My Sister Claire By Laura DuCharme

Some people may ask “what’s wrong with your sister?” “Why can’t she talk?” “Why isn't she listening?”, the truth is, she is listening. My name is Laura DuCharme and my sister Claire is 18 years old and has a disorder known as Jeselo Syndrome. This diagnoses is actually a very rare disorder and my sister happens to be one out of seven in the entire world with this diagnosis, in fact she is the only one in Canada with it. When my sister and I were little, I can't remember a time when we weren't running around laughing and playing with barbies in our doll house until we were about 7 years old. Children with this disorder are born seemingly normal like my sister, but start losing motor, cognitive and speech functions beginning at the age of 3 to 6. By their early teens, most are completely dependant on caretakers, which is also the case for my Claire. I don't like to think of my sister as “disabled”. Claire is different, special and all around the most caring and loving person anyone will ever meet. There isn't a time where she doesn't have a smile on her face or laughing at the tv. People may underestimate people like my sister or even Blake Montgomery for being “strange” but until one is to meet someone like Blake or my sister Claire, they may be judged but I am here to say that my sister Claire DuCharme is the bestest friend I could have asked for.

Laura DuCharme