Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self

It's difficult to be critical of someone else's work when it's so personal,
but this essay makes me feel really skeptical.
I don't think I remember anything from when I was two-and-a-half.
Even if I did, I'm not sure I'd be conscious of my age at that time.
I'm also not sure what happened during the 8th, 9th, nth year of my life.
Is it abnormal to have such a faint timeline when I look back over past events?

This was my first impression of the essay. When I write mine, am I going to have to use my age? What if I don't remember? Do I make it up?
Also, what if I choose to write about a part of my body that hasn't had its issues resolved yet?
How do I form a conclusion?
Academic insecurity aside, if I look at this essay as a piece to enjoy rather than a model for my own, I did enjoy it.

"...I ask my mother and sister whether I changed after the 'accident.' 'No,' they say, puzzled. 'What do you mean?'
What do I mean?"
I loved that. I imagine her sounding incredulous. WHAT DO I MEAN?! HOW COULD YOU NOT NOTICE?!

And yet...
"'You did not change,' they say."

It's a prime example of how a mountain to the individual appears to be a molehill to everyone on the outside.
She saw the changes in herself, drastic and abrupt, yet no one in her family even noticed that they were treating her differently, or that she was acting differently.
We are often blind to the extent of another's experience. Her inner struggle didn't manifest physically with enough fury to grab attention, yet clearly it manifested with doing poorly in school, bullies, and nightly verbal abuse inflicted on the self.

I agree. What do I mean?
How could they not notice?