Jenna is my youngest and she is what most people in the special needs community would call "neuro-typical". Jenna does have a couple of genetic diseases which are Towns-Brock Syndrome and Chiari 1 Malformation. From time to time we have a health crisis with her which requires a trip to hospital or to a specialist but for the most part she is your average (not average to me, but awesome) 5 year old little girl.
The thing that sets her apart from most of her peers, except that she is just extra awesome, is her brother has autism. She on a daily basis deals with meltdowns, fits, and all of the other tough stuff that comes with having a brother with ASD. Jenna does the above with grace and usually a smile on her beautiful face.Our family is often consumed with autism and all the needs that come with it. I often feel that Jenna gets the short end of things. I am trying my best to have some things that are hers and just hers. Somethings that make her feel special and give her chance to be Jenna, not just Major's little sister. Thankfully my aunt has helped with this and we enrolled her in ballet/tap classes a few months ago. She is over the moon, in love with dancing. I smile when I see how happy she is when she dances.
I worry about my son all the time. He def gets the short end of the stick. Dragged around to his sister's therapy sessions, having to put up with her wild mood swings (usually directed at him) and he is starting to not be OK with it all. We just recently put him in therapy so he can learn to work through living with a sister who has autism, and so he has a place to just play and talk to someone other than us. I am just hoping he doesn't grow to hate us.
ReplyDelete