"You're fired!" Andrew Chilton wasn't joking. At that moment, the high school junior wanted his personal care attendant, Christy Chachere, out of his life forever. Gone. He didn't want her telling him, he didn't need help using the computer, and he could write his own term papers. Enough already.
"You're fired!" He said it again for extra emphasis. Christy didn't flinch (畏缩) . She needed this job. Huricane Katrina had destroyed her savings along with her house. But the retired PE teacher wasn't frightened. "I'm a tough nut," she says today. "You know, I've taught middle schoolers." And Andrew's outburst? It was music to her ears. Progress. She'd gotten through to him.
When Andrew was diagnosed with autism (自闭症) , at age eight, people told his mom, Cindy, to "get him on the list" for an attendant to provide after-school care. Someone to drive him to places and see that he was safe. In New Orleans, Louisiana, the wait can be years; the need is much more than the supply. Cindy chose a program through Volunteers of America, a national faith-based organization.
Even so, it was eight years before they were matched with Christy. In the meantime, Andrew's family did their best to shelter him from life's hardships. "I worried about him," Cindy says, "I tended to hover a lot."
There was a lot to worry about. Doctors and school officials predicted that Andrew might not even graduate from high school. Other questions were approaching. Would he ever have a job? Live independently? Cindy would do anything for her son.
Christy saw the problem right away. "Andrew wouldn't take a step without his mother's permission," she remembers. "You have to let him fail," she told the family, "It's the only way he's going to learn. To be able to do things on his own."
No longer would Cindy write Andrew's papers for him. His younger brother wouldn't help him navigate the computer. Christy wouldn't be helping him with homework either. It was a little scary to step back. Andrew complained. Loudly at times.
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But then things began to change.
With the company of Christy for six years, Andrew has been developing well.
