Catherine has an autistic brother, David. In families, when there is a disabled or chronically ill child, all the focus tends to go to that child. It's a natural thing and the siblings, in my experience, understand. However, it's got to be tough for the non-disabled child to be held to different standards and feel like their needs for attention are over looked. I'm an only child, so I have not personally experienced this, but I have had several close friends who grew up in this situation and I've taught several students with this family situation. Listening to them is interesting. It seems like few families manage the balance well and often that non-disabled kid ends up acting out because it's the only way they get attention. The other side of the coin, are the kids who end up holding themselves to impossibly perfect standards. One of my roommates in college was like that. They never get to be kids and make mistakes like other kids. Imagine the pressure of making a mistake when your parents are already so stressed out on behalf of your sibling. It's rough.Mind you, I am absolutely not criticising these families. I cannot imagine dealing with what they have to on a day in/day out basis. I just feel for the "normal" sibling. That's what Rules is about. Catherine knows that David has more needs and she really tries to do her share, but shes still a teenage girl and craves those normal teenage experiences. When she meets a CP kid named Jason and helps him with his communication board she really has to struggle with who she is. Jason has no normal teenager words, and Catherine helps him with that. She helps him feel more normal, but how does she get to feel more normal. Who can help her with that?
The blurbs all say that this book is about acceptance and that angle is there. However, I think the most important aspect is that sibling perspective.
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