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It’s not surprising that Monster High can be pretty intense. Of course any boarding school full of teenagers would be. Add to that the fact that these teenagers are all monsters, that alongside regular teenage hormones and drama there are out of control powers and abilities.
It may be intense for other monsters, but for Twyla it could be completely overwhelming. For as long as Twyla could remember, everything felt like it was too much. Any loud noise, bright light, strong smell or slightly strange material would send her into a panic.
Because of this, she had always felt isolated from everyone around her. No one else Twyla knew got as scared at loud noises or when plans changed in class.
This led to her being picked on by others her age. They would make fun of her for being quiet, for fiddling with her bracelet or pen whenever she needed to calm down, or just for anything that they deemed strange.
Twyla could never work out what was accepted by them and what they found weird, so she tended to stay in the shadows. It has always been the place she felt the safest, even when the world around her felt like chaos. It was the one place she felt like she could truly be herself without feeling weird or being judged for it.
But this also meant that Twyla was alone. She didn’t always mind this, actually Twyla liked spending time by herself, but this didn’t mean that she didn’t want any friends. And she did try to befriend others in her classes. But no matter how hard she tried, it just didn’t seem to work.
Twyla couldn’t understand why she was like this. Why she was so different from everyone else and no matter how hard she tried, she could never change that. She could never fix herself.
Then one day it all finally made sense. She had been going to a therapist a few times, recommended by her school to try to work on her anxiety and bring her out of her shell more (her teachers words not hers). And one of the sessions, her therapist explained to her that she is autistic.
Finally, Twyla could understand herself. That there isn’t something wrong with her. She’s not weird or strange or crazy. Shes not broken and never has been. She’s just autistic.
Knowing this also made being at Monster High easier. No, other students weren’t nicer to her. But most of the teachers were more understanding and she was allowed to bring her noise cancelling headphones into school for when it was too loud and wasn’t told to stop as much when she needed to use her bracelet to stim.
Twyla was also finally able to make friends. She had known Draculaura since grave school and she had always been nice to her, but they never had really been friends. But ever since the creepover in the library, Draculaura and her friends Frankie and Clawdeen had invited Twyla into their group. She was nervous to tell them that she was autistic as she didn’t know how they would react. What if they treated her differently now and didn’t want to be her friends anymore? But luckily they did not care and accepted her completely.
Finding out she was autistic changed her life. It didn’t make bright lights any dimmer, loud noises any quieter or odd textures any less unpleasant. It didn’t make hard days any easier. But it gave Twyla an explanation. And the ability to be herself without feeling bad for it.