True Self Syndrome (TSS) By Teek © June 2023

“Hi, Mrs. Gibson. Toni has had a great morning and should be ready to go soon. His time on the computer is up in,” Miss Staple looked over at the clock. “About four minutes. Can you wait that long?”

Looking over at her son on the computer, “Yeah. He might have a fit if I try to speed up the process. That is the last thing I need at the moment.”

“I still can’t believe Toni won the lottery,” Miss Staple looked around at all the students in her classroom. “He is the first person in 75 years to win the Cauldron Academy lottery from this side of our state. The winner from this state is usually from one of the cities. Did you see the news story last night on him winning?”

“No, I don’t usually watch the news. Did they mention Toni’s name?”

“With him being a minor, they wouldn’t do that. They said the winner was from our town and how rare it is for someone in the rural parts of our state to win. Then they talked about why it is such a great honor. They even interviewed a graduate from Cauldron Academy. Did you know it has been ten years since our state has had a lottery for a position in the school? With only two people from our state enrolled, it can take a long time for a new spot to open. Toni is taking the position of a young lady who turned twenty-one after being in the school for fifteen years,” Miss Staple kept her eyes on Toni. “I will hate to see him go, but I can’t deny they have a much better program than anything I could ever provide. Cauldron Academy has redefined Special Education. I use many of their techniques here, but there is no way I can replicate all of their approaches. Toni will make amazing progress over there.”

“I am still unsure about this, but I can’t deny their positive reputation. There are just so many things that make me hesitant about all of this.”

“He’ll do fine there, and you will adjust to the change.”

“I know, but handing my baby over to . . . to . . .”

“I never pictured you as the discriminatory type,” Miss Staple turned to Mrs. Gibson. “I know your concerns, but Cauldron Academy has a long successful reputation for educating children with disabilities. They have the full support of the government, medical community, and every disability support group. He couldn’t be in safer hands.”

Mrs. Gibson grimaced, “Would you send your daughter to the Academy?”

With a huge smile, there was no hesitation in Miss Staple’s voice, “If my daughter were disabled and lucky enough to win the lottery, I wouldn’t hesitate to send her. Even without being disabled, I would love to have them educate her. However, that’s not allowed. The law is very clear. Their type can’t teach nomags.”

“Yet, we let them teach our children with disabilities?”

“I don’t know why that is permitted when they can’t educate non-disabled children. For some reason, the global governments consider it safe for nomag children with disabilities. Over the last hundred and fifty years, both societies still strongly support the school and all they do. Toni’s lucky to be going there. 85% of their graduates sustain gainful employment, which they enjoy. Those are impressive statistics since only 35% of disabled adults who did not attend Cauldron Academy are employed. Those are pretty dismal numbers compared to the 75% employment rate of the non-disabled adult population.”

“I saw those statistics. They’re almost unbelievable,” Mrs. Gibson said as she heard Toni’s timer go off.

The two adults watched Toni shut down the computer game he was playing and then go over to his desk. Looking at his picture schedule, he turned around and smiled at his mom. He got his backpack and went up to Mom.

While Toni was asked and answered questions about how his morning had been going, two people entered the room. They stopped just inside the doorway, waiting silently until the discussion was done.

“Mrs. Gibson,” Principal Eriks said. “This is Dr. Parker. She is the admission director at Cauldron Academy.”

The adults all greeted each other, and then Dr. Parker got down on one knee in front of Toni, making her a smaller height than him.

“Hi, Toni. I’m Dr. Parker. Nice to meet you.”

Toni looked at the outstretched hand and then at Dr. Parker. He didn’t focus on her eyes. Instead, he looked at a point on her right cheek.

After a few moments of silence, Mrs. Gibson prompted, “Toni, shake Dr. Parker’s hand.”

“That’s okay if he doesn’t want to,” commented Dr. Parker.

Following the direction, Toni shook Dr. Parker’s hand and then hid behind his mother.

Smiling, Dr. Parker stood up, “Well, Toni, today I am going to take you on a magical adventure.”

With wide eyes, Toni peeked his head out from behind his mother, “Magic?”

“Yes, real magic.”

“Rainbows and unicorn magic,” Toni asked?

Mrs. Gibson and Miss Staple chuckled.

Dr. Parker just smiled and nodded, “You like rainbows?”

“Uh, huh.”

“Well then, let’s follow a rainbow to the magic door,” Dr. Parker wiggled her fingers toward the classroom door. A rainbow appeared on the floor, leading out of the room and down the hall. “To let the magic begin, follow the rainbow, but stop when you reach the cloud.”

Wide-eyed, Toni headed out of the room with Mom, Dr. Parker, and Principal Eriks following. The rainbow led them down the hallway, into the office, and entered the conference room. That is where Toni found an image of a cloud on the floor. Stopping on the cloud, Toni turned to look at the adults.

“Good job Toni,” Dr. Parker praised. “Now, what is your favorite color?”

Toni stood silently for a moment before saying, “Yellow.”

Dr. Parker wiggled her fingers again, and the whiteboard in the room disappeared. A bright yellow door appeared in its place. The door slowly opened on its own, revealing a spinning yellow disk with streaks of pink and blue.

“Cool,” Toni looked at the spinning disk and then Dr. Parker.

“We are now going through that doorway to a new school. A place called Cauldron Academy. That’s where I work. We’ll go to my office and then to a room where you can play with magically chosen toys. After playing for a bit, Teacher Susan will do some things with you before lunch. You’ll have lunch with one of the classes and then work with Teacher Susan some more. After the school work, you will get to play some more before you go home.”

Toni stared blankly at Dr. Parker.

“Hmmm, maybe this will help,” Dr. Parker wiggled her fingers on her right hand at the palm of her left. A paper appeared. “Here’s a picture schedule to see the rest of your school day.”

Toni looked over the schedule and then smiled up at Dr. Parker.

“Are you ready to follow the rainbow to my magical school?”

Looking at his mom, Toni saw her nodding her head. Toni turned back to Dr. Parker with his eyes dashing back and forth between her and the magical door.

“Tell you what, Toni,” Dr. Parker said. “I will go through first and wait for you on the other side. Principal Eriks will wait here in this room until the doorway disappears.”

Dr. Parker stepped into the doorway and disappeared behind the spinning colors.

Holding Mom’s hand, they stepped up to the spinning disk.

“Are you ready?” Mom asked Toni.

“Magic is real?”

“Yes, Munchkin. Magic is real. All the teachers at Cauldron Academy are magic users. They have invited you to attend their magical school, and today we get to visit the school for the first time. It’s far away. The portal is the only way to get there. All we do is step through that disk, and we will be at the new school.”

“Will it hurt?”

“I have only been through a portal twice,” Mom explained. “Back when I was in High School, a school for kids with magic hosted an event I attended. From what I remember, it doesn’t hurt to go through the portal.”

Mrs. Gibson looked down at Toni, “Ready.”

“I guess,” Toni took a deep breath and then stepped into the spinning disk of colors.

Reaching the other side, they found themselves in a large entryway. One wall was all glass with two doors that went outside. Toni looked out at the field and trees. He then turned and looked back at the portal he just came through. Letting go of his mom’s hand, Toni went back through the portal.

“Toni,” Mom called before following him.

Immediately after reaching the other side, Mrs. Gibson asked Toni why he had left. Unfortunately, Toni wasn’t responding to her.

“Look, it’s raining out,” Toni pointed at the window before going through the door again.

Mrs. Gibson quizzically looked at Principal Eriks.

“I was warned he might go back and forth a few times. That is why I was to stay here until the portal disappeared.”

“Okay,” Mrs. Gibson said before following Toni through the doorway.

“Look, Mom,” Toni stated as Mrs. Gibson arrived at Cauldron Academy. “It’s sunny outside. Not a cloud in the sky. The door really is magic. There’s magic Mom, real magic.”

“Yes, Munchkin. There are real magic users in the world. Dr. Parker is one, and the teachers here are all real magic users.”

Toni looked over at Dr. Parker, “Can I see more?”

“If you come to my school, you will see magic daily.”

“Can I go, Mom? Can I?”

“That is what we are here to figure out, Munchkin. Let’s get through this visit before we make any decisions.”

Toni slumped his shoulders, “Okay.”

“Let’s go to my office, and we can talk some,” Dr. Parker gestured for the two of them to follow her down a hallway.

Toni took his mother’s hand as she started to follow Dr. Parker. Before they left the entryway, Toni turned around and saw the magic door disappear.

After settling down on some chairs and a couch in the office, Dr. Parker started, “Before we start, I want you to understand that Toni has a place in this school. The entrance exam will not change that. It’s only designed to help us place him appropriately in the school. His attendance at this school is completely up to you Mrs. Gibson.”

“Thank You. I do have a few concerns.”

“I understand. Many new parents do. Hopefully, by the end of the day, you will feel completely comfortable with this transition. I will try to answer all your questions today,” Dr. Parker then turned to Toni. “And all your questions too.”

Toni smiled as he snuggled into his mom.

“Mrs. Gibson, have you had a chance to look through the paperwork I sent you?”

“Yes, my husband and I have read through everything and have signed most of the paperwork. However, I had questions about TSS and wanted to talk to you before signing that paperwork. I’m also confused about how Toni would get to school or how my husband and I would get here when needed?”

“Let’s start with the simple one. We’ll establish a portal in your house linked to the school. You can activate it with a button anytime during school hours or special after-school events.”

“What about this TSS? Why must we sign a release form for Toni to take the entrance exam? How dangerous is it for my baby to be here?”

Dr. Parker smiled, “TSS. True Self Syndrome is a side effect non-magical individuals, or nomags, can get after magic has been used on them. Not every individual gets TSS, but the spells we use on the children here tend to activate the syndrome more than other types of magic.”

Mrs. Gibson smiled weakly, “From what I read, children with disabilities are especially vulnerable to the syndrome.”

Dr. Parker looked over at Toni, who was digging a tablet out of his backpack, “Yes, they are, but most feel TSS is a small price to pay for the benefits our school provides. Over the last two hundred years, research has repeatedly shown that individuals with disabilities who contract TSS as a child tend to be happier as adults.”

Mrs. Gibson twisted her mouth around at that.

“Let me explain,” Dr. Parker continued. “True Self Syndrome is exactly what the name says. The person with the syndrome will be their true self and not feel any desire to put on a mask to fit in. Most kids with disabilities, especially those with Autism like Toni, feel pressured by society to wear a mask around others. Individuals with TSS don’t put those masks on. They feel it is more important to be themselves, and there is no long-term benefit from trying to be like everyone else.”

“Of course, I want Toni always to be himself and not give into peer pressure,” Mrs. Gibson ruffled Toni’s hair. “But . . .”

Dr. Parker smiled, “Adults with Autism often suffer from periods of Autistic burnout. These episodes can significantly impact their physical and emotional health. Skills regress and autistic traits become more prominent. Serious health problems can develop and last months to years. Individuals with TSS rarely reach a burnout state, and when they do, it has much less impact on their life than those without True Self Syndrome.”

Mrs. Gibson scrunched her eyebrows and tilted her head, “You make it sound like TSS is a positive for the children.”

Dr. Parker looked at Toni, “The children with disabilities often view it as a positive. It is a lot of work to mask who you are.”

“Then why do you make us sign paperwork to ensure we understand what TSS is and that any child attending the school has a high probability of developing the syndrome?”

Dr. Parker grimaced, “Not all parents are happy with how TSS impacts their child. They are concerned about image and feel their child's behaviors with True Self Syndrome make them stand out too much from the ‘norm’. Here at Cauldron Academy, we teach children it is okay to be themselves while also educating them about how others will interpret their behaviors. TSS causes the kids not to care about those differences. It does not, however, change the parents' views.”

“So,” Mrs. Gibson squeezed Toni, who was engrossed in a game on his tablet. “TSS removes a child’s desire to wear a mask and pretend to be ‘normal’.”

“Yeah, that about sums it up.”

“I’ve always wanted Toni to be proud of who he is. I try to teach him not to worry about what others think. It’s not easy, though,” Mrs. Gibson looked over at the packet of paperwork sticking out of her purse. “You can’t start the evaluation until I sign that TSS form, can you?”

“That is correct,” Dr. Parker confirmed. “The evaluation involves doing some magic to Toni, which will help us figure out his true skills and abilities. For us to do that, you have to give consent. The TSS form is a critical piece of that consent.”

“By giving consent for the evaluation, does that commit him to go here?”

“No,” Dr. Parker responded. “We will need your answer before you leave the campus, but not before we do the testing.”

“Will Toni get TSS just from the evaluation?”

“Possibly, but it is extremely rare for a child to have a life-long impact from just one day. You may see TSS symptoms for several months, but probably not longer.”

“My husband felt I should let the evaluation happen and hear you out before deciding. He has signed all the paperwork. If the evaluation has no long-term consequence, I guess Toni can do it,” Mrs. Gibson pulled out the forms and signed all the ones she hadn’t.

“Toni,” Dr. Parker stated.

“Aha,” Toni responded without looking up.

“I need to talk to you, and then you get to play in the magical playroom. Can you put the tablet away?”

Toni kept playing, but he did nod his head in agreement.

“Toni,” Mrs. Gibson prodded after not seeing him put away the tablet.

“It’s okay, Mrs. Gibson. Toni can have a moment to finish what he is doing.”

“Almost done,” Toni commented without looking up.

While the adults waited, Dr. Parker looked through the paperwork packet to ensure the various forms were all signed in the proper places.

After about two minutes, Toni turned his tablet off and stuffed it in his backpack.

“Okay,” Dr. Parker smiled at Toni and Mrs. Gibson. “It is important you both understand what’s about to happen. We are going into a special room, a magic room.”

Toni’s eyes widened.

“Toni is going to stand in a special circle. In there, the magic will swirl around Toni, encasing him in a ball of magic,” Dr. Parker turned and looked straight at Toni. “The room will determine a bunch of toys you would like to play with and put them on the shelves. It will also adjust your body to match your brain.”

Mrs. Gibson scrunched her eyes in confusion while Tony continued his expressionless look.

Dr. Parker elaborated, “Toni is twelve, but he is immature for his biological age. Toni, that means you still like little kid things that children your age typically don’t like anymore. There is nothing wrong with that. The magic ball will make your body match your brain, so you will probably be a few years younger than twelve when the ball goes away.”

“Will he stay young,” Mrs. Gibson asks?

“No. Before you leave the school, Toni’s physical body will be changed back,” Dr. Parker waited for Mrs. Gibson to relax a little before continuing. “Toni, there are things you know, things you’re learning, and things too hard for you. The ball of magic will make you only show what you have mastered or firmly know. You will no longer be able to do things you haven’t yet mastered. Is all of this okay with you?”

Toni nodded, and Mrs. Gibson verbally stated her agreement.

“Toni, you will play with the toys for a bit, and then Teacher Susan will come and do some lessons with you. Your Mom and I will be in the room next door while you play and work with Teacher Susan.”

“Magic toys?”

Dr. Parker smiled at Toni, “Not magic toys, just toys chosen for you with magic.”

“Okay,” Toni said with a smile. “Magic toys.”

“No, Toni,” Mrs. Gibson corrected.

Dr. Parker held up her hand, “I think he understands, or at least at a level he can process. He’s not the first to refer to toys that magically appear as ‘magic toys’. The name doesn’t matter as long as he accepts them when they appear.”

“I guess,” Mrs. Gibson responded. “But he isn’t a little kid. He’s twelve. He can understand this.”

“It’s okay. Let’s go into the exam room and get this all started. The longer we wait, the harder it will be on both of you,” Dr. Parker stood up and gestured toward a door on the other side of her office.

Entering the rectangular room, Toni looked around the all-white room. There was a long mirror along one of the walls, a half-circle table with two chairs like Miss Staple had in her classroom, and empty counter-height shelves across from the mirror. However, Toni focused on a rainbow-colored circle on the floor. He stood just outside the circle, looking into it.

“If I step into that, the magic will begin?”

“Yes, Toni,” Dr. Parker replied. “You step into the center of the circle, face the shelves, and say the magic words. Then the magic will begin. When the magic stops, you can play with the toys. Your mom and I will be right through this white door next to the circle. Later, Teacher Susan will come in that white door on the other side of the room.”

Without hesitation, Toni stepped in and faced the empty white shelves, “What are the magic words?”

Smiling, Dr. Parker said, “Magic begin.”

Toni stood tall with a huge smile, “Magic begin.”

Upon hearing the words, Dr. Parker secretly wiggled her fingers.

The colors of the rainbow shot up from the circle and started to bend until it was a spinning sphere surrounding Toni. The room's walls changed to include murals of unicorns, rainbows, and Disney characters.

When the toys started to arrive, Dr. Parker’s eyes went wide, “Mrs. Gibson, we need to go into the observation room and talk before the magic sphere finishes.”

Mrs. Gibson noticed a change in Dr. Parker’s tone and that her calm personality was now trying to speed things up.

“Is something wrong?”

In the observation room, with the door closed, Dr. Parker directed them to a table and chairs in front of a two-way mirror. Sitting down, they looked into the exam room, “We don’t have much time, and I have a lot to explain.”

Mrs. Gibson looked at the spinning sphere of colors, “Is Toni okay?”

Dr. Parker looked at the toys and the other changes happening to the room, “Yeah, but the magic is about to do something I don’t think any of us were expecting.”

True Self Syndrome (TSS) By Teek © June 2023

Mrs. Gibson was focused solely on the spinning sphere of colors engulfing her son. She repeated her question, “Is Toni okay?”

“I said the magic would reset your child’s body to align with their brain.”

Mrs. Gibson kept her eyes on the sphere, “I know Toni’s immature for his age. So, the magic will change him from twelve to, what, a nine-year-old? That’s about his developmental level, right?”

Dr. Parker looked at the toys magically appearing in the room, “Your child appears to be a little more immature than that, but there is a more urgent matter for us to discuss. The magic rebuilds the body to align with the brain. It takes all its cues from the child’s brain and gives them the body to match. For children with birth defects, it will give them the body the brain processes and views themselves as having. Children without limbs may suddenly find they have that limb.”

Mrs. Gibson turned and looked at Dr. Parker, “Really, that’s amazing.”

“The more dramatic the change to the body, the stronger the TSS effect is.”

“Toni doesn’t have any physical defects, so other than getting younger, there won’t be any significant changes,” Mrs. Gibson stated while looking for confirmation. However, the expression on Dr. Parker’s face put that into question. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Mrs. Gibson, look at the changes the magic has made to prepare the room for your child. Those changes are all based upon who your child is in their brain.”

Looking through the two-way mirror into the examination room, Mrs. Gibson was confused. The shelves had turned a bright pink and the walls a light purple. Pictures of unicorns, rainbows, and Disney Princesses were on the walls. The toys were primarily dolls with all the accessories to play house. The Legos were pink and purple Duplos.

“Some very powerful magical spells were put on that circle. They help us access and interact with children who can’t communicate in conventional ways. People often believe that children with poor communication skills have low intelligence. Once we establish a means to interact with a child, perceptions change. The circle’s magic allows us to access what the child knows, feels, and perceives at their core. Who they believe themselves to be. A non-verbal child who understands language will come out of the sphere able to talk and tell us what they know.”

“So, what does that have to do with Toni? He knows how to talk already. And that doesn’t explain why it decorated the room for a little girl. Some of those toys are things I would get for a preschooler.”

“And some of those are for kids a little older, so I am guessing your child will come out maybe five or six years old. Those are ages when they like Preschooler toys and Little Kid toys.”

Mrs. Gibson was starting to get visibly frustrated as she looked between the toys, the spinning sphere, and Dr. Parker.

Looking into the examination room, Dr. Parker stated, “The magic sphere doesn’t know a child’s birth gender. It only knows the gender of the child based upon what is in the child’s mind.”

“But Toni is a boy!” Mrs. Gibson almost shouted. “He knows that. He has known that since he was a toddler.”’

“You taught your child that they were a boy. You trained them to act and play with the boys. In your child’s mind, however, they are a girl.”

“No,” Mrs. Gibson stared at the sphere. “No.”

“The magic sphere tells no lies, but it does tell us what the child cannot.”

Barely above a whisper, Mrs. Gibson said, “No.”

Dr. Parker looked at the sphere, “Did you have a girl's name picked out when your child was born,”

In a haze and without thinking, Mrs. Gibson responded, “Amanda Rose. I always liked the name Mandy and figured that was short for Amanda.”

Dr. Parker wiggled her fingers toward the spinning sphere, “Done. She’ll now know her girl's name is Amanda Rose, with a nickname of Mandy.”

This brought Mrs. Gibson out of her shock, “What? What did you just do?”

“I let your daughter know her name.”

“My daughter?”

The spinning sphere started to slow down and turn back into a column before the rainbow colors retreated into the circle on the floor. Standing in the middle of the circle was a girl who looked about six, with high pigtails tied with pink ribbons. She was wearing a flowery, frilly dress. The girl reminded Mrs. Gibson of pictures from her own childhood, back in first grade.

The little girl looked around the room, and their smile grew bigger the more she saw. When Mrs. Gibson was certain the smile couldn’t get any larger, the girl noticed her outfit. With a spin to make the dress flair out, the smile grew even more. Then the little girl went to a baby doll and picked it up to feed it a bottle.

Looking at Dr. Parker, “Toni is transgender?”

“No, your daughter Amanda has a birth defect. Well, at least she does when magic hasn’t transformed her. At the moment, she is 100% girl inside and out.”

“Amanda,” Mrs. Gibson looked through the two-way mirror at . . . her daughter. “Mandy?”

“Yes. That is Mandy in there playing Mommy with a dolly,” Dr. Parker smiled at the little girl playing. “I understand the nomag society has some strange views towards transgender individuals, but in the magic community, they are honored. They usually have a deeper understanding of people because they have experienced them from both genders. They can see things non-gender variant individuals can’t.”

“Is he . . . she going to remember this when he . . . she changes back?” Mrs. Gibson shook her head as she tried to process what she had just said. “This is confusing to get it all straight.”

“Yes, Amanda will fully remember everything that goes on today. Look at your child Mrs. Gibson. They have had all barriers lowered and behaviors not mastered stripped away. Amanda learned to be a boy for you, but being a girl in her brain meant she would never master that skill. Now you get to see her true self.”

“True Self Syndrome! Oh my god! He’s going to want to be a girl away from school. Isn’t he?”

“Sort of, but you have it backward. We have let Princess Amanda out of the castle tower, and she now knows she isn’t wrong for liking girl things. She isn’t going to put the effort any longer into pretending to be a boy. Getting her locked back into that tower might be impossible. But honestly, it would be a bad idea even to try. The psychological damage would be quite significant.”

“No, you did something to Toni. You are cruel for dressing a boy in girl clothes and hairstyle. How could you do that to a child?” Mrs. Gibson stood up and went into the examination room.

“Mommy,” Mandy said with glee. “The magic circle knew I liked all the girl toys and dresses. Isn’t it cool?”

“If you want, Munchkin, I can get Dr. Parker to make some boy toys for you to play with.”

“No, Mommy,” Mandy immediately responded while vigorously shaking her head. “These toys are much better.”

“Okay, Munchkin,” Mrs. Gibson stared as her child returned to feeding the baby doll.

Dr. Parker put her hand on Mrs. Gibson’s shoulder, “Let her play a little before Teacher Susan comes to test her. Come back into the other room.”

As the two adults left the room, Mandy put the baby in a doll stroller and wheeled her around, looking at the various toys. She stopped in front of the Disney Princess toys and sat down on the floor to play with them.

“Mrs. Gibson. There have only been two alterations to Amanda’s brain. The magic blocked all the brain pathways that led to learned skills, so we only see mastered skills. I added the two names, Amanda and Mandy, to her knowledge of self. Amanda still knows her name is Toni, but she also knows it is Amanda. If you want, We can have Teacher Susan ask your child which name she wants to be called. In fact, let’s do that.” Dr. Parker grabbed a tablet off a shelf and e-mailed Teacher Susan, “Okay, when Teacher Susan goes in, she will not assume gender or name. She’ll let your child establish that during their initial interactions.”

“Look at him,” Mrs. Gibson watched her child play. “He’s changing clothes on the princesses. That isn’t boy behavior. How could I not know that my baby was transgender?”

“Parents of children with disabilities will often make wrong assumptions when a child demonstrates cross-gender behaviors or interests. The parent will conclude the child doesn’t understand and needs more lessons on girl versus boy things. To make things even harder for the parent, children with disabilities can be less assertive than a child without disabilities. The child will question their beliefs because the adults repeatedly tell them what they believe is wrong.”

“So, I was brainwashing him into thinking he was a boy?”

“Amanda is only twelve, with a developmental level of maybe a six-year-old. You can’t go back and change the past, but you need to decide where you and your family go from here.”

The adults sat in silence as they watched Amanda play. About three minutes later, a woman entered the examination room and sat on the floor next to Mandy.

“Hi, I’m Teacher Susan. What’s your name?”

The response came with eyes still focused on the doll in hand, “I’m Mandy.”

“I see you have Ariel there,” Teacher Susan looked at Ariel in her dress and then down at the mermaid tail on the floor in front of Mandy. “Ariel has changed into a pretty dress.”

“Yeah, she gets to be a girl now.”

“How about you? Are you a girl, boy, or mermaid?”

Giggling, Mandy continued to fasten the velcro to secure the dress, “Your silly. I’m a girl.”

Teacher Susan wiggled her fingers toward the table, causing a tablet and stylist pen to appear. Then, the pen started to write things on the tablet. As Mandy answered different questions posed to her while she played with the Disney Princesses, the pen would write or tap away. After playing with the toys for a little bit, Teacher Susan got the two of them to sit down at the table. Mandy did different basic learning tasks with Ariel on the table beside them. Upon finishing a task, it would magically disappear. A moment later, stuff for the next task would appear.

“Why is the teacher testing things like the alphabet and numbers? Toni, or Mandy, is twelve. They know the alphabet and their numbers,” Mrs. Gibson questioned.

“The magic sphere stripped her knowledge down to what she had mastered. We need to figure out what Mandy has mastered. Just because she was previously able to do some things, that doesn’t mean she can still do them. According to her records, Mandy would lose a lot of skills each summer vacation. Children tend only to lose skills they had learned but not mastered. We’ve designed her day to tell us what academic, communication, motor, adaptive, and social skills Mandy has mastered. Some of the tests are more formal like she is doing now, but we evaluate others while she plays or interacts with people. The magic sphere gave us a starting point. From there, we have to figure out each kid's range of skills between the different developmental areas. Mandy can have some skills at or above a twelve-year-old level while having other skills down at a preschooler level or lower.

Dr. Parker and Mrs. Gibson watched and talked for half an hour. When Mandy stood up and started dancing a little while still doing the task, Mrs. Gibson immediately focused on her child.

“He . . . she has to go potty. Why isn’t Teacher Susan taking her to the bathroom?”

Dr. Parker calmly answered, “It is part of the evaluation. Is Mandy toilet trained?”

“Of course he is toilet trained,” Mrs. Gibson blurted out. “Toni hasn’t had an accident for years.”

“Remember, we are figuring out what is a learned skill versus a mastered skill. It is not uncommon for six-year-olds to still struggle with toileting issues. Especially autistic six-year-olds.”

Mrs. Gibson turned and looked at Dr. Parker, “But Toni is twelve.”

“Amanda is six with twelve years of experience. She isn’t six, and she isn’t twelve. We have learned that it is best to treat children at their social/emotional level, which for Amanda is six years old. That being said, we teach them what they are ready for. If Amanda can do something at a twelve-year-old level, then we will work on that skill at that level.”

“Do you magically transform the children when they are here? Is that how you teach them?”

“We will have nine years to teach Amanda. During her last year, we will not transform her. However, in the first few years, there are parts of every day when kids are offered an opportunity to transform. Some do it every chance they get, while others only choose to change occasionally. The more we teach them how to deal with their disability and life, the less the kids transform. They eventually realize they can be their true self without the transformation. Amanda’s issues, however, bring in a complication. I must follow the laws of the magical community. If she chooses to be female while at school, that will happen every time she goes through the portal to the school.”

“So, you will turn her into a six-year-old little girl every morning when she arrives at school?”

“No, she will be a girl at school but offered the opportunity to regress to her developmental level at special times throughout her school day. Then, when they graduate from our school, they’re given a magical gift. For the last thirty years, I have been here, 100% of transgender individuals have asked to be transformed into their true gender full-time.”

Mrs. Gibson looked into the examination room. The little girl in there obviously needed to go potty, but she continued to do the activity with Teacher Susan.

“I gotta go potty,” Mrs. Gibson finally heard the little girl say through the speaker.

Teacher Susan and Amanda left the room.

“I hope she makes it,” Mis Gibson said. “I never let it get that far with Toni.”

“How often do you tell Amanda to go to the bathroom?”

“Amanda? . . . Toni?”

“Here’s something that can help,” Dr. Parker added. “When discussing times your child is dressed as a boy, call them Toni. When they’re dressed as a girl, call them Amanda or Mandy. As you adjust to all of this, your brain will eventually be able to refer to their whole life using her girl names.”

“Yeah, that might be easier,” Mrs. Gibson gave a half smile. “Toni hasn’t had a potty accident since he was nine, but he still does the potty dance occasionally. I just tell him to go, and we have no issues.”

“When the magic stripped away the learned but not mastered skills, Amanda apparently lost some of her toileting skills. We teach the whole child, which includes toileting. In time we will figure out exactly where her skills are and advance them.”

“Back to potty training? I thought we were done with that.”

“That’s the thing Mrs. Gibson. If you were still telling your twelve-year-old to go to the bathroom, you weren’t done yet. You were just avoiding the accidents. We work to teach the child mastery of the skill, and don’t worry about accidents.”

“How can you not worry about accidents?”

“If a kid uses the toilet but still has accidents, we put them in training pants. If they are not using the toilet, we put them in diapers. Then we go about the day teaching them what they are ready to learn. No big deal.”

“Dr. Parker, you have such a laid-back attitude toward big gigantic issues; gender identity, potty training, and developmental delays. These dramatically impact the life of . . . Amanda and our family.”

“No, not really,” Dr. Parker smiled. “You and your society view them as big issues. To us here, they are just who Amanda is. It is no different than accepting the difference between someone with red hair versus black hair or someone who needs glasses compared to someone who doesn’t. Amanda is who she is. Our job is to guide her on her journey to be the best person she can be. When she is ready, we advance her skills as much as possible. Everyone will find things easier by joining her in her world instead of forcing her to always be in ours. In time we will merge her world with ours, so there will be an overlap. We’ll teach her how to spend time in both without undo stress. You have to understand, however, that no matter what we do, she will always need to spend more time in her world than ours.”

While Mrs. Gibson thought about that, Mandy and Teacher Susan returned to the examination room and went back to work.

True Self Syndrome (TSS) By Teek © June 2023

Mandy had lunch with a bunch of other six-year-olds. After playing with four- to eight-year-olds on the playground, Teacher Susan and Mandy headed back to the examination room.

“I can’t recall ever seeing . . . Mandy playing with other kids like that,” Mrs. Gibson told Dr. Parker as the video feed to the playground was turned off.

“Lunch and recess are times kids are offered an opportunity to regress to their developmental level each day. We have found that socialization is easier for children when their body matches their social/emotional level. Given time, kids can see past the physical image, but meeting them at their level during certain periods allow that to happen more naturally. As you saw, even with Autism, Mandy could socialize more on an equal level with the other kids. That is because she interacted with kids her size and developmental level as equals. She also got to be a girl out there at recess. She has never had that opportunity before.”

“You want me to shift my thinking and perceptions of my baby instantly. That’s not easy. To be honest, I’ve worked hard never to view Toni at his true developmental level. Since he was three, I’ve been told his toys and other things needed to be ‘age appropriate’ for his biological age, not his developmental level. Now you are telling me it was supposed to be the other way around.”

“Yeah,” Dr. Parker cringed. “Sorry, that is a major issue that nomags have wrong. It is one of the most important things we have to reverse in the families of our students. You have come to this conclusion faster than most parents do. It is the right conclusion, but the journey to change your ways only begins with this knowledge.”

Mrs. Gibson looked into the examination room as Mandy and Teacher Susan entered, “How am I supposed to do this? If she is a six-year-old girl on the inside, but a twelve-year-old on the outside, certain problems arise. If I buy the cutesy little girl clothes she probably wants, there is no way they will fit her. Do I buy her Fisher-Price Little People and sippy cups? What are people going to say?”

“Look at her, Mrs. Gibson. She is the little girl you see in there. It doesn’t matter what other people say. Her mental health and future success are directly linked to whether we let her be herself or not.”

“You’re probably right there, but this is going to be hard.”

“Yes, it will be,” Dr. Parker smiled weakly. “We’ll help where we can, but this is a personal journey that every parent of a child with disabilities must take.”

The two watched in silence as the evaluation continued. Mandy would do some work, play a little bit, and then do more work. Even during play, the magical pen would be marking stuff on the tablet.

“She’s just changing clothes on the doll. What could the magic pen be recording about that activity,” Mrs. Gibson asked?

“Throughout the day, she has put a few different outfits on the doll. The various outfits have included zippers, buttons, lacing, tying, buckles, and snaps. We have tested her ability to do and undo those fasteners. Fine motor skills are needed to get the outfits on and off. Teacher Susan has triggered conversation and asked questions to test vocabulary and communication skills.”

“All that just from playing with dolls, ingenious.”

“Everything she does gives us some level of information. She thinks she is just playing, but we are gathering lots of data. The toys in that room were all chosen to help with the testing. Even lunch and recess were part of the evaluation.”

“You haven’t asked me much about . . . Mandy’s abilities and weaknesses. All her previous evaluations always had me filling out extensive questionnaires.”

“Without magic helping to get everything we need, that would be necessary. We have found that asking a parent or former teacher what a child can do often leads to inaccurate information. By stripping away learned skills and testing various abilities, we get a fairly accurate representation of what they know. The hard part is getting as many life and social skills as possible. The meal at lunch was chosen to see her ability to use a fork, spoon, and knife. Drinking skills were tested at lunch with a regular cup, but she had juice boxes or cups with straws for snacks. We’ve given her enough liquids to determine her level of bladder control. We have determined her skill with time, measurement, and money in various ways. Some through play, others through direct testing, but some by telling her something will happen at a specific time and seeing if she knows when it’s coming.”

The two talked about what Mandy’s day at the school would be like. Then there was a discussion on how the program changes as she gets older and what is done to prepare children for transitioning out of the school at age twenty-one. By the time Mandy was done with the evaluation, Mrs. Gibson was finally ready to allow Mandy to attend Cauldron Academy.

“She has a few more minutes of promised play time before we go in there,” Dr. Parker said as she stood up and went to the two-way mirror. “I want to double-check to ensure you agree to everything we discussed.”

“I still can’t believe I said yes, but I can do this for my baby.”

“Your husband?”

“He was the one that thought enrolling . . . Mandy in this school was a good thing. He read through that TSS form twice before signing it. He always wants what is best for our kids. It will be a shock to him as it was to me, but he’ll agree I made the right decision. If he doesn’t, I’ll remind him that he signed that form against my recommendations.”

Dr. Parker held her hand up to her mouth, holding a chuckle back.

As the two of them entered the exam room, Dr. Parker nodded at Teacher Susan, who was at the door heading to the school's classroom wing. Teacher Susan nodded back and left the room.

“Time to go home, Munchkin.”

“Mommy! It’s really fun here. Can I come, please?”

“Yes, Munchkin. Yes.”

Mandy bounced up and down, flapping her hands.

Mrs. Gibson turned to Dr. Parker, “And that is the stimming behavior seen when excited. I don’t know how you pulled it off, but I don’t recall her stimming before now. Excitement involves jumping up and down with hand flapping, but when frustrated or upset, you get shrieking and hand flapping.”

“We have a lot of experience limiting the upset and frustrated state. Excitement, however, is not something we try to avoid.”

Once Mandy had calmed down, Dr. Parker approached her and got down on a knee, “Mandy, I need you to go back into the circle. It is time to turn your body back into a twelve-year-old.”

“No!!!!”

“You are coming back to this school, and you will get a chance to be little every day if you want to,” Dr. Parker explained. “But every day when you go home, you’ll have to turn back into the body you came to school in.”

Mandy looked down at her dress, “But, but . . .”

“Mommy has agreed to let you wear girl clothes at home. When you’re at school, you will always be a girl. Sometimes you will be a little girl, but at other times, you will be a big girl. Either way, you will be a girl whenever you come to school.”

“Really?” Mandy looked between Dr. Parker and Mom.

Mom smiled down at Mandy, nodding her head.

“Right now, I’ll make a deal with you,” Dr. Parker looked straight at Mandy, even though Mandy never made eye contact. “You get back into the circle to finish the evaluation today. I will have it leave you in a girl's body. You will keep that until you go through the portal to return to your house.”

“I like being a girl. No, I am a girl.”

“I know,” Dr. Parker said. “That’s why you’ll get a girl’s body when you go through the portal to this school. Your Mommy knows, too, so she has agreed to let you wear the clothes you want at home.”

“But I don’t have any girl clothes at home,” Mandy frowned and looked down at her dress.

“We can buy some,” Mom interjected. “And Dr. Parker has offered a gift. She will make some magical changes to your room, including some of your clothes.”

Mandy looked up at Mom and Dr. Parker, “Really?”

“Yup, but I need a crystal to make those changes. The only way I can get that crystal is for you to step back into the circle and finish the evaluation. Do you think you could do that for me, so I can make some changes to your room at home?”

Mandy nodded her head.

“Do you want me to change your dress into a big girl dress or just make that one bigger to fit you as a twelve-year-old?”

“This one? I can keep this dress?”

Dr. Parker nodded.

“I want to keep this one.”

Hand in hand, Dr. Parker and Mandy went over to the multicolor circle on the floor and stepped inside. Letting go of Mandy’s hand, Dr. Parker stepped out of the circle.

“One last question,” Dr. Parker smiled at the little girl who had a blank expression. “Hair like it is now, or like it was before?”

A smile spread on Mandy’s face, “Pigtails!”

“Okay, I will leave it long enough to keep in pigtails. Do you want them up high like they are or down lower like a twelve-year-old would usually wear?”

Mandy looked at Mom.

“It’s up to you, Munchkin,” Mom responded.

“I like them the way they are right now,” Mandy stated.

Dr. Parker twirled her index finger, “Gender, hair, and clothes shall stay the same, sizing up with the body. End the evaluation and deliver me Amanda Gibson’s data.”

Bringing her hand into a fist and then spreading all five fingers out in the direction of the circle, the colors on the circle shot up, encasing Mandy in a sphere. Ten seconds later, the spinning colors turned back into a column. Instead of retreating into the floor, it went above Mandy’s head and formed another sphere. It turned white and shrunk until it was a little bigger than a tennis ball. Then it floated down and landed in Dr. Parker’s waiting hand. It slowly changed shape, and a crystal was sitting in her hand when the light faded away.

Mandy had watched and was focused on the crystal, “What is it?”

“This crystal has all the information we learned today about you. It will help Hootie assist the teachers and school when they do magic on you. The spells will access the crystal and guide the magic to be specific to you.”

Mandy’s expression clearly showed confusion. Dr. Parker continued, “This way, when they cast a spell to make you little, you will turn into a six-year-old instead of a baby.”

“That’s good. I’m a big girl, not a baby,” Mandy responded. “Who is Hootie?”

“Hootie watches over the school. Let’s go meet him,” Dr. Parker gestured toward the door to her office.

Before leaving the circle, Mandy looked down at her dress and put her hands up to feel her pigtails. She spun around to let the dress twirl out. Then she went over to the two-way mirror and looked at herself in the mirror.

“She has never cared about clothes or hair before,” Mrs. Gibson commented.

“Setting Amanda free will change her in various ways,” Dr. Parker noted as she opened the door.

They went through the office and back to the entryway to the school. On the opposite wall to the glass doors going outside was a statue of an owl between two double doors leading down a hallway. They stopped in front of the statue.

“This is Hootie,” Dr. Parker gestured toward the statue. “Hootie, this is Amanda Gibson. She likes to be called Mandy.”

Suddenly the statue’s wings flapped, and it hooted twice, “Hi, Mandy. Welcome to Cauldron Academy.”

“It talked?” Mandy’s eyes went wide. “Is it real?”

“No,” Dr. Parker responded. “It is just a magical statue.”

“Do you have her crystal,” Hootie asked?

“I have it right here,” Dr. Parker held the crystal out for Hootie. “We will need a portal crystal and a trans room transformation crystal.”

Hootie’s wings spread out, and he hooted twice. The crystal in Dr. Parker’s hand floated up to the owl’s stomach. The wings wrapped around the crystal, causing it to be absorbed into the owl. The wings spread out again, and a small pink and a small green crystal came out of the owl’s stomach. They floated over and landed in Dr. Parker’s hand.

“Thank You, Hootie,” Dr. Parker said as she looked at the two crystals in her hand.

“You’re welcome. Always enjoyable to help you enroll a new student,” Hootie then turned its head and looked at Mandy. “Mandy, I look forward to watching you grow and learn here at the school.”

“Mommy, the magical statue talked to me. Isn’t that cool?” Mandy said while bouncing up and down, flapping her hands.

Hootie returned to his original state, and the group returned to Dr. Parker’s office.

“Mandy,” Dr. Parker asked. “Do you have any questions?”

“Can I learn how to do magic?”

“Sorry, Mandy, a non-magical being can not do magic. You’ll get to see magic every day, and occasionally, you’ll meet magical creatures. You might even go on a field trip to visit unicorns.”

Mandy’s eyes and smile went wide.

“Do I have to go in the bubble every time you let me be a little girl?”

“No, now that Hootie has your crystal, any teacher can instantly change you,” Dr. Parker wiggled her fingers at Mandy and said, “Little Time.”

Mandy was engulfed in light for one second and suddenly was six years old again. Looking at her tiny hands and legs so small her feet stuck out straight, she smiled.

Dr. Parker wiggled her fingers and said, “Change back.”

Mandy was again engulfed in light for one second, and she was back to being a twelve-year-old girl.

“I like the little me better,” Mandy complained.

“I know,” Dr. Parker commented. “That is why we give you time every day to be little if you want to.”

“I want to. I really do.”

Dr. Parker smiled, “Any other questions?”

Mandy sat there and thought for a moment, “Just one. Will my teacher be nice or a mean old witch?”

“Toni Gibson!!! Apologize,” Mom reprimanded.

“It’s okay. Little Kids and Autistic individuals are usually very blunt. I want Amanda free to ask any questions she wants,” Dr. Parker stated before turning back to Mandy. “You have already met your teacher. It will be Teacher Susan. We had someone else teach her lessons today so she could get to know you. What do you think? Is she nice or a mean old witch?”

Mandy giggled, “She’s super duper nice and really good at updating my picture schedules when we start something new. She zaps them, and they instantly change.”

“Okay, unless either of you has any other questions, I think we are done here,” Dr. Parker looked at the two before standing up. “Don’t forget your backpack Mandy.”

Mandy picked up her backpack and looked at it, “Mommy, can I get a girl backpack with Hello Kitty or a Unicorn on it? Ooooo, or Sofia the First!”

“I think we can do that . . . Mandy,” Mom went up and hugged Amanda.

Dr. Parker grabbed a small box off her desk, and the three returned to the entryway. Mandy was directed to go up and press one of the green-colored stones along a long wall.

Looking at the wall, Mandy saw many green stones sticking out. They were at different heights. Mandy found one at the height of her chest and pressed it. A portal opened up in its spot.

“That will take us to your house. Ready?”

“No,” Mandy grumbled.

“Come on, Mandy,” Mom took Mandy’s hand. “Remember, we have magic to do in your room.”

The two stepped through the portal, followed by Dr. Parker.

True Self Syndrome (TSS) By Teek © June 2023

Chapter 4: Magic at Home

The other side of the portal put them on the front steps to the Gibson house. When the portal disappeared, the front door appeared, and Mrs. Gibson unlocked it. Entering the house, the three went down to Mandy’s room.

The room was a typical boy’s bedroom. The bedspread was covered with dinosaurs, and the walls had spaceships. There were toys to go along with both of these themes, along with cars, trucks, and superheroes. The main colors throughout the room were dark greens, blues, and browns. Even the furniture had dark wood stains. For a little kid who liked rainbows and unicorns, there was nothing Dr. Parker could see showing that. Even typical boys Mandy’s age would have bright-colored stuffed animals or toys. There appeared to be an intentional motivation by someone to make sure the softer side of this child would not be seen.

Dr. Parker went over to the bed and put the box on it, “Amanda, this is a gift for you. When it’s combined with this small pink crystal, it will make changes to your room. Is there anything in this room you don’t want to be changed?”

“No,” Mandy firmly said without a moment of hesitation.

“Mrs. Gibson,” Dr. Parker said while looking straight at Mandy. “You and I will need to step out of the room and close the door before Mandy triggers the transformation.”

Mandy slowly opened the box, finding a simple gray stone. Pulling it out, she looked at all sides. There was a flat surface, and on the opposite side was an indentation. She felt around the spot. It didn’t feel any different than anywhere else on the stone.

“This goes in there,” Dr. Parker held the small pink crystal in her hand.

“I just put it in the hole?”

“Yup, it’s that simple. You need to do it and be the only one in the room when it happens. The magic will start when you put the crystal into the rock. Can I see the rock for a minute?”

Mandy exchanged the rock for the crystal.

“She likes rainbows, unicorns, Hello Kitty, and Disney Princesses, especially Sofia the First,” Dr. Parker said, twirling her index finger above the rock. “Her favorite colors are yellow and little girl pink.”

Mandy smiled and nodded her head up and down.

“Focus on her developmental level but have some stuff at biological age. Only change 50% of the clothes and toys,” Dr. Parker said before closing her hand and returning the rock to Mandy.

Mandy frowned at the 50% comment.

“Okay, Mrs. Gibson, we need to leave,” Dr. Parker said, heading for the door.

The two adults left the room and shut the door behind them. Mandy put the rock back on her bed and looked at the crystal in her hand before placing it into the rock. The pink crystal started to glow. A moment later, pink lights emerged from the crystal and swirled around Mandy like comets. Then they shot out in all directions, and everything they touched changed.

When Dr. Parker saw lights flashing under the doorway, she secretly wiggled her fingers and said in her head, “This little girl has been caged up too long. An extra few things will ease her pain. Add Stuffed animals and a doll house to match her heart.”

Mandy kept looking all around as thing after thing changed. She couldn’t recall the last time she was so happy. It only took a minute, but it felt much longer for Mandy.

When the light stopped flashing under the doorway, Dr. Parker counted to twenty and then opened the door, “So what do you think, Mandy?”

Mandy stood next to her pink bed with unicorns and rainbows. Her pillowcase had an image of Sofia the First. Several stuffed animals were on the bed and throughout the room. On the night stand was a Hello Kitty light and digital clock. Mandy kept slowly turning around in place, looking at everything. Half the superheroes had been turned into Barbies and baby dolls. Some of the spaceship toys were now My Little Pony figures. There were Polly Pockets and Fisher-Price Little People. The walls were a light pink with images of Disney Princesses hung on them. The curtains were light purple with hearts. All the furniture was now solid white. The dark blue rug had been changed to a light beige. In the closet were hanging bright-colored dresses and skirts. Under them, there were Disney Princess sneakers and black Mary-Jane shoes.

Mandy went over and looked at a two-story dollhouse before turning around to look at the adults. Her huge smile changed to lips squished together with her eyes scrunched down.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Mom started to approach Mandy but stopped when Mandy went storming to the other side of the room.

Mandy picked up the dinosaurs, not transformed into fuzzy cute woodland creatures. After looking around the room, she went over to her bed and threw the dinosaurs under it. Then she proceeded to do the same for all the other toys that were not changed.

Mrs. Gibson tried to stop her, but Dr. Parker insisted that Mandy had a right to do this.

Once none of her former toys were visible, Mandy focused on the boy's clothes. She headed for the closet first.

“Munchkin, don’t put them under the bed,” Mom commented. “Put them in a pile outside your door, and I will figure out what to do with them.”

So that is what Mandy did. Every piece of boy’s clothing was stripped from the room and dumped in the hallway. The drawers were opened and closed so fast that the adults barely saw what was inside them.

“That’s much better,” Mandy said as she re-entered the room after dumping the last boy's clothes in the hall. “Now it’s perfect.”

The three of them stood there looking around the room. There was no question now that this was a little girl’s bedroom, a very girly little girl.

“I like it, Dr. Parker,” Mandy said. “Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!”

While Mandy headed over to some Disney Princess Fisher-Price Little People, Mrs. Gibson opened the dresser's top drawer.

“Why are there both panties and disposable training pants in her underwear drawer?”

Mandy answered without turning away from her toys, “Teacher Susan says I need to wear the training pants on days I don’t make it to the potty on time.”

Dr. Parker magically made a tablet appear and tapped a few things before saying, “She did have one accident today. It must have been on her way to the bathroom. Otherwise, we would have noticed it.”

“So, did Teacher Susan put her in training pants today?” Mrs. Gibson looked at Dr. Parker.

“Yeah, I have one on right now, Mommy. See,” Mandy stood up and pulled her dress up to proudly show off her disposable training pants.

“Mandy,” Mrs. Gibson rushed over to her. “Girls do not lift their dresses and show people their panties.”

“But they’re not panties, Mommy,” Mandy countered. “There training pants. They’re like diapers but for big girls. They have stars on them that go away when wet. I have to try and keep the stars from going bye-bye.”

Mrs. Gibson got Mandy to lower the dress and go back to playing. Turning to Dr. Parker, “She’s twelve. She’s acting like she’s three.”

“Five- and six-year-old girls still do stuff like that, too,” Dr. Parker giggled. “My daughter, at her Kindergarten school concert, played with the hem of her dress while singing on stage. Everyone could see her panties. I was so embarrassed at the time, but everyone else just found it cute. I can laugh at it now, and it’s one of those precious little girl memories from her childhood. They grow out of that stage eventually. At the school, we still have to remind girls up to about a nine-year-old developmental level not to lift their skirts and dresses like that. Mandy’s only developmentally six.”

“But she has twelve years of experience. She should know better.”

Dr. Parker smiled, “Mandy hasn’t had twelve years of experience with proper girl behavior. Even if she had the training, she might still be doing stuff like that. We have found behavior like that is linked to developmental level. Don’t worry. She’ll learn.”

“Back to toilet training, ugg,” Mrs. Gibson looked at Mandy on the floor playing. “When Mandy and her little brother stopped having day and nighttime accidents three years ago, I thought we were done with diapers and training pants. She doesn’t even appear to care that she’s wearing them.”

“Older kids who need protection tend not to care about wearing it, as long as the adults around them aren’t giving them a hard time about being in them. They know they need them. It is us adults that look at age instead of need. It goes back to that ‘age-appropriate’ discussion we had earlier. It is better to focus on what is developmentally needed instead of deciding whether a kid should or shouldn’t have something based on age.”

The two adults watched Mandy play for a little bit before Dr. Parker asked, “Have you decided where you want to place the portal to the school?”

“You said it can go on any wall, right? What’s there will temporarily disappear while the portal is active?”

“Yes,” Dr. Parker confirmed.

“Mandy,” Mom went over to where she was playing. “We have one more thing to do. Then you can come back here and play. We have to decide where to put the portal you will use to go to school. Can you help me find the perfect spot?”

Mandy looked at Mommy and then back at Prince Charming and Snow White in their horse-drawn carriage going to the castle, “Okay, Mommy.”

Mandy got up and held Mommy’s hand. As they left the bedroom, “She hasn’t called me Mommy for a few years. I like it. Is that a side effect of the regression?”

“Most likely,” Dr. Parker followed them. “TSS impact is different for every kid. It could also just be part of Amanda’s personality that was not part of the Toni mask.”

When they reached the living room, Mrs. Gibson looked at a wall covered with pictures, “I think this would be the best spot. The kids know not to touch the stuff on this wall.”

“Okay, Mandy,” Dr. Parker got out the green crystal and held it out. “Hold this up against the wall where you want the button to be.”

Mandy took the crystal as instructed. Putting it on the wall, she held it there until it started to glow and melt into the wall. A moment later, a green stone like the ones at school emerged a little from the wall.

“Now, to camouflage it,” Dr. Parker thought momentarily before twirling her finger around. “Little girls in pretty dresses are picture perfect. Let’s see Amanda’s picture with the others.”

The green stone was turned into a picture of Mandy in her current dress, standing in a field of flowers.

“Cool,” Mandy shouted. “A picture of the real me is on the wall. Look, Mommy!”

“I see Munchkin. I see.”

Dr. Parker cast a spell to adjust the other pictures so Mandy’s new picture looked like it fit right in and had been there all along. Looking at Mrs. Gibson and Mandy, “Now, if you press the picture, it will open a portal to the school. I’ll test it to make sure it is working properly.”

Going up to the picture, Dr. Parker pressed it. A portal appeared, and she stepped through. A moment later, she re-appeared.

“The portal will stay open for one minute. If you want to close it sooner, just say, ‘Portal close,’ and it will go away.”

As soon as the portal disappeared, the pictures returned. Mandy went up to her picture and pressed it. Smiling at the portal, she said, “Portal close.”

“Look, Mommy! I did magic. We have magic in our house.”

Mom giggled, “Yes, Mandy. We certainly do, but you can only open the portal when it is time to go to school. Okay?”

“Yes, Mommy.”

Dr. Parker asked Mrs. Gibson, “Do you want me to portal you back to Mandy’s Elementary School to get your car?”

Mrs. Gibson thought for a moment, “No, I am not ready yet to go out in public with Mandy. I’m still adjusting to all of this and not ready for the questions that will arise. We’ll get it once my husband comes home.”

“Okay then,” Dr. Parker looked at Mrs. Gibson and Mandy. “I will be off. I look forward to working with the two of you. See you at school, Mandy.”

“Thanks, Dr. Parker,” Mrs. Gibson said. “Mandy, say by to Dr. Parker.”

Mandy waved and said, “Bye.”

As soon as Dr. Parker left through the portal, Mandy ran back to her bedroom.

True Self Syndrome (TSS) By Teek © June 2023

Chapter 5: Dad Comes Home

James Gibson pulled into the driveway, noticing his wife’s car was not there. Entering the house, he was surprised to hear Toni playing in one of the bedrooms.

“Emma?” James called out.

“In the kitchen, James.”

Entering the kitchen, “Hi, honey. How’d it go today?”

“You should have been there.”

“Emma, we talked about this last night. I had an important meeting. Today was just another Special Education evaluation. Toni has gone through a bunch of those. We already know he is Autistic and has developmental and academic delays. We weren’t going to learn anything new from this evaluation. The school has an amazing reputation for meeting the needs of kids with disabilities. I didn’t need to visit the school to decide whether to send him there. I already knew I supported him attending.”

Emma closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then went back to stirring the contents of the skillet.

James kissed his wife and went over to the fridge.

“Stay out of the fridge. I’m almost done making dinner.”

“Okay,” James closed the door and sat at the table. “How’d Toni like the school?”

“Your daughter loved Cauldron Academy,” Emma said while cooking the stir-fry on the stove.

James looked at his wife and thought for a moment before responding, “My daughter?”

“Like I said, James. You should have been there. The testing revealed something neither of us was expecting. Toni is transgender. We really have a six-year-old little girl named Amanda. I guess I finally have my Mandy.”

James glared at his wife, “Come on. No way. You pulled a good one this time, but there is no way you can keep this prank up if you’re looking at me.”

Emma turned around and looked straight at James, “Our daughter, Mandy, is in her bedroom playing. She looks really cute in her pigtails and frilly dress. If you don’t believe me, go look.”

“Yeah, right,” James said, looking his wife right in the eyes. She did look serious, but there was no way.

Emma turned back to the stove, “Go say hi to your daughter,”

James looked at his wife. After a moment of thought, he headed for the bedrooms. Outside of Toni’s room was a pile of clothes. That was unusual, but James has learned not to question such things in a house with two kids. When he turned the corner into Toni’s room, James froze.

“What in the world,” James looked around the little girl’s room. He didn’t recognize anything in the room, including the kid in pigtails and a dress. “Who are you?”

“Daddy,” Mandy got up from the floor and hugged Dad. “Isn’t my new room super duper?”

Looking down at the pigtailed girl hugging him, James had to admit it sounded like and hugged like Toni. Going down on his knees, James looked at the girl. It was Toni.

“Look, Daddy,” Mandy said, grabbing James’ hand and leading him to the doll house. “It has two stories. There’s a Mommy, Daddy, boy, and girl just like our family has.”

“Yeah . . . Munchkin. You . . . keep playing. I need to go talk to Mom.”

Mandy took the Mommy and Daddy dolls and moved them to the kitchen. With one in each hand, she said, “Blah, blah, blah.” Leaving them in the kitchen, she picked up the little girl doll. In the dollhouse’s girl's bedroom, she had the doll bouncing around, talking about how wonderful her room was.

James watched her play for a little bit before heading back to the kitchen.

“What was that?” James asked as he collapsed into a chair in the kitchen.

“Your baby girl,” Emma responded with a sly grin. “I told you. You should have been there today.”

“What happened?”

“Toni walked into a circle and was engulfed in a sphere of light designed to transform him into his true self based upon who he was in his brain. We were prepared for him to regress to his developmental level. I estimated I would see little nine-year-old Toni when the sphere disappeared. Instead, a six-year-old little girl stood there.”

“A what?”

“Our twelve-year-old Toni in his brain was a six-year-old little girl. A cute little thing. She looked a lot like I did at that age.”

“It was a trick,” James countered.

“No, it wasn’t. Admittedly, I thought the same thing. After watching the kid all day, I can assure you it was Toni, or should I say, Mandy.”

“He has never been very boyish,” James admitted. “But a girl? Transgender?”

“What was Mandy doing when you saw her in her room?”

“Playing with dolls in a dollhouse.”

“When Dr. Parker transformed that room, she only changed 50% of his clothes and toys. Mandy immediately stuffed all the remaining boy toys under the bed and was going to do the same with the clothes. I had her stack the clothes in the hall. She doesn’t want anything she views as boy things.”

“But those were his toys.”

“We let the little girl out of her cage, and she doesn’t want to go back in.”

James sat there in silence. After a few minutes, he said, “Transgender?”

“With the effects of TSS and what Cauldron Academy is going to do to Mandy every day, there is no way we will ever get her to wear boy clothes again,” Emma said as she got some plates out.

“TSS?” James' eyes went wide. “But . . . but . . .”

Emma turned and glared at James, “I believe someone said last night, ‘Don’t worry about it, Honey. There is nothing wrong with Toni showing his true self. We want our kids to grow up and be who they are, right?’ Well, don’t back away from that now, James. You signed that form without question. It is too late now to question that decision.”

James sat in silence as Emma set the table for three people.

Staring off into nothingness, James started talking, “Three years ago, when we decided to split the boys into two rooms, Toni was nine. We had decided it was time he got a big boy bedroom. Do you remember what his response to that was?”

“No,” Emma looked at her husband.

“He wanted it painted pink, and when we said no to that, he wanted a light purple. We voted that down too. How could we not see our boy was transgender?”

Emma kissed James, “I’ve been asking myself that all day. I think we did see it but didn’t want to admit that is what we saw. Before Mandy’s room was transformed, nothing in there even hinted at a six-year-old or a girl. Luke’s room has stuffed animals all over the place. There are lots of things, besides his toys, with bright colors. He even has some of his baby toys still. Why is it okay for Luke to have all that at age nine, but we took it away from Toni when he was nine? We’re not considering doing that to Luke, so why did we do it to Toni?”

“You’re right,” James frowned. “We made excuses, saying he was autistic and just didn’t understand. Yet, it seems that we were the ones who didn’t understand. Wait a minute. What do you mean Toni will never want to wear boy clothes again because of what Cauldron Academy will do?”

“Laws in the magical society are different from ours when it comes to transgender children. Every time he steps through the portal into the school, his body will be transformed into a girl.”

“What?”

“They feel it is cruel and unusual punishment to force a transgender individual to stay in a body that does not align with their mind. Every moment she is at school, Mandy will be in the physical body of a girl. Sometimes a girl of twelve, and other times a six-year-old.”

“I thought this regression was only for the evaluation, to determine Toni’s developmental level?”

“Nope, she’ll be offered a chance to regress at least once daily until her last year there. They don’t regress them during their last year, in preparation for the transition out of the school.”

“You turned down his position at the school? Right?”

“No. Mandy will be starting there either tomorrow or Monday. I haven’t decided that yet.”

“So, I had a son this morning and a daughter tonight? I’m just immediately to accept that Toni is dead and replaced with a six-year-old girl named Mandy?”

“If that helps you get through this, then yes. I’m choosing to view it differently. I don’t feel Toni has died. To me, he never existed. It doesn’t matter what anyone says or even how I feel. Amanda was born with a birth defect, and because of that, I mistreated her for twelve years,” Emma said on the verge of tears. “I will spend the rest of my life doing whatever I can to make up for those twelve years. My job as a parent is to support my baby, no matter what. I have failed at my job, and now I must repair the damage I did.”

James got up and hugged Emma. After a few minutes together, Emma asked James to get Mandy for dinner.

“What about Luke?”

“He is at Joey’s house. I didn’t know when I was getting back, so I figured a play date would be helpful.”

When James walked into . . . Mandy’s room, he was not ready for what he saw. Mandy was lying on her stomach, playing with some Polly Pocket toys. When she scooted back, the skirt on her dress moved, exposing her underwear. To James' surprise, it wasn’t underwear. It looked like a diaper.

“Emma,” James called out. “Could you come here, please?”

“What honey,” Emma asked, entering the room?

“Is Toni . . . Mandy wearing a diaper?”

“Technically,” Emma hedged. “They’re disposable training pants, not diapers.”

“Why is he . . . she wearing them?”

Emma smiled, “You know that TSS form you signed last night?”

“What does that have to do with our twelve-year-old wearing diapers.”

“As I told you, her developmental level is six-years-old. Think about it, James. How often do we need to prompt her to use the toilet? Today when they took away all her learned skills and left only her mastered skills, she had an accident. At Cauldron Academy, that means they wear training pants for the rest of the day. With TSS, we can expect a lot more accidents until she masters toilet training. If the school has that policy, I will be implementing the same thing here at home. So, you better get used to her wearing training pants.”

“But Toni hasn’t had an accident for what, three years?”

“Yes, Mandy has gotten pretty good at getting to the potty. But, every time she does the potty dance and doesn’t immediately go running off to the bathroom, she is showing us she’s not fully trained yet. If no one prompts her to go, she still, apparently, has accidents,” Emma stated, looking down at Mandy. “She only had one accident today, even though she drank a lot throughout the day. That would indicate that we probably won’t see a lot of accidents, but we’ll get them occasionally.”

“Are training pants really necessary then,” James asked? “If we just prompt . . . her, training pants aren’t needed.”

“Every time we prompt her to use the potty when doing the potty dance, Mandy has turned the control over to us. We need her to learn about her body and what different body signals mean. Not prompting her that much is a better way to go. When she was little, it would be three days back in training pants for every accident. The school, at this point, is only having her wear them for the rest of the day. After some time to think about it, it seems reasonable.”

James looked between his wife and . . . daughter.

“Come on, Mandy,” Mom said as she approached Amanda. “Time for dinner. Mandy, are your stars still there?”

Mandy stood up and confirmed the stars were still on her training pants. Then the three headed to the kitchen for dinner.

True Self Syndrome (TSS) By Teek © June 2023

Chapter 6: Big-Little Brother

Emma looked into the backseat at Mandy playing with a pop fidget toy, “James, why don’t you take Mandy home. I will get Luke. I’ll stop on the way home for some i-c-e-c-r-e-a-m therapy.”

“You know, spelling words out isn’t going to work much longer with Toni . . . or Mandy,” James commented as they pulled into the school parking lot.

“Yeah, she is getting better at spelling, but long words are still hard.”

Emma switched to her car, and James returned home with Mandy. On the short drive to pick up Luke, she tried to figure out the best way to break the news. She was still unsure how to do it, as she rang the doorbell of the Morris’ house.

Luke said goodbye to his best friend and went to the car with Mom, “Joey has the new Zaptrap game. It’s really hard, but we got up to level three.”

“That’s great, Luke,” Emma said as they got in the car.

“Mom, did you know magic exists?” Luke asked as he buckled his seat belt. “It really does. I got to see real magic today at school.”

Emma smiled, “Yes, Luke. I know that magic exists. How did you get to see magic at school? Did one of the teachers or a kid do a magic trick?”

“No, Mommy. I mean real magic, like wizards. Teacher said there are real witches and warlocks in the world. There are even magical creatures like unicorns, but no more dragons exist. All those stories about knights going on quests to kill dragons really happened. They killed off all the dragons. Isn’t that sad?”

“Yeah, really sad,” Mom agreed as they drove down the road.

“I got to feel magic today,” Luke continued. “Feel it pass right through me.”

“Interesting,” Mom’s curiosity was now piqued. “How did magic pass through you?”

“Our class was walking down the hall to go to Music. Just before we turned into the music room, a puffy white cloud floated down the hall toward the office. Coming out of it was a rainbow. It went right through our legs. We were actually walking through a rainbow, Mom. Then the rainbow fell onto the carpet, changing its color to match the rainbow. When we left music to go back to class, it was all gone. Mrs. Miller told us all about magical people and creatures. Witches and Warlocks are nice but tend to stay away from non-magical people.”

“Mrs. Miller is right,” Mom commented. “I met some nice witches and warlocks when I was in High School. Today I visited a school where all the teachers are magical.”

“What? Really? Can I go . . . wait a minute,” Luke looked at Mom. “Weren’t you and Toni visiting a new school today for him?”

“Yes, that is where we were today.”

“The school Toni will go to is full of witches and warlocks? Can I go?”

“Sorry, Sweetie, it is only for kids with disabilities.”

“That’s not fair,” Luke grumbled.

Mom chuckled, “Sorry, Luke. You get to do all sorts of things that Man . . . Toni doesn’t. This time he gets to do something you don’t.”

“Are we going to have to move? Mrs. Miller said no magical people are living around here. How can Toni go to a school full of magical people if there are none around here?”

“A nice witch named Mrs. Parker,” Mom said as they pulled into the parking lot of the ice-cream store. “Made a magical . . .”

“Sweet Ice? We’re going to Sweet Ice?” Luke screamed. “You didn’t tell me we’re going to Sweet Ice. Can I get a clown cone with Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream?”

“You can get whatever you want.”

After ordering and settling down in a booth, Mom watched Luke attack the bowl of ice-cream done up to look like a clown. After a few bites, “Luke . . . we need to talk.”

“We’re moving?”

“No, but . . . our life is going to change dramatically.”

“Because Toni’s going to that new school,” Luke asked between spoonful's?

“Sort of, but not really. The school's testing taught us something about Toni we didn’t know. Toni’s . . . Toni’s . . .” Mrs. Gibson found it extremely hard to continue.

“Mom, I already know Toni’s Autistic. So what?”

“Yeah, we all knew that before today. We didn’t know Toni is . . . is . . . transgender.”

“What’s transgetter?” Luke asked as he ate the cherry nose on the ice-cream clown.

“Trans-gender,” Mom said slowly. “It is a condition where a person is born in a body that does not match who they are in their brain. Toni has the body of a boy but the brain of a girl.”

Emma watched her little nine-year-old eat several spoonful's of ice-cream in silence. He didn’t even look up at Mom. He just stared into his bowl of ice-cream.

“That kinda makes sense,” Luke finally said, looking up at Mom.

“It does?”

“Yeah,” Luke put his spoon down and took a drink of water. “His favorite color is pink . . .”

“No,” Mom objected. “His favorite color is yellow.”

Luke chuckled, “No, it isn’t. It never has been. When we got our own rooms and Toni wanted a pink room, I taught him never to tell anyone his favorite color was pink. We picked another color he liked, and then we practiced him telling people his favorite color was yellow when someone asked.”

Mom quickly tried to process this, “You were six when the two of you got your own rooms.”

“Yeah,” Luke picked up the cone acting as the hat for the clown and took a bite out of it. “It was the first time I realized I understood the world better than he did. He was just a little kid, and I had to be his big-little brother and help him out.”

“Big-little brother?”

“I’m his little brother, but I’m like a big brother who has to help him. That makes me a Big-Little Brother.”

“You are one smart little boy, you know that,” Mom squeezed Luke’s hand resting on the table. “Your Dad and I didn’t figure out that you had passed M . . . Toni until a year after that.”

Luke smiled.

“Luke,” Mom squeezed his hand again. “Something happened today to teach Toni what the differences are between being a boy and being a girl. He will never again want to go back to pretending to be a boy.”

“So, he’s going to pretend he’s a girl now?”

“Not exactly. Toni is a girl. Behaving and dressing like a girl isn’t acting. It’s just being her true self.”

“Are you going to buy him dresses and girl toys?”

Emma scrunched her lips together, “Yes, but she already has a bunch of both. That’s part of why I brought you here for ice-cream before we went home.”

“You already went shopping?”

“No, Luke,” Mom hedged. “Magic changed half her toys and clothes to match her brain. It also made significant changes to her room. She now goes by the name Amanda or Mandy.”

“Magic? Did magic change things in our house? Cool!” Luke almost shouted.

“Not so loud, Luke,” Emma looked around to see if people were looking at them. A few had looked up from their tables for a moment but quickly went back to their own business. “You know how you said that you were the big-little brother? Well, today we found out how little Mandy is in her brain, what her true developmental level is.”

“What’s developmandal mean?”

“Develop-men-tal,” Mom said, breaking the word up a bit. “A person’s developmental level is where most of their skills are. You, like most people, have your developmental level match your age. Many kids with disabilities, however, have a lower developmental level than their age. That is why Mandy acts like a real little kid at times, because she still is one in her brain.”

“Toni’s what? Three or four years old in his brain?” Luke guessed. “Is that why he likes all the little kid toys in my room that I don’t play with anymore? He’s just a little baby?”

“Your sister is definitely not a baby, and I don’t ever want to hear you calling her that. She is also not three . . .”

“Sister?” Luke’s face got all contorted.

“If Toni is a girl in her brain, then she is your sister. You now have a sister named Amanda. She goes by Mandy. We don’t call her Toni or say he or him. She is a girl, so we use she and her.”

“Toni is really a girl now?” Luke’s face finally started to show comprehension of this strange knowledge.

“Yes, and because of that, we are going to call her Mandy, not Toni.”

Luke looked at his mom, “Is Mandy the same person as Toni?”

“Yes,” Mom hesitantly acknowledged. “Mostly. She has been hiding her girl side and now isn’t hiding it anymore. So, she is a little different than before. There was also something else today making Mandy a little different from Toni. She got something called TSS. It will make her forget how to do some things and only show skills she has mastered, not ones she is learning.”

“What is TSS?”

“TSS stands for True Self Syndrome,” Mom stated. “It is something non-magical people can get after magic is used on them.”

“Toni had magic used on him today?” Luke said in excitement.

“Yes, Mandy had a lot of powerful magic used on her today. For the testing today, she was magically transformed into the age of her developmental level, a little six-year-old. She was changed back into a twelve-year-old before leaving the school. Some other magic was done on her, too, making it impossible for her to show learned skills. She could only do skills she had mastered. That was also undone, but the effects will linger.”

Toni looked at Mom for a moment, “I thought her develop-mental level was younger than six. She always wants to play with the baby toys in my room that I don’t play with anymore.”

Mom looked at Luke with a questioning look, “You have toys in your room that you don’t play with? But a few weeks ago, I asked you if there were any toys in your room that we could give away to your little cousin, and you said no.”

“I couldn’t get rid of the toys that Toni loves the best. You won’t allow him to have them in his room, so I had to keep them. They are also the only way Toni plays with me. He comes in to play with the toys, and he will tolerate me playing alongside him and having some interaction. I like playing with Toni, even if he isn’t thrilled about playing with others. You know that Autism thing.”

“Things have changed, and I will now let Mandy have those toys. I bet she has a bunch of toys under her bed that you can have. We’ll have to do a toy swap either tonight or tomorrow,” Mom said before taking another spoonful of ice-cream.”

“What is . . . Mandy doing with toys under his . . . her bed?”

“When magic changed half of the toys in the room to ones appropriate to a girl her developmental level, Mandy put all the toys that didn’t change under her bed.”

Luke sat in silence as he finished the rest of his ice-cream.

“Ready to go home?” Mom asked as she dipped part of a napkin into a water glass and handed it to Luke. “Clean your face, Sweetie.”

Taking the wet napkin and wiping it all around his mouth, “You know, all of this is weird. It’s even weirder than magic being real.”

“I know, Sweetie, but it is our life now. Mandy is just a little girl who needs her Mommy, Daddy, and Big-Little Brother,” Mom pulled out her phone and showed Luke a picture of a girl playing with some dolls.

“Mandy?”

“Yup, your Autistic sister who needs you just as much as she did when she was pretending to be a boy.”

Luke swiped on the phone to see if there were other pictures. There were several, but then he came across one of a little six-year-old girl, “Who’s that?”

“That’s Mandy as a little girl,” Mom explained. “Magic transformed her into who she was in her brain, so that is who your sister is on the inside. She’s just a little girl who views love and play as the two most important things in the world. It’s our job to give her both. We’re not to judge or attempt to mold her into something she isn’t. We are to guide and protect her on the journey she faces. Do you think you can help me do that?”

Luke flipped through the pictures again, “I really am the big brother, aren’t I?”

Mom nodded her head with a weak smile.

“I guess I should meet my sister,” Luke said, standing up.

“That’s my boy. Come on,” Mom stood up and held out her hand.

As Luke walked into Mandy’s bedroom, it looked nothing like it did this morning. Standing just inside the doorway, he looked around at everything. The walls, carpet, and furniture had all changed colors. There were none of the previous toys or pictures on the walls. The sheets, pillowcases, and bedspread were very girlish. This was not Toni’s room, but it fit perfectly for a little girl.

Sitting down on the floor was a kid with their hair up in pigtails and wearing a dress. She was playing with some My Little Ponies and Fisher Price Little People figures. Luke went in and sat down on the bed, looking down at the girl on the floor. He sat there for a bit, just watching. One thing was the same. This person did not respond to others around them. This girl was in her own little world, just like Toni was when he played. After a few minutes, Luke got down on the floor next to his . . . sister and picked up the Prince Charming Little People character.

Walking the character over to the My Little Pony Mandy was playing with, Luke rocked Prince Charming back and forth and said, “That is a nice mane you have there. Is it soft?”

Mandy looked at Prince Charming and the person holding him, “Luke.”

“Hi . . . Mandy,” Luke smiled at his . . . sister. “I see a few things have changed since this morning.”

“Hootie went deep inside my brain and made everything just right for me.”

“Who’s Hootie?”

“Hootie is this wise old owl statue that runs the school. He can flap his wings, and he talks,” Mandy said with a huge smile.

“You talked to a statue? It moved? Are you sure it wasn’t a real owl?”

“Silly Luke,” Mandy shook her head back and forth. “Real owls don’t talk.”

“Oh, silly me,” Luke responded. “Of course, it wasn’t a real owl if it was talking.”

Mandy returned to playing, with Luke occasionally getting the Prince Charming toy to participate. After about fifteen minutes, he said bye to Mandy and left the room.

“Mom,” Luke said, walking into the living room. “He . . . she . . . that kid in there acts like Toni. She looks a lot like Toni, but her hair is much longer. Are you sure it’s Toni?”

“Yes, Sweetie. Magic grew the hair a little so she could have it up in pigtails.”

Luke looked at Dad and then back at Mom, “You didn’t go shopping? Magic changed everything in the room?”

Mom nodded to confirm.

“Mandy, huh,” Luke contorted his mouth around. “It’s much easier to call her that after seeing her. She doesn’t look like a boy in that dress and hairstyle.”

Dad shook his head, “She certainly doesn’t. If you watch her play, she also doesn’t play like a boy. I don’t know how I missed it all these years.”

“Have you done your homework,” Mom asked?

“Yeah,” Luke responded. “Joey’s mom made us sit at the kitchen table and do it while she was cooking dinner.”

“Then you can play a little before bed,” Dad said. “Unless you have any questions?”

“Is there a magical statue named Hootie?”

Mom chuckled, “Yes.”

“Cool!” Luke’s eyes went wide. “Mandy said the statue can flap its wings and talk. Does it really do those things?”

Mom nodded yes.

“You sure I can’t attend this school?”

“As I’ve said, it is only for kids with disabilities. You do not have a disability.”

“Fine,” Luke turned and headed down the hallway.

Dad laughed, “The boy loves magic. It must be killing him to have his . . . sister attend a magical school instead of him.”

Luke returned to Mandy’s room and sat on the floor next to her. He played alongside her, with occasional interaction. It was how Luke used to play with Toni and was finding Mandy to be the same. He could direct some things and get Mandy to respond, but he had learned how to push without reaching a point where Mandy would shriek or flap her hands. When Mandy crawled over to get a toy, Luke thought he saw something but assumed he was wrong. It made no sense that Mandy would be wearing diapers. Toni didn’t wear diapers, and if this was just Toni in girl clothes, then why would Mandy be in diapers?

After playing for about thirty minutes, Luke got bored playing with little kid toys, especially girl ones. He got up and went into his bedroom. Looking around, Luke started putting all the little kid toys on his bed. Looking at the stack of toys, he took several into Mandy’s room and put them on her bed. On his second trip, he found that some of the toys he had brought were now on the floor with Mandy. Smiling, Luke continued to bring in all the toys.

“Luke toys,” Mandy said after Luke had made a few trips.

“Yes, Mandy, but now they are your toys. I am giving them to you.”

“No,” Mandy responded. “Luke toys under my bed.”

Luke looked under the bed, “I can have these?”

“Luke toys under the bed. Mandy's toys on the bed.”

Taking that as permission to take the toys under the bed, Luke started going under there and getting them all out. When he was almost done, Mom entered Mandy’s room.

When Luke grabbed the last armful of dinosaurs and superheroes, Mom said, “Okay, you two, time to get ready for bed.”

As Luke left the room, Mrs. Gibson shut the door and went over to Mandy’s dresser. Getting Mandy’s bedtime routine picture schedule, Emma brought it over to Mandy and put it down in front of her. While Mandy adjusted to this transition, Mom opened the dresser drawer that used to have Toni’s pajamas in it. She found nighties and girl pajamas. Looking at Mandy, she pulled out one of each.

Emma asked Mandy, “Do you still have your stars?”

Mandy lifted the skirt on her dress and looked, “Yeah.”

“Good girl. You kept those dry all day. Which do you want to wear, Minnie Mouse PJs or a Frozen Nighty?”

Mandy looked at her ‘Get Ready for Bed’ routine and then up at Mom, holding up the two choices, “Minnie Mouse.”

Mom put the PJs on the floor next to the picture schedule. Emma then went to work clearing the bed of all the toys Luke had brought. It took Mandy a few minutes, but she started getting changed without prompting. She needed help getting out of the dress but managed the rest independently. Once in her PJs, Mandy looked at her schedule and then headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Luke came into the bathroom shortly after Mandy started brushing. He quickly got to work on getting toothpaste on his toothbrush. When Mandy finished brushing and leaned over to spit into the sink, Luke could see that Mandy was indeed wearing a diaper. Being in the middle of brushing his teeth, he couldn’t say or ask anything. By the time he could, Mandy had already left the room. Finishing up, Luke left the bathroom and looked down at Mandy’s room and then the other direction toward the living room. He chose to go to the living room.

“Dad?” Luke asked as he plopped down on the couch. “Why is Mandy wearing a diaper?”

“Your mom will insist you call them training pants, not diapers,” Dad said. “She had an accident at school today, and at her new school, that means she wears training pants for the rest of the day.”

“Toni . . . Mandy wet her pants today? He . . . she doesn’t do that.”

“Yeah,” Dad slowly said. “As Mom pointed out to me, Toni still needs reminders to go potty. I remember you even telling him sometimes to go potty when he was doing the potty dance. The school doesn’t prompt him . . . Mandy. They feel that slows down a kid’s ability to master the skill, so they just put them in training pants if they have accidents. Mom has decided to do the same here at home with Mandy, so we are returning to training pants occasionally until she masters getting to the potty.”

Luke stared at Dad for several minutes, “Bobby in my class wears diapers.”

“There’s a kid in third grade who wears diapers?”

“Yeah, Bobby. Well, he’s not in my class, really. He’s in Toni’s class, but he comes to our class occasionally. He wears real baby diapers, not training pants,” Luke explained.

“There are lots of kids who take a long time to master toileting skills. You had accidents up to six years old, and Toni had them up to nine. Well, he . . . she still does have them,” Dad thought for a moment. “I guess it really is no big deal, just part of his . . . her disability. We’ll get through this. If Mandy is ever in training pants and you notice they need to be changed, just let Mom or me know.”

“Do I keep telling T . . . Mandy to go potty when he . . . she is doing the potty dance?”

Dad thought for a moment, “I guess not, kiddo. We should try his new school’s approach and see if it helps. Just be prepared. That might mean we have a few accidents. I hope they’re all pee accidents and no poop ones.”

“Oh gross,” Luke complained. “You mean she might poop her pants?”

“I hope not,” Dad looked down the hall and then back at Luke. “I hated changing your poopy diapers.”

“Daaaaaaaaadddddddddd!”

Dad giggled as he got up from the couch, “Come on, Luke, time for bed. Do you want to read Mandy her bedtime story, or do I get to do it tonight?”

As they headed down the hall, Luke thought before replying, “I’ll do it.”

“You’ve gotten so good at reading now that you’re in the third grade.”

When they entered Mandy’s bedroom, Mandy was sitting on her bed as Mom brushed her hair. Luke went over to the shelf with some books on it and stopped.

“Look, Mom,” Luke pointed at the shelf of books. “The magic even changed the books.”

Everyone looked over at the bookcase. There were now more picture books designed for preschoolers and little kids. Some were at Mandy’s second-grade reading level and a couple of chapter books. One book caught Luke’s eye, ‘5-minute Bedtime Stories.’ Grabbing that book, he went to the bed and sat beside Mandy.

“Ready for a bedtime story,” Luke asked?

Mandy grabbed the stuffed unicorn on her pillow and hugged it tight. Smiling at Luke, “Ready.”

Mom put Mandy’s hair into a ponytail and told her to get under the covers. As the parents went to the doorway, Luke opened the book and read the first story. Mandy was asleep before he finished.

Putting the book back on the shelf, Luke joined his parents. They all went down to Luke’s room.

“Did you brush your teeth,” Mom asked?

“Yup,” Luke showed her his teeth.

“Then into bed you go,” Dad smiled.

Luke crawled into bed and grabbed his stuffed monkey, “Mom, will Mandy ever grow up?”

“Yes, Sweetie. She’s just delayed with some of her skills. Most are about 50% behind her age. So, as a twelve-year-old, she’s more like a six-year-old. Hopefully, by the time she’s twenty, her development will reach that of a ten-year-old. But, like now, some skills will be higher, and some might be lower. Everyone learns at different rates, and kids with disabilities can have different skills advancing at very different rates. This new school is good at teaching kids with disabilities. They will get Mandy’s skills as high as they can by the time she turns 21, but even after that, her skills will still advance.”

“That’s good,” Luke got out with a yawn.

Mom and Dad kissed him on his forehead and headed for the doorway.

“Sleep tight, little one. Happy dreams,” Mom said as she turned the lights off.

When James and Emma settled on the couch to cuddle together, they talked about the testing Mandy went through today.

After about thirty minutes, Emma took a deep breath, “I guess I need to get up and go to the store.”

“What’s so important that you have to go out this late at night?”

“Having a girl requires a few things we don’t have, especially for hair care. She appears to like pigtails, and I don’t have the hair ties to pull that off. I should get some detangler, brushes for long hair, and some little girl necklaces and bracelets. Maybe some nail polish and lip gloss too.”

“Does that need to be done tonight? Toni never cared about his appearance.”

“One thing you will need to learn. Toni and Mandy may be the same person, but they will have different ways of approaching the world, even though they have the same autistic traits.”

True Self Syndrome (TSS) By Teek © June 2023

Chapter 7: School

After Mom went in and woke Luke up in the morning, he lay in bed working on waking up. Once he started to process the world around him, he heard Toni talking with Mom. He couldn’t figure out what they were talking about. There was some discussion about animals that made no sense. Mom wanted to know if Toni . . . Mandy wanted a pony or piggies. Was Mom going to buy animals for . . . Mandy? Where would they keep them?

Curiosity eventually overtook Luke. He got up and headed out to see what they were talking about. Finding them in the bathroom, Mom was braiding . . . Mandy’s hair into pigtails.

“Oh, piggies,” Luke rolled his eyes and shook his head back and forth. “Now, I get it. What’s a pony?”

Mom chuckled, “A pony is a ponytail, and piggies are pigtails. It is standard girl language. You’ll get used to it. Why don’t you go get dressed before breakfast.”

“Great,” Luke grumbled as he turned to go back to his room. “First, I have to get used to a sister, and now, I have to learn a whole new language.”

Mom and Mandy giggled.

As Luke got dressed, he thought it strange that Mandy was already dressed. Mom usually told Luke to get up and then went in to get Toni . . . Mandy up and going. Toni . . . Mandy was hard to wake up in the morning.

Sitting down to eat breakfast, Luke found a bowl of cereal with the milk jug next to the bowl. Toni’s . . . Mandy’s spot had nothing. Luke was halfway through his cereal when Mom and Mandy entered the kitchen.

“James,” Emma said. “Mandy and I are going to head out. Can you make sure Luke gets out to the bus on time? I’m not sure how long it will take to get Mandy settled into her new school and classroom.”

Luke looked at the clock, “But the bus doesn’t come for an hour. Why are you leaving now?”

“Mandy’s new school starts in about fifteen minutes. It starts earlier than yours. It’s far away in a different time zone.”

James smiled at Luke, “I think us guys can handle things here.”

“Wait. How is Toni,” Luke looked at the girl standing next to Mom. “Mandy, getting to school?”

“Watch this, Luke,” Mandy said with glee. She went over to her picture on the wall and pressed it.

Luke’s eyes widened as the picture wall transformed into a spinning yellow disk with swirls of pink and blue.

“Can I go too?” Luke asked as he stared at the spinning disk. “I want to see . . . Mandy’s school. Please? I’ll be good, and there is plenty of time before I have to be at school. Please?”

Emma looked at Luke and then at James, “He’s going to be bugging us every day until we say yes.”

Luke quickly darted to his room and returned with his shoes on, “Do I need a coat?”

“No, we’re never going outside,” Mom said.

Luke gave Mom a strange look.

“Come on,” Mom held her hand for Luke before looking at Mandy. “Go ahead, open the portal again.”

Smiling, Mandy pressed her picture again and stepped through the portal. Then Mom started for the portal.

“We just step through?”

“Yeah, Sweetie,” Mom smiled down at Luke. “Ready?”

Luke nodded his head and tightened his grip on Mom. When they reached the other side, Luke’s eyes widened as he looked around the school entryway. Noticing several kids and parents passing them, Luke turned around and saw the portal they went through disappear. Several portals were opening and closing shortly after someone came through the portal. Turning back around, he tried to find Mandy. She was over towards an entrance to a hallway. She was using her hand to tell Mom and Luke to come over to her.

“Mandy, we need to check in at the office to learn where your classroom is,” Mom said when she finally reached Mandy, who was slightly bouncing up and down.

“Hootie can help,” Mandy responded before turning around and facing the owl statue. “Hootie, where’s my classroom?”

Luke’s eyes almost popped out of his head as the statue spread its wings and hooted.

“Mandy Gibson,” Hootie said. “Nice of you to join us today. You are in Teacher Susan’s room. Let’s see, following the rainbow worked for you, so a rainbow it is.”

Luke saw a cloud rise from the floor before the statue. It hovered about six inches off the ground. A rainbow came out of the cloud as it floated around the corner and down the hallway. The colorful rainbow fell to the floor, marking the path to follow.”

“Thank you, Hootie,” Mrs. Gibson said before taking Luke’s hand and walking away. She stopped, however, when she saw Mandy wasn’t moving.

“Hootie,” Mandy asked. “Make me little, pleeeeeeeeeease.”

“Sorry, Mandy,” Hootie replied. “Only teachers can do that. I help them, but they need to do the magic.”

Frowning, Mandy complained, “That’s not fair. They shouldn’t restrict your magic.”

Hootie flapped his wings and hooted, “Thank You, little one. Have a good day, Mandy.”

“Bye, Hootie. I like you even if you can’t turn me little.”

Hootie smiled and then went back into the original pose.

“Come on, Mandy,” Mom said. “Let’s see where Teacher Susan’s room is.”

The three of them followed the rainbow. A lot of kids were heading down the hallway, going into different rooms. The little ones all had a mom or dad with them, but many of the older kids did not.

They were interrupted on their walk by a little girl in a pink and purple wheelchair, “Beep, Beep.”

“Melissa, speed limit inside, and you passed your classroom,” a woman behind them called out.

The little girl slowed her wheelchair and spun around, “But Mommy, there’s a rainbow. I have ta find out where the rainbow goes. There might be a pot of gold at the end!”

Melissa spun around again and continued to follow the rainbow.

As Melissa’s Mom passed Mrs. Gibson, Luke, and Mandy, she turned to them and said, “There is never a pot of gold at the end. You would think after going here for two years, she would learn that these things are just to get a kid from one place to another.”

With that, the lady smiled at the three and walked quickly down the hall to catch up with her daughter.

“A pot of gold would be cool,” Mandy commented.

They watched the girl in the wheelchair turn into a room and then quickly come back out, “No pot of gold. Just a cloud.”

As Melissa rolled back up the hall towards the group, she slowed down, “This your rainbow? One of you new to the school?”

“Today’s my first day,” Mandy responded.

“You’ll love it here,” Melissa smiled. “I don’t need magical paths to get me from place to place anymore, but sometimes I ask for one because I like them so much. My paths are usually little kittens, but sometimes I ask for unicorns.”

Mandy’s smile grew, “I love unicorns.”

“Come on, Melissa,” her mom said. “Let’s get you to class so I can get to work.”

“Bye,” Melissa waved at Mandy before speeding down the hall.

“Speed Limit inside Melissa,” her mom commented. “Slow down.”

When Mandy entered her new classroom, she went up to the cloud on the ground and hopped onto it. Then she turned to look at Mom and Luke before looking around the room. The classroom appeared a lot like her previous Special Education classroom. There were a few desks and tables, a reading area, a play area, and a spot for coats and backpacks. Two other kids were already in the room, along with Teacher Susan and another lady.

“Mandy,” Teacher Susan said as she approached the group. “So nice to see you at school today. I was wondering whose rainbow that was.”

“Can I go little? Pleeeeeeeeeease,” Mandy pleaded.

Teacher Susan looked over at the clock and then back at Mandy, “For a little bit, but when school starts, you have to go back to being twelve.” Twirling her finger around and then pointing it at Mandy, “Go Little.”

Mandy instantly turned into a six-year-old little girl. She wore the same outfit and hairstyle, just shrunken for her new age.

Luke’s eyes widened as he watched this transformation and the shrinking of one of the desks in the room, “Magic. Real . . . magic.”

Mom squeezed Luke’s hand, “I told you. Luke, meet your little sister, Amanda Rose Gibson.”

Mandy looked at her hands and then around the room. She smiled at Teacher Susan, “Tank You.”

Mandy then turned and went over to the shelves with toys on them.

“Wow,” Luke commented as he watched Mandy. “Real magic. She’s so little.”

“Why don’t you go over and explore the room with your sister,” Teacher Susan smiled at Luke.

Luke slowly headed over to Mandy.

“Here is Mandy’s backpack. It doesn’t have many school supplies in it. I still have to get her supplies from her previous school. The original plan was to have her continue there until the end of the week, but . . . well, I didn’t want to send her to school there as Mandy. Since there was no way she was going to pretend to be Toni, I figured starting here today made more sense.”

Teacher Susan looked at Emma and then over to Mandy and Luke, “That’s all okay. She will be fine today. Magic can supply anything she needs that she doesn’t have.”

Emma looked at her kids exploring the shelf of toys, “She’s usually so shy. I’ve never seen her go off exploring an unknown setting so quickly without me right there with . . . her. Is that due to the magic?”

“Sort of,” Teacher Susan explained. “By letting her be her true self and developmental age, it is easier for her not to be scared of the unknown. The younger a kid is, the less they worry about others judging them negatively. Over the years, Mandy has learned to be extremely cautious around others, for a big boy playing with little kid things is usually judged negatively. There are often more severe responses when a big boy plays with little girl things. With her regressed to her developmental age and proper gender, many of those worries of judgment are lifted.”

Just then, Mandy approached the two adults, “Toy button? Toy button?”

“Slow down, Mandy,” Teacher Susan got down to Mandy’s height. “Use your words and tell me what you want.”

Bouncing up and down, with a little hand flapping, “Where’s the toy button? Ellie at lunch yesterday say toy button. Where toy button?”

“The toy button is on the table next to my desk. You can go press it and get one toy.”

Luke came up and grabbed Mom’s hand as Mandy went over to the table next to the teacher’s desk. On one side of the table was a big purple button. Mandy looked at the button before looking over at Teacher Susan.

“Just press it,” Teacher Susan said.

“What does the button do,” Luke asked?

“Watch,” responded Teacher Susan.

Mandy closed her eyes and pressed the button with both hands. On the table next to the button appeared a toy castle. Grabbing the castle, Mandy returned to the adults, “Look, Mommy! Hootie got me a Little People Castle to play with.”

“That’s a toy of Cauldron Academy,” Teacher Susan explained. “Why don’t you go play with it in the toy area and see if you can find our classroom? Hootie might have even put a Little People figure in there of you.”

Mandy’s eyes and smile widened as she headed for the toy area.

“Did the owl statue really make the toy magically appear,” Luke asked?

“That is what all the kids say,” Teacher Susan said to Luke as she smiled and winked at him. “School magic like the toy button is done by Hootie the Owl. He reaches deep inside the kids to pick just the right toy for them to play with. If a kid thinks of a particular toy as they press the button, sometimes Hootie even gives them that toy. I bet your sister will want the castle a lot over the next few days. Why don’t you go see some of the cool things inside the toy castle? There really should be a Little Person in there that looks like your sister.”

Luke looked at Mandy and then his Mom before heading to the toy area of the classroom.

“How much does Hootie actually do?” Emma asked.

“Not much,” Teacher Susan admitted. “He guards the student’s crystals and links the magical things in the school to the student that activated the magical item. Beyond that, he has very little magic. But don’t tell the kids that. Since the school's founding, the kids have always thought Hootie had more power than he actually does. Even the children of the teachers believe that. There was a push to break this belief about a hundred years ago, but the kids wouldn’t believe the teachers when the truth was revealed.”

Emma looked over at her two kids and chuckled.

“Teacha, Teacha, she went little. Can I go little too?” A boy asked, coming up to Teacher Susan.

“Mica,” Teacher Susan responded. “Our new student over there is Mandy. Yeah, you can go little and play with her. Remember to share, and Little Time is over when instruction starts.”

“Yeah, Yeah. Have to go back to big boy for lessons. It’s no fun that way, but I know,” Mica rolled his eyes.

Teacher Susan twirled her finger and said, “Go Little.”

A moment later, Mica was transformed from a twelve-year-old to a kid of maybe four or five. He was now smaller than six-year-old Mandy.

After Mica had hurried off to the play area, Teacher Susan turned back to Emma, “He is why we had to put in that policy this year for our classroom. One day, he decided that he should only be learning four-year-old stuff if he was the size of a four-year-old. He wouldn’t let me teach him anything beyond letters, numbers to 10, colors, and shapes. Yet, he can read chapter books.”

“I had considered the positives of the magic on the kids,” Emma voiced as she looked over at the play area. “I didn’t think about how it might have negatives beyond True Self Syndrome.”

“Every kid is different, but when regressed to their true social and emotional level, they can be just as stubborn as any other kid that age. Mica has the youngest regressed age of the eleven- and twelve-year-olds in this room, but he’s not the only one who tries to manipulate things more when regressed. The longer they are here, the less they will change between the two ages. But, as I am sure Dr. Parker explained, True Self Syndrome causes them to behave more like their younger self than the mask they had developed for their older self.”

“Is it worth letting them go little if it causes these problems and side effects?”

Teacher Susan looked around the room before turning back to Mrs. Gibson, “Have you ever had to take on the responsibilities of your supervisor at work for a short period and afterward been thankful you could just go back to doing your job? Or, had to be both the mom and the dad while your husband was on a business trip?”

“Yeah,” Emma replied with a questioning look.

Teacher Susan smiled, “It was stressful. Wasn’t it? You felt like you couldn’t keep it up for long without negative consequences.”

Emma nodded, “Especially when James is gone on a business trip for a week. I’m always so grateful when he’s back.”

“These kids must deal with that stress level every day when people force them to ‘act their age’ instead of their social/emotional level. The longer they are pushed to put on that mask, the more stress damages the body. We eliminate that stress by teaching the kids to be themselves, both little and big. This allows us to teach them more. Mandy’s Autistic, so the stress in her would lead to Autistic Burnout. With Autistic kids, that often causes regression of skills far younger than their emotional level and they will suffer from a variety of health problems during a burnout. If we can teach her to live so she never faces burnout, her life will be much better.”

Emma looked at Mandy, Luke, and Mica, playing somewhat together in the play area. Turning to Teacher Susan, “I know you’re right. It’s hard to readjust my perceptions and dreams for my baby.”

“Mandy can progress her skills more and have a future with a wider array of possibilities if we teach her how to avoid burnout. You have to see her for who she is instead of the mask she learned to display to fit in with other twelve-year-olds.”

“I know. I reread all the paperwork last night and did some internet searches on True Self Syndrome. It will be a great positive for her. It is just us adults that have the hardest time adjusting.”

“Yup, that about sums it up. True Self Syndrome isn’t a problem for the child. They walk away with better self-esteem and understanding of themselves. They learn the importance of being oneself instead of what some societal norm may want. For them, it is the best course. Adults are the ones that have a hard time adjusting to their reality.”

While the adults talked briefly, several more children entered the room. Mrs. Gibson eventually called Luke over, said goodbye to Mandy, and left the room. As Luke and his mom walked down the hall, Luke was excitedly chatting about the magic they had seen.

About halfway down the hallway, Luke suddenly stopped his non-stop verbal explosion, “Mom, is that really Toni?”

Mrs. Gibson knelt in front of Luke, “Yes. A birth defect caused your dad and me to believe we had a boy. We named our baby Toni and raised a boy. Cauldron Academy showed us the error in our ways. In reality, we have had a girl for twelve years, who we had been trying to convince they were really a boy.”

Luke gave his mom a weird look.

“Look at it this way Luke. You’re a boy, right?”

“Definitely!” Luke responded, adamantly nodding his head up and down.

“What if Dad and I always treated you like a girl? What if we always dressed you in dresses and girl clothes? Constantly had your hair in braids, pigtails, or other girl fashions. What if we wouldn’t let you play with toys designed for boys?”

“Yuck!” Luke cringed. “That would be terrible.”

“Well,” Mom squeezed Luke’s hands. “We have been doing that to Mandy for twelve years by dressing and treating her as a boy. It is time we stop torturing her and started treating her like a girl.”

“Okay,” Luke processed all of this. “But is she six or twelve?”

Mom smiled and stood back up, and the two of them continued down the hall, “On the inside, she is six, but on the outside, she is twelve. When I describe you Luke, am I describing who you are on the outside or the inside: athletic, creative, super math student, and a sweet loving brother.”

The two of them were silent as they reached the school's entryway.

“You are describing me on the inside,” Luke admitted.

“So, I guess that means we better pay close attention to who Mandy is on the inside. It is much more important than what we see on the outside. The inside is her true self,” Mom said as she approached the wall of green stones and portals of kids coming to school. “Press that green stone, Luke.”

Luke looked at Mom before going up and pressing the green stone they were standing in front of.

“Hoot, Hoot,” Hootie loudly announced. “An unknown child is trying to open a portal. Please come to me for identification.”

Mrs. Gibson and Luke went up to Hootie.

“Hootie,” Emma said. “This is my youngest son, Luke. He is brother to Mandy Gibson.”

“Hoot, Hoot,” Hootie said with a flap of his wings. “This information has been added to Mandy’s data crystal. Thank you. The portal will now work for you, Luke.”

“Thanks, Hootie,” Luke said with a big smile.

Emma and Luke returned to the wall of green stones. When Luke pressed one of the green stones, a portal appeared before him.

“So,” Luke commented as he took Mom’s hand. “Six-year-old Mandy is Toni’s true self. Okay, that makes sense.”

“You’ve got it, Luke,” Mom said as they approached the portal. “Cauldron Academy made us all face reality by giving Mandy True Self Syndrome.”