Meet Claire, my 12-year old cousin. She funny, clever, sweet... and autistic.
Breakfast Time
Every morning, Claire wakes herself up around 6:00, gets dressed and watches TV as she eats her dry cereal. She likes having a routine, so she does this each morning whether she has school or not. Her siblings (she is the oldest of 7) all eat breakfast together in the kitchen.
Primping
While Claire watches TV and eats her breakfast, her mom, Marilla, gets all the other kids ready for the day. After everyone is ready to go, Marilla goes up stairs to help Claire primp and get ready for school. "Claire requires a lot of work because she's not self-sufficient," Marilla said. "We are trying to teach her to be able to do more things for herself, but it's hard to say if she will ever do some of the normal everyday things like bathing herself. I can't see her ever being able to live on her own."
Next Stop: School
Claire loves school. She sits at the top of the stairs waiting for the bus to come. As soon as it rounds the corner, she literally runs down the stairs and out the door, without skipping a beat or stopping to say bye to anyone. If the bus is running even five minutes late, Claire notices and starts to get a little antsy.
Always Curious
One of Claire's favorite things in the world to do is read. On occasion, she sits and reads the dictionary. Although she is a phenomenal reader and is not afraid to tackle new words that she has never heard before, she still likes to be read to. Whenever someone reads to her, like her reading buddy pictured here, Claire sits in what people would ordinarily consider uncomfortable positions and cranes her neck to read along with whoever is reading. She always likes to know what is going on in the story.
Frustration
Claire sometimes has a hard time putting what she wants to say into words. She is very smart, but sometimes cannot make out what she means. When this happens, she becomes frustrated. In the photo on the left, Claire was frustrated with her school teacher and was sad because she "just wants [ed] my [her] mom." Her moments of frustration are usually short lived, however, and the photo on the right depicts her warming back up to her teacher...slowly.
Monkey Bars
When it is time for recess, Claire runs straight to the monkey bars, where she spends the entire duration of the break. Whether going across the typical way or climbing on top, she will go back and forth on the bars until the teachers call her in. She is very agile on the bars; the way she moves makes it look like she is putting forth no effort but rather just gliding across.
Lunch
Claire is a great eater and always cleans her tray. During lunch, she does not talk to anyone; her focus is on her meal. She sits on her feet like pictured and her teachers politely remind her to sit on her pockets, not her feet. When asked to, she will switch to sitting on her pockets to please them, but then goes right back to sitting on her feet.
Claire's Favorite Pastime
Because Claire is the oldest of 7 children, something is always happening in her house. Whether her siblings have friends over, someone is practicing the violin, or the kids are just busy goofing off, Claire does not like the commotion. She is much happier reading a book to her favorite doll, Gigi, upstairs and away from the noise. When it is not perfectly quiet up there, however, she becomes somewhat stressed, which leads to restlessness for her. She will continue reading, but will not stop shifting positions.
Her Own Playmate
Claire does not do the things most 12 year old girls do. Most like to have playmates, or do nails and makeup for each other, but Claire would rather sit by herself and do a puzzle. This picture shows three of her sisters gathering around to paint their cousin's toenails. Claire is perfectly content keeping her distance from the pampering.
Family
Everybody in her family knows that she is special and loves her for it. Marilla said, "it is challenging having a child with autism, especially because she is the oldest. She cannot be in charge like the role a typical oldest kid would have. It doesn't change anything, though. She's still Claire and I still love everything about her. We accept her and love her for who she is."
Emma, 10 and the next oldest after Claire, stated, "It's weird because it feels like she's younger than me, but she's not. I feel like I have to take over as the leader for the rest of our brothers and sisters."
Sometimes, even just going to the park with her family can cause Claire to feel stress. Casey, her dad, always knows how to handle it. "He has a unique bond with her," Marilla told me. "It's like he has a good sense for what she likes and needs in a given point in time." Whenever Claire is starting to feel upset, Casey is almost always able to calm her down, sometimes before it even really begins.
