My Autistic Sister

Brittnee, my 22 year old sister, lives in her bedroom most hours of the day pacing back and forth with Barbies reciting every line, down to the accents, of many Disney movies. She can put together a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle in just a day, not even starting with the border like most people. She plays Tetris faster than anyone I know and kicks my ass when I play against her, and she supposedly has three boyfriends: Andy, George, and Luke. Brittnee is diagnosed with autism and slight mental retardation, but she lives an incredibly happy and fun life in our family's household. A book I have recently read called The Things They Carried has taught me the power of story telling and I think it is very important for our society to recognize and accept the growing community of autistic children, so each day (or every few days) I will share a story about Brittnee and how she affects my life every single day.

Here we go.

Story #1:

A few years ago, in mid-December, the family was getting ready for a Christmas photo in front of our Christmas tree. My younger sister and I brushed our hair and teeth and made sure that our makeup was well done and nice. As we were doing this, Brittnee was rummaging through her room (nothing out of the ordinary). We call her downstairs and as she walks down the steps, slowly and with both feet placing themselves on each stair, she walks around the corner like some hot teenage dream going off to prom, only something was off. Way off. She had bright blue eyeshadow on one eye, and purple on the other. Red lipstick was unevenly smeared on and around her lips as was blush on her cheeks. Her eyliner was thick and crooked and thin strips and spots of mascara bordered her eyelids as her lashes touched her face before they could dry. "How do you like my makeup?" she asked in a pitchy voice, expecting a pleasant response. Already flustered for having to wait so long for Brittnee to come downstairs, my mom quickly took her to the bathroom, washed off her face, and gave Brit her first makeup lesson.

Blue eyeshadow is never okay.