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.
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.
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