Planet Earth Is Blue

“She hated trying things on, pants that pushed against her belly and socks that touched her ankles and shirts with itchy tags and dresses—oh, the dresses! Nothing could be worse than something she had to wear tights under. Tights stretched from her waist to her feet and always, always had a seam line across her toes. She hated lines across her toes.”

Nova has many sensitivities—to smells, sounds, and textures. She’s averse to stiff fabrics, clingy material, and itchy tags, though she’s particularly bothered by tights because they’re so confining and have seams that cross her toes. While these textures and other sensory inconsistencies may not bother neurotypical people, they’re common triggers among people with autism, helping to present Nova’s disability realistically.

“She talks to me the way people talk to you. Not too loud and too slow, the way they talk to me. She talks like I am a person.”

One of Nova’s most significant irritations is when people speak to her in halting, forceful tones that suggest they believe she’s either hearing impaired or mentally incapable of understanding them unless they speak slowly and enunciate each word; however, she’s neither hearing impaired nor mentally incapable. People constantly underestimate her abilities, largely because she’s mostly nonverbal. One thing that differentiates the Wests from her other foster families is that they speak to her the way people speak to Nova’s neurotypical sister.

“Only Bridget read to her from chapter books and novels.”

Only Bridget has taken the time to learn what Nova can understand. Others read to her from books meant for small children. Since the Wests initially believed what Mrs. Steele told them about Nova’s abilities, they initially read Dr. Seuss to her. Ultimately, she shares her copy of The Little Prince with them, indicating her growing trust in their commitment to understanding her, making them much more like Bridget than any other foster family.