Girl on the spectrum

     


As I walked through the hall of my aunts house I noticed something strange. My cousin Maguire's brand new adidas socks were inside out. I proceeded to wonder why in the world the socks we bought at the store two hours ago would be inside out? I looked at her with a puzzled look, "Maggy, we just got those socks, why are you not wearing them correctly?''

She paused for a moment, then said "the inseam at the toes of the sock irritate me."

I looked at her with no hesitation and responded with "Oh, I understand. Maybe I will start doing that."
In that very moment she had never felt more accepted for a choice she made regarding her sensory issues. Her dark brown eyes started to glow and her face became brighter as she smiled at me. The glow in her eyes has stuck with me since that day. I had made my older cousin feel as though she could always trust me. The natural high I received off the look she gave me has stuck since then. Being able to be that person for her that never judged how she did things slightly different than the rest.  From that day on wearing my socks inside out became the new normal because I never wanted her to fell as if she was different. 

Maguire is the runt of four siblings. Being the baby in the family came with a slew of  issues. Always the smallest slice of cake, never the first one to open presents on Christmas morning. Maggy never seemed to care, she was in her own world. Eating alone at the kitchen table because the rest of the family was in mass chaos. Simultaneously as Maggy would eat her after school snack in the kitchen, shin guards and cleats flying from left to right as Molly and Liam can't find which ones belong to who in time for practice. The dog barking to go outside and oldest Eammon playing his video games. From very early on you could tell that Maggy was just different compared to her siblings. She never participated in club sports like Molly and Liam or made friends with video game strangers on the internet. She had always kept to herself but with me she was different. Maggy is older than me by eight weeks, from the start we had an immediate connection. 

Claire & Maguire 2010
Claire & Maguire 2021


 

Moments after cutting Maggy's bangs 
One summer out in the front yard Maggy let me take a pair of old red rusted kitchen scissors to her hair. She had told me the day before "I am getting tired of my hair, its so puffy when its natural. I wish it could be straight all the time, and I think I want to give bangs a try."
 I had spent the whole night watching videos on the perfect way to cut bangs. The next day came, as I walked out to the front yard with my supplies. Red rusted kitchen scissors, hair ties, to pull up the hair I wasn't cutting, comb, to section off the pieces of hair. Maggy sat in a lawn chair as I begin to brush her long chocolate colored hair, she clenched her fist. Not out of fear for her hair looking bad but because she never had liked people touching her. She owned a T-shirt that said "I'm not a hugger, PLEASE don't attempt it". The act of me cutter her hair was an intense moment I didn't want to mess it up for her and at the same time I was soaking it in because she was allowing me to lay my hands on her. This displayed a huge amount of trust for her. 

"For college next year I want an ESA'' exclaimed Maggy as she walked downstairs for breakfast on her first day of senior year. She created a whole PowerPoint the night before to convince her parents to get an emotional support animal. Her parents agreed it was a good idea. Maggy's secondary education plan was to attend Eckerd College in Florida for Music Film and studies. Her plan was to bring her new dog with her in a single dorm on campus. As the move-in date started to approach Maggy got more hesitant. Three weeks prior to the start of classes she backed out, applied to an all online college she could do from home in the safety and security of her own home and with her dog Harman. She now loves it, her classes are shaped just for her and the accommodations she needs as student with ASD are given to her. 

Maguire & Harman (ESA)


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