College, Away from Claire Bear!

           College has been a totally new world for me. I'm learning a lot, meeting new people, and trying to adjust to a new schedule away from everything that I knew as home.
           One of the biggest parts of that for me has been being away from Claire. Life back at home revolves around Claire. It is almost impossible for us to plan a schedule because that could change any instant with Claire being so unpredictable. It requires flexibility. There is no choice but to work things out. We can't prioritize our needs too seriously because Claire's needs are more important. Even if it seems like her needs are pointless or hard to understand.
           Now that I'm in college, I am in a totally different environment than I had been for the past 18 years. It is really hard to be away from Claire. I miss her because she was such a large part of my life, and now I'm miles away from her. Even more so, I miss her because I am now realizing how special she is to me and how she has turned me into the person I've become. She has shaped me and given me a beautiful perspective on life. I'm just so happy that I have the opportunity to share that perspective with the people I see every day.

Interview with Some of Claire's friends

I took the time to find out how some people outside of our family have been impacted by Claire Bear.

What's the best thing about having Claire as a friend?

Laura S: The best thing about having Claire as a friend has to be the joy she brings to everyone. She's always making you smile and always smiling.  

Alex F: She always cheers up my day.

What has Claire taught you?

Laura: She has definitely taught me to enjoy the little things. Claire just gets so excited over simple pleasures. 

Alex: She's definitely taught me patience, that i'm not the center of the world, and showed me how to help people and be a servant.

Favorite stories about Claire?

Laura: Every time I sit down on the couch she comes up to me and wants to snuggle and cuddle with me and it's the greatest. Oh and the time she called me 14 times one day!

Alex: My favorite story of Claire is when me and Brian were long-boarding and doing tricks and Claire said, "I wanna do a trick!"and she pushed the skateboard forward with her foot and then started clapping and saying, "Wow Claire! That was A-mazing!"

Favorite quote that Claire says?

Laura: "Wow Claireeee!!!!" 

"Don't worry, don't worry Claire. That's fine." 

"I wanna show Laura how I do this!"

"My name is Claire, I give big hugs. You're not my friend, if you do drugs."

Lexi: "That's a great idea Brian!!"

Why Is A Special Needs Person So Special?

        After growing up with Claire, I understand now that disabled persons know things that we don't know.

         Most people interacting with a disabled person will find themselves trying to make that person into "normal" human. In reality, disabled persons have their own agenda and their own way of connecting and being entertained. I haven't really had the choice in my life to not recognize this, because I am surrounded by it every day. Just being integrated into their way of thinking and their communities, even for short periods of time, has given me way more than I could ever give them.
         Especially with Claire, I have seen this in big ways. I've had no choice but to realize that the disabled knows things that we don't know, about God and about being. There are a few times that I see this clearly from Claire. One example is on Claire's birthday, we usually give her a new pack of ten markers and some sheets of paper and she will think that's the best present she has ever gotten. She finds so much joy in little things. I know that Claire understands what truly matters in life way more than I ever will. Another way I see this is how non-judgmental and loving Claire is. She will go up to anyone, talk to them, compliment them, and give them a hug. It doesn't matter what they look like or what they've done. None of that matters. Claire still has the same joy and love flowing out of her in literally every situation. We need to recognize how valuable disabled lives really are.
         A lot of people on the outside do see a disabled person as a problem that should be fixed, or a burden to be carried, which is very unfortunate. People need to recognize how valuable disabled persons lives really are. They are just as valuable as ours, people just need to look for their value in different ways that we do for a "normal" humans value. If their lives weren't valuable, families wouldn't pay $200,000 a year for these kids to live in a community that they love.
         Claire has absolutely taught me a ton through her joy in the little details of life, being non-judgmental, and not ever holding grudges. I hope that through my experience you can understand a little more about the ins-and-outs of a life with autism.

Budget Cuts in Illinois

             Governor Pat Quinn's proposed budget cuts could affect the disabled. The Circuit Breaker program that is currently in place is worth about $107 Million. Pat Quinn has proposed that we cut this in order to use the money elsewhere.
            Personally, I am very thankful for government funding toward families with disabled persons. Care for a disabled child and especially adult can be very costly. Parents are forced to always be thinking and planning ahead for their children. Most parents are working towards a certain level of independence for their child, which usually means putting them in some sort of assisted living or group home. Doing this is very costly and parents are also often forced to worry about what will happen after they die if their child is still living. Ian Brown, while talking about his new memoir "The Boy and the Moon," said that care for his son Walker for the rest of his life would cost about $8 Million.
          If the government does not set aside funds for the disabled, then who will? It is hard enough for families to work through plans for their disabled children's futures, let alone pay a large sum of money to ensure their child's happy, safe, and enjoyable life.
         Budget cuts, particularly in Illinois, are very unnecessary. In fact, Illinois families dealing with disabled children should be very high on our list of priorities. It is our duty to care for the disabled and make sure they live a complete joyful life.

Don't you with Claire was normal?

One question that our family has come across over the years is "Don't you wish Claire was normal?"
This is definitely a complicated question with many different sides to it.
        First of all, I would undoubtedly say that all of my family members would love it if Claire was normal for her sake. Claire does have a lot of struggles in her life and I think she would be a lot happier if she was normal. She would be able to understand more and have a lot less worrying and stress in her life. We would love if Claire didn't have the stress that she does in her life.
       Along with these thoughts, there is definitely a part of me that is still very thankful for the way life is. She has taught our family so much and we would not be as well-rounded as we have become if it wasn't for her. She is always teaching us and bringing us joy. She has bonded our family and brought us closer to each other and to God.
       We are so blessed to have Claire and she has taught us countless lessons. There is a book called Heaven is For Real written by Todd Burpo. It talks about a young boys encounter with heaven and how real it is. While reading this book, it got me thinking about how God is going to heal Claire's body when we get to heaven. It will be an amazing experience that I am looking forward to more than anything. I can't wait to be able to hang out with Claire and have her be able to fully communicate with me. I can't wait to truly know her as a person and a sister and be able to talk about what she really thinks.
        For now she will only ever say to me: "I like your hair" or "How are you, Brian?!" But I am so grateful for Claire's impact in our lives, and I look forward to the day when I will be able to experience her in her complete perfect body.

Special Olympics

Claire Mac had a very very very great day on Sunday, May 1st at the Special Olympics.

Claire has been participating in the Special Olympics for the past 6 or 7 years, and that has brought about a lot of stories and great memories. Our family calls it the best day of the year for a couple reasons. Throughout the year, Claire is always coming along to events to watch people in our family succeed or compete. For example she comes to my sporting events or my music performances. For Claire, these events are very hard for her to fit in at. Special Olympics season is the one part of the year where Claire is the one we are watching and focused on. She loves this day and it truly is the best day of the year for us.

Claire competed in two events this year: the 50 Yard dash, and the Softball throw.
Probably the most refreshing thing for our family is Claire's attitude about winning. She is more concerned about the color of her ribbon or medal that she wins than actually winning the "gold." In one instance two years ago, Claire won a Gold medal in the 100 Yard Dash. She was actually sad about this because she liked the color of the blue ribbon better and she wished she had that. This has taught us to think about what really matters and re-think our attitude towards situations in life.

For the first couple years that Claire was competing in the Special Olympics, she was placed in the 50 Yard walk. She actually got disqualified from it both times because she got so excited that she started to skip during the walk. Claire shows so much joy during the Special Olympics and it is enriching to be in such a positive environment and watch her have fun.

I love the spring season of Special Olympics, but still not as much as Claire does. It brings me deep joy to see her having so much fun and to see her childlike attitude. Claire is an amazing example for our family, and she has shaped who we are today. It is so cool to learn from her daily by looking at life from her perspective.

Claire at Church

One big area of support that our family has found with Claire is at our church. It is really cool to be able to take Claire to a community where people know how to treat her. They understand Claire and truly care about her. When we bring Claire to church, it takes even a little bit of pressure off of us because we know she is in a safe place and we don't really have to keep an eye on her or look after her because we know that everyone else in our church will do that.

For one thing, Claire is welcomed at Children's Worship at our church. This happens during the main service, the kids go downstairs and have their own little service and message. Claire loves to join them singing and listening. She is sure to be happy when she's at Children's Worship.

Another part of our church that has been great for Claire is Sunday School. There are multiple different classes that happen during the Sunday School hour, and our church even offers a sunday school that consists of only kids that have special needs. This is a blast for Claire. She gets to color and hang out with some of her favorite adults and peers.

Nowadays, Claire rarely comes into the sanctuary during the church service. (Although she is often seen opening and closing all of the doors during the sermon). One of Claire's favorite parts of Church is the worship, but it is hard to get her to come into the sanctuary because for some reason she doesn't want to! The few times that Claire does come into the sanctuary for worship, she glows with excitement. Clapping her hands and singing at all times. During some songs that Claire really likes, she even cries because she is so joyful. Watching Claire worship is truly amazing.

Claire gets to come to church not only on Sundays, but on Wednesdays as well when our high school youth group meets. I get to bring Claire with and she loves hanging out with all of us. Claire helps me lead worship on stage every Wednesday clapping her hands and singing passionately. It is a lot of fun to have Claire with at youth group. She brings a ton of joy into the room every week.

Our church, Glen Ellyn Evangelical Covenant, has offered great support with aides for Claire, Sunday School, and youth group. Not only that, but even behind the scenes with parent support groups and prayer for families. Glen Ellyn Covenant is a safe-haven for families with special needs to feel welcomed and included and has been a huge blessing for our family and Claire.

Claire Mac Great Day Video

Recently, some of you may know about Claire's video that has been entered into a contest on tubecontest. We have truly been blessed by showing this video on this contest. Many organizations as well as individuals have contacted me with words of encouragement and thanks.
I never expected this kind of response from our video. As I have told a few people, I made this song one morning when I drove Claire to school. We were driving in my car and I started singing to Claire, saying "Claire Mac is gonna have a great day!" I did this just to get her motivated for her day. In the following days, the tune that I had sung to her was stuck in my head and I couldn't get it out. A few weeks passed and then Claire's birthday came up and--as I mentioned in a previous post--she needed motivation to go to the bowling alley, so I got my mandolin and sang the same tune as I played along. The song stuck and Claire continued to ask me to play it for her, which led me to write additional verses to the song, and then I recorded the song. After all this was done, Alex Forsyth mentioned that he wanted to make a music video for the song in order to enter it into an inspirational contest, on TubeContest. I agreed and thought it was a great idea.
Claire is such an inspiration to me and that is why it was so easy for me to write a song about her.
Claire is such a blessing to my family and to all of the people in her life. I am very happy that I can even be inspiring to others through sharing what inspires me.
I was already extremely blessed by Claire in my life, and even more when I shared that with other people. I found even more blessings and joy from sharing about Claire with others. Tony Alva says, "I never thought that would ever be my path in life. Something so simple. Share what you've got, and don't ask for anything in return." I want to challenge you from what I have learned. Are you sharing your gifts and inspirations with others? You will benefit richly from it when you do.

Tony Alva

VOTE FOR THE CLAIRE MAC VIDEO!

It will take 42 seconds, Go to Tubecontest.com, create an account, verify your account with your email address, Then vote for the Claire Mac video under "Your inspiration song contest!" you can vote once every two hours.
Thanks for your support!

P.S. If you don't understand all of this then do not worry, it will be easy to follow once you go to the website!

Interview with Rosemary Macdonald

I took the time to sit down and interview my mom about how she has dealt with living with Autism. Here’s what she had to say:

When did you first find out Claire was autistic? She was 2 ½ when diagnosed by a doctor, but I was suspicious before she turned two because she started to lose language and gross motor and fine motor skills.

How long has she been diagnosed? Around 19 years.

What was the hardest thing in the beginning stages of Claire’s diagnosis? Learning that she would probably never recover and there wasn’t a cure for it.

What were the early signs of her autism? She started losing her language and eventually lost all of it. She started getting clumsy, falling down a lot, not being able to do the usual things that she could. She drew into herself, she wasn’t as animated. Her personality changed. She looked spaced out a lot of the time and she wasn’t interested in interacting with anyone. She was a happy baby but she became very unhappy, crying a lot and acting fussy.

What is the hardest thing nowadays with Claire?  Her lack of independence at an age where her peers and siblings have become very independent. I still can’t leave her by herself at home for more than 20 minutes. She will always depend on me or her dad or her siblings for a multitude of things. Also, the older she gets the harder it is for her to have meaningful peer relationships.

Have any other complications arisen since her original diagnosis? Yes, she developed a seizure disorder about four years ago. They are primarily nighttime seizures but she has had one daytime seizure. It is controlled by medication, but having this disorder makes it even less likely that she will be independent.

If you could go back and make her “normal,” (she’s more normal than most of us) would you? Probably, it’s too tempting not to. But I don’t know if I really mean that because there have been so many positives. I think I would do it more for her sake than for my sake, because I believe it would make her life a lot easier.

What is the best thing about having an autistic child? Oh there are so many . . . . There have been so many positives but probably the most positive is that she has taught us how to find joy in the small, simple things. I take nothing for granted anymore. One example is her finally learning to brush her teeth, or learning to swim.

How have you used this experience in your interaction with other people? It has made me a lot less judgmental with others. I am much more accepting of people’s quirks or anything that makes them different. Also, because of that, I went back to school and got my masters in clinical psychology and many of my clients have children with special needs and I try to help them with the challenges that they face. I definitely would not have done that if it were not for Claire.

What has Claire taught you? Patience.

How has Claire changed the dynamic of your family? For better or for worse? Definitely for better, it made us all much more compassionate people and I feel like we really rally around her to take care of her and support her and make her feel loved. I think through that other people affected by a disability have realized that it’s not the end of the world.

What kinds of interventions have you done, and what worked the best? We’ve done a lot of interventions. Behavioral therapy. Gluten and Dairy free diet which helps some kids with autism think more clearly. Sensory integration therapy. Speech therapy. Lots of tutoring. 30-40 hours a week of in-home behavioral play and sensory therapy from age 2-5. The sensory integration and behavioral therapy seemed like they had the biggest impact.

What do you think caused Claire’s autism? Was it hereditary, or did she get it after she was born?

I think that she was probably genetically predisposed to it, and certain factors combined to cause it. I’m not sure what the factors were but I think her chronic ear and sinus infections caused her immune system to be weak and that the vaccines that she had at 18 months could have contributed to weakening her system even further. Clearly she was fine until about 18 months old because she had such a dramatic personality change and lost so many skills.

10 Things Someone with Autism Wants You To Know

As I have mentioned in my previous post, people with autism have  a very hard time communicating their feelings. They are unable to tell the people around them what they are thinking. If they could tell you, these are the things they would say:

1. Autism is only one piece of my total character. It does not define me as a person. 

2. My sensory perceptions are not wired the way yours are. My hearing may be hyper-acute, my sense of smell may be highly sensitive, and visually I may become easily overstimulated. My brain doesn't filter sensory input the way yours does, and often it causes the environment to seem hostile.

3. Communication is a major challenge for me. It is helpful that you speak very directly to me in plain and clear words. Tell me what you want me to do and what is going to happen next. 

4. I am a concrete thinker and I interpret what you say literally. When you say "it's pouring cats and dogs," I picture a pitcher with pets coming out of it. 

5. Be patient with my limited vocabulary. I don't always have the words to describe what I'm feeling. You may have to read my body language to understand what I'm struggling with or what is wrong. 

6. I am visually oriented so a visual schedule is one of the most important things to get me through my day. It helps make for easier transitions between activities and lowers my level of stress. 

7. I need help with social interactions. It is often difficult for me to read body language, facial expressions, or others emotions. 

8. Focus on what I can do, not what I can't do. I cannot excel in an environment where I feel worthless. A positive approach works best for me as it does for any other human. Look for my strengths and you will find them. 

9. Try to identify what causes my meltdowns. They are a form of communication and usually occur when my senses have gone into overload.

10. Please love me unconditionally. Without your support my chances for growth are diminished. With your support, the possibilities are bigger than you might think. 

Developed from 10 Things Your Child With Autism Wants You To Know by Stephen Borgman

Talking up a Storm

I sat in my kitchen next to Claire with my computer for 15 Minutes and I typed everything that she said. She likes to talk and repeat things a lot. Hopefully this will help you understand more about Claire--and Autism in general--in light of my previous posts, and potentially, upcoming posts.

Things you need to know about the context of this experiment:

“Pagh” and “Shark” are friends of ours that Claire has given nicknames too. (Steven Pagh, and Alyssa Sharp. And there are a few other names that are also mentioned.)

Also, there is one point where I added one thing my Mom said to Claire in order to give you context and show how Claire thinks through things, but the rest of it is every single word that Claire said!

(On the Phone) “Who’s coming over Pagh?

(Sitting In the Kitchen)How about Pagh?

                        How about Pagh?

                        I like Pagh.

                        How are you Sloan?

                        Who’s coming over Sloan?

                        I wanna read my list off to Sloan?

                        Ok. That’s a great idea Claire.

                        Alyssa. Alyssa. Alyssa. I want Alyssa to come over.

                        I want Shark to come over Erin.

                        How are you Brian?

                        Brian, who’s coming over?

                        Brian, who’s coming over?

                        Brian? Who’s coming over Brian?

                        I want Shark to come over,

I want Shark to come over, I want Shark to come over.

                        Erin. Erin. Erin. Erin. Erin. I want Shark to come over, Erin.

(Leaving Message) Call me back Shark, Bye.

                        Sloan, I want Sloan.

(On the phone) I like Meg Iliff.

                        How are you Meg? Who’s coming over? (hangs up)

(Kitchen)            Who’s coming over?

                        I want Shark, I want Shark.

                        Who’s coming over?

                        I’m calling Laura.

                        (Laughing to herself at Laura’s answering machine)

                        I wan’t shark to come over Brian.

                        Ok. Don’t worry Claire.

                        Who’s coming over Brian.

                        Shark is coming over.

                        Pagh is coming over Claire! I’m so excited!

(Calling Pagh) How are you Pagh?

                         Who’s coming over Pagh?

                        Tokar! That’s a great idea Pagh!!!

                        Who’s coming over Pagh?

(Kitchen)            (Chuckling) Mom. I don’t wanna hang out with mom.

                        You don’t have to Claire. No you don’t have to.

                        No you don’t have to Claire. You don’t have to Claire.

                        That’s right. I’ve been saying I wanted Sloan to come over Mom.

                        I wanna think of names of who’s coming over,

I wanna think about it, Mom.

Mom?            Shark. Shark. Alyssa Shark. I want Alyssa Shark to come over!

I want someone to come over!

(Chuckling) I want someone to come over.

Who do you want to come over? I don’t know who I want.

I wanna talk about it Mom. Mom?

I’d like to talk about who’s coming over Mom.

Who would you like to come over Claire?

I would like…. uhh.. . I would like. . . .someone . . . 

I would like Veronica.

I want Shark to come over Momma.

I want Shark to come over.

That is a great idea Claire.

Pooh Bear. MOM. MOOOOM. MOM. I’m hungry.”

(Mom: “Do you want a grilled peanut butter and jelly Claire?”)

“NO! I wanna think about it, OK.

I wanna decide for myself so I can think about it.

I would like umm . . . umm.  I would like some lunch mom.

What would you like for lunch Claire?

I would like a grilled peanut butter and Jelly for lunch!

That’s a great idea Claire!

I just wanna do it when I’m ready. Ok.

We know you wanna do it when you’re ready Claire.

That’s right. I need some bread. (Chuckling) look, bread,

I want some bread, I want some bread, I want some bread.

I have to get the bread out, I need help. I just got it out.

Erin, erin, erin. Where are you going? Where are you going Erin?

Who’s coming over, who’s coming over? Maybe Sloan will come over, Maybe Laura will come over Claire.

Maybe Laura will. Well she will.

Maybe she will, maybe she will come over. I want Alyssa to come over.”

Facts About Autism

Statistically, 1 out of every 110 babies born will develop autism. It is very likely that you will encounter persons with autism in your life, so here are some important facts that you need to know:

• Autism is a spectrum disorder, which means it includes a broad range of symptoms; someone with autism could be smart, verbal, and autistic, or they could be mentally retarded, non-verbal, and autistic. The most commonly shared symptom of autism is difficulty with social communication. No two people with autism are alike, the spectrum has a very wide range. One person could be extremely talkative, and another, not at all.
• There are many treatments for autism, but no cure. Some of the treatments that may help people with autism improve are sensory, behavioral, medical, and developmental. Not every treatment works the same for every person.
• There are many theories on what causes autism. These range from genetic or environmental influences to mercury in infant vaccines. It is possible that there are many different causes of autism.
• Families that are dealing with autism need support. Whether the person with autism is high-functioning or low-functioning, it is challenging and stressful for the entire family. Families need help from friends, extended family and service providers. This is critical. 
• People with autism have many strengths. They are non-judgmental, honest, and often passionate about things. Each one has their own unique set of abilities.

This was adapted from Top Ten Facts About Autsim by Lisa Jo Rudy

Claire's Great Day

Claire's List
1. Sing Claire's Song (Check out on YouTube.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbIe0Y-HKPY
2. Go to Down Town Wheaton
3. Go to Claire's places
4. Go to Los Burritos for lunch
5. Hang out with Veronica

       After I wrote down Claire's plan for the first half of the day, she was ready to go. She needed a list to be able to accomplish anything, but once it was set, she was prepared to joyfully execute.
     Claire's song, which I wrote on her birthday, has moved up to the #1 spot on the Macdonald charts. It has been in very high demand recently. It gives her focus and motivation. Even when she is already in a very happy mood,the song makes her even happier!
       On our "adventure"-- as claire likes to call it -- we went to Down Town Wheaton. We made stops at Graham's Chocolates, the Popcorn Shop, and Starbucks. To everyones guess she got 2 dark chocolate non-paraels, 2 smarties, and a kids apple juice no ice. It was very predictable, but it was no less enjoyable for Claire which made it even more enjoyable for me.
       Taking Claire on an "adventure" is very rewarding because it gives her joy, and in return that joy overflows out of her to me and it makes me proud of her and happy that she is happy.
     Claire had a great day today! If Claire didn't have something like her list to rely on today, she wouldn't have been able to accomplish anything. But because of that structure, she was able to excel and have a great day!

DON'T WORRY CLAIRE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO TO BED!

Claire: "Adios Brian! Goodnight!"
Me: "Goodnight Claire! I love you!"
Claire: "I don't wanna go to bed Bwiannn." (in a stressed tone)
Me: "Don't worry Claire! You don't have to, but Brian does! I love you Claire!"Claire: "I love you Brian. OK. OK. Don't worry Claire."
      There is nothing better than getting a nice bilingual goodnight from Claire before bed.
She doesn't like bed in the least bit. Claire would love Vegas for that reason, she would never have to go to bed.
      Every night she tells me, "I don't want to go to bed. I don't want to go to bed, Brian." To which I calmly respond, "You don't have to Claire, DONT WORRY."
      One of the hardest things for autistic people to deal with is change. Claire hates change. And no, not the loose kind. She hates the transitions between different setting or events. It is very hard for her to adjust to different things but there are some tactics that we have found successful in helping Claire adjust. One way is making a list for her. By making a detailed list for Claire of things that she would be doing during the day, she is able to have more understanding of what will be happening which makes adjusting to change easier for Claire. As you can imagine, Claire relies immensely on routine because routines are very comfortable for her. She knows what will happen when she has a routine. If Claire doesn't know what will happen in the near future she gets stressed and worried and does not want to do anything.
      Claire has developed a routine over the years before bed. She goes to every door on the second level of our house and proceeds to continually walk in and out saying "IN" "OUT" very enthusiastically while she is walking back and forth. After she is done with that, she slams the door as hard as she can then runs to the next door. Once she is finished with all of the doors, she is usually ready to go into her own room and go to bed. Even though she will rarely actually admit that she is in fact ready for bed. I don't know the exact reason why Claire does this, but I suspect that she uses this as a routine to help her ease into the idea of making the switch of actually going to bed. 
      I suppose that the reason she doesn't like bed is because of the sudden change and she is worried about bed for some reason, but nobody really knows for sure. 


Me: "Hey Claire! We don't have to go to bed! Let's play the guitar instead!"
Claire: "That is a great idea Bwian!!!!!"
      

Sunday, Bowling, and Claire's Birthday.

I don't know if there's a connection between autistic people being happy and music. But i know there is for "normal" people. And for the 18 years living with my autistic sister Claire, she has proven to be normal in more ways than people would expect.

Claire still didn't want to get dressed even after I returned home from church and ate lunch. So I wrote her a song. The plan was that my family would go bowling to celebrate Claire's birthday on the 25th. But that would be hard if Claire was still upstairs deciding whether she wanted to get dressed or not.

So I grabbed my mandolin, cleared my throat and strutted upstairs. I found Claire in my parents bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. I wrote a song. Claire got dressed soon after. And the day continued on. . .

Today was a double wammy, my autistic buddy Tim Barg came along the whole day. The Claire/Tim autistic duo made for a day of no silence and undoubtedly a day of laughter. We went to Fox Bowl to go bowling, it was a great time. Claire is very funny when she bowls. She uses the handicapped ramp because it would be very hard for her to bowl regularly. She does quite well, believe it or not, and even when she doesn't do well at all, she still insists that everyone is watching her bowl to see how amazing she is doing. She repeatedly, and with a huge smile, says things like, "watch me bowl!" or "I'm doing a great job!" Bowling with Claire becomes no longer just going bowling, it's an experience and Claire enjoys it more than anything. She is the happiest you will ever see her when she is doing simple things. 

After bowling, we came back home for dinner. The house was never quiet, with Tim continually pacing around, talking very loud, reciting his favorite Jim Carey quotes, and going on Facebook on every computer and mobile device he could get his hands on. It was a very exciting time and having Tim and Claire around changed the whole dynamic and made it even more interesting and exciting. 

What's next? What's next? What's next? One of claires most frequent questions.  So when we asked her to pray for us before dinner, Her prayer naturally consisted of, "Dear God, I want someone to come over later." This was closely followed by the Lords Prayer recited from memory. Claire has come extremely far from when she was diagnosed at age 3! She makes my family and me proud daily.

To finish out the night, we had Claire open Birthday presents. This is my favorite time of the year because Claire finds so much joy in opening presents. Claire would be perfectly happy unwrapping an empty box. She is so joyful and her joy is contagious. 

Purpose and Audience

Welcome to my Blog/ Living with Autism: the good. the bad. the ugly. Today is Thomas Edison's 164th Birthday! Happy Birthday Tom! If you were here, I would be able to see you!
anyways. . . .
My older sister Claire is 21 years of age and she has autism. This has truly been a huge blessing in my life!
This blog wil contain everyday life experiences for me with my sister Claire. The PURPOSE of me writing is amusement and hopefully some of my readers will be able to learn about autism and have an inside look at everything that happens in the life of a person with special needs and their surroundings.
My AUDIENCE will include a wide range of people. It will be anyone that would like to learn and get a laugh out of what it is like living with an autistic person, as well as people that know the joy of working with special needs people and would like to read my blog to continue to experience it.