Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder that impairs the individual’s ability to learn, communicate, and do everyday things with ease. They have to have constant guidance day in and day out just to be able to perform the basic abilities to live as normal of life as possible. In a visual essay by Laikin Tucker, “She’s More than Just a Sister”, she uses a collaboration of images that revolve around her relationship with her sister and what she has gained from having an autistic sister to convey her message that even though autistic individuals struggle with everyday life, they can still a joyful life and do majority of the things people who are not affected with autism can do. Tucker also  uses these images to show how autistic individuals can  they teach the people involved in their life about patience, love, what people say does not matter, and happiness should be found in the small things in life.  Tucker uses texts to help the reader understand what is happening in the photo, and to help the reader get a better understanding and analysis of the image.  

The first image the reader comes across is an image of the author and her sister, as assumed.  The reader learns her sister is autistic  by reading the caption. The image contains two girls who are hugging extremely tight, to where there is no space in-between them. They're arms are completely wrapped around each other, and the bigger girl is leaning on the smaller girl. They both have a large smile on their faces.The reader will recognize they have an extremely close relationship, and they are each others rock. The picture is in gray-scale, which is significant when setting the tone of the picture. An individual could associate gray scale with happy and sincere moments, like a wedding or family pictures. Therefore, they know what is happening in the picture is sincere, it shows the true feelings towards each other.  Most autistic individuals struggle with the social aspect of life. But, seeing a how close they are, show it is possible for autistic individuals to have a close relationship with someone. The author’s purpose of showing autistic individuals can love with all their heart and can live a normal life is supported through this image.

Within the second image, we see the autistic sister laughing profusely. Th image is cropped to make her the focus of the image, with emphasizes about her laughing.  Reassuring the reader she is a joyful person that is full of laughter. Bright colors are also seen in the image, giving the reader a happy and positive vibe about the image. The audience can infer she is in a happy mood, and everyone around her is more than likely happy and enjoying their life at the time, because at that moment she seems like nothing could put her in a bad mood.  The caption below the image mentions autistic individuals find happiness and laughter in the smallest things in life therefore the audience knows her laughter wasn't because of some big, relating back to part of the message being conveyed, autistic people help individuals involved in their life find happiness in the smallest things, and they give joy and laughter to the people around them. This image also influences the reader to believe autistic individuals can have a good life, she is laughing and having a good time.

Autistic people have limitations to the things they can do in their daily lives. They have to have assistance with almost everything. But they have determination. The third image clearly shows how the autistic girl’s determination helped her ride a horse, with of course, assistance from her sister. The image focuses on the girl and the horse, showing the importance of the two in the image. The horses body language is alert and happy, his ears are perked up, he doesn't appear to be stressed or agitated, which means he is happy and listening to the autistic girl.  He is happily walking with her on her back, alongside her sister,who must care a lot about her autistic sister to help her ride a horse.  The autistic girl also has a smile on her face, which the audience can use to determine she is ecstatic to be on the back of the horse.  Autistic people don't have the same amount of control over their body or the coordination or balance like individuals who do not have autism. It is harder for them to do majority of the thing like running or even walking. To see the autistic girl ride a horse is pretty amazing, considering many people do not know how to ride a horse or they are scared of a horse. The audience will learn that autistic people can do what normal people do but with modification and a lot of determination.  The reader will also pick up n the fact, the girl who leading the horse has to have a lot of patience and care for the autistic girl. The non-autistic girls face is happy, she is smiling greatly, therefore the reader knows she is enjoying it. 

The message about autistic individuals can accomplish things that people who do not have autism accomplish is prevalent in the fourth and fifth images. In the fourth image, we see a group of people in gowns, graduation gowns to be exact. they are at a high school graduation. In the middle of the image you see the autistic girl, she is standing out from the rest because she isn't facing the direction everyone else is facing, she is facing towards the camera. Which the reader can use to interpret, she is a special person, especially being able to graduate high school with a learning disability.  The fifth image is of the her standing on a football field wearing  a sash and crown while holding a bouquet of flowers, in a fancy dress. The audience could infer the girl just won homecoming queen becasue, she is wearing a sash that says “homecoming queen” and she is standing in the middle of a football field. Her face is radiating with pride, telling the reader she is happy. An autistic girl was voted for homecoming queen, beating all of the other contestants. Which is an mazing feat considering she is a socially challenged individual and high school students vote for homecoming queen. This is every high school girls dream of winning. But she is there, in that moment she could be perceived as an average person, or a person who is not affected with autism. Showing the audience she can be like everyone else just with more determination than the rest an she is made to stand out from the crowd. This supports Tucker’s message, autistic individuals can do things everybody else does, just with modification. 

The author then switches from her original photos to photos that are more generic. This could be because it is a more personal situation and she did not want to expose the full truth behind what is being said, or it could just convey the message more clearly than an image of her own could. The sixth image is of a young girl, clinching her fist, her head leaned back, and it seems like she is screaming or having a meltdown. The reader can infer she is not in the best mood.  As a normal thing, people would think only children have meltdowns, but the audience learns that autistic individuals also have meltdown because they cannot communicate effectively which leads to frustration. The reader learns this by reading the caption.  By analyzing this image,  a person would have to realize it would take a special person to be able to deal with an adult who is having a meltdown, as it is already tough enough to handle a child who is throwing a tantrum. Therefore, the sister learns a lot about patience, along with everyone who is affected by her in their lives.  

In the following image, the audience sees a grey scale image of two handles being held together in a sincere and comforting way.  A reader could infer the author used this image to signify just how close they truly are and how much they care about each other.  The reader then learns they are each other rock, according to the caption.  The grey-scale of the image give the feeling of sincerity and love.  Relating and helping show the meaning behind having the image, autistic people offer a kind of support nobody else can offer. They know their autistic friends will forever be there for them because they are a true friend. 

Finally the final image conveys the message that autistic individuals do not care what people say about them, therefore we should take a lesson from them. In the image, the focus is on the “bad” people who are talking about the others in the image. The are the focus because they are not saying nice things. The others represent autistic people, they are blurring in the picture, meaning they do not feel what the other people are saying is important because the blurriness makes the autistic people seem absent from the picture. Relating to the message Tucker is conveying, they block out the negativity and mind their own business, which is why they are not focused in with the image. 

Autism is something that is easy to deal with but having the right heart like the sister did, it will be worth while. Laikin is able to use a  wide variety of images to convey the message about autistic people and what having an autistic sibling has to offer; love, support, happiness, patience, understanding and numerous other things that isn't as easy to come by with a normal sibling. She successfully uses focus points, color, and emotional appeal to convey these ideas.
