How to Be a Sister

A Love Story with a Twist of Autism

By: Eileen Garvin

Narrated by: Eileen Garvin

Eileen Garvin’s older sister, Margaret, was diagnosed with severe autism at age three. Growing up alongside Margaret wasn’t easy: Eileen often found herself in situations that were simultaneously awkward, hilarious, and heartbreaking. For example, losing a blue plastic hairbrush could leave Margaret inconsolable for hours, and a quiet Sunday Mass might provoke an outburst of laughter, swearing, or dancing.

How to Be a Sister begins when Eileen, after several years in New Mexico, has just moved back to the Pacific Northwest, where she grew up. Being 1,600 miles away allowed Eileen to avoid the question that has dogged her since birth: What is she going to do about Margaret? Now, Eileen must grapple with this question once again as she tentatively tries to reconnect with Margaret. How can she have a relationship with someone who can’t drive, send an email, or use a telephone? What role will Eileen play in Margaret’s life as their parents age, and after they die? Will she remain in Margaret’s life, or will she walk away?

A deeply felt, impeccably written memoir, How to Be a Sister will speak to siblings, parents, friends, and teachers of people with autism—and to anyone who sometimes struggles to connect with someone difficult or different.

©2010 Eileen Garvin (P)2022 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Clear description of how a severely autistic sibling forever affects the lives of Ms. Garvin’s entire family forever.

I have always been interested in how autism manifests so differently in each person. The severity of Ms. Garvin’s sister’s autism is extreme yet Ms. Garvin
never gives up trying to reach and understand, and communicate with her sister. I applaud her commitment to that end.

A must read but a bit too ranting long

I hv several friends that are parents to adult autistic children (three that are non- verbal or very few words) and granted it is a challenge. This felt like a long rant though….. I was listening and hoping the author would speak more about her parents and the attempts of different therapies and diets that they had tried.