my eyes, I have a visual impairment; with glasses, my vision is okay — 20/50 — but without glasses, my eyes are like a camera that can’t focus on anything. My prescription is huge and my glasses make my eyes look enormous.

In school, I have a 504 plan; I sit at the front of the class and always have the option of requesting materials in large font or using a tablet. As a toddler, I had a series of ear infections that left me with moderate hearing loss. I know ASL and I can usually hear well enough with my hearing aids.

My parents divorced when I was young. Even as a little kid, I remember that I preferred my time at my dad’s house to my mom’s.

When I was five, my mother took me to a park. I was having a lot of fun on the playground. My mom wanted to go on a walk and get some food at a food truck that was usually parked on the other side of the park. It’s a small park and walking to the food truck from the playground would take five minutes, but the food truck sounded boring compared to all the fun I was having on the playground.

My mom told me I was being naughty, took off my glasses and hearing aids, put them in her purse, and told me to stay there by myself. I started crying.

A woman and a little boy came up to us and asked if I was okay. There was a communication barrier because I had a hard time hearing them and couldn’t see them, but I was eventually able to tell the woman my dad’s phone number, and he came to pick me up.

My dad came to get me just as my mom showed up with her burrito, which was more important to her than her daughter.

This incident launched another set of custody battles in which my dad won primary custody of me. My mom has visitation rights, but I haven’t seen her in years.

The little boy from the park went to my elementary school, and we ended up being best friends. I was teased a bit because my best friend was a guy, but I didn’t really care. He knew ASL, too. We tended to be in the same classes in elementary school, and when the class got too loud so I couldn’t hear, we would communicate using ASL without anyone knowing.

I’ve been going through a rough time at school recently, and also, my cat died. My dad and best friend have been the best support for me as I go through all of this.

Basically, my best friend gave my dad sole custody of me.