�2 The Autism Perspective www.TheAutismPerspective.org

David McGinnis is a tall, strapping 18-year-old who loves the Portland Trail Blazers, has a passion for architecture, and is very proud of his sister, Donilee McGinnis, who was crowned Miss Oregon 2006 in the picturesque coastal town of Seaside.

By Janel Salazar

Donilee McGinnis - Miss Oregon

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Donilee is six years older than her brother, and they are the two children of Donilu and Ron Mc-

Ginnis of Scappoose, Oregon, a small town just west of Portland near the Columbia River, also home of the biggest wax candle in the world.

Donilu proudly reports that her son stood up hanging onto a table leg at four months of age, walked holding onto objects at five and a half months, and, without ever crawling, walked on his own at just ten months. By age three, customers at Donilu’s store questioned her about David’s repeti-tive play with removable toy parts. Donilu realized that her toddler displayed signs of autism (or the autism spectrum) when she stumbled upon a book describing its char-acteristics. David was diagnosed at age five with ASD at Emanuel Hospital’s Pediatric De-velopment Center in Portland.

When he was young, David spoke in single words but could repeat whole com-mercials. He knew what letters words started and ended with. He knew how to read in kindergarten. When David went to the park,

other people would ask if he was deaf. In addition to two years of speech and occu-pational therapy at Emanuel, David started elementary school in Scappoose. He contin-ued his education in a Portland school that

specialized in needs for children with dys-lexia. This served as a very positive learning environment for him.

One day in the car, David asked his

sister and mother, “What does ‘real world’ mean?” Unable to get more information from David, they weren’t able to answer in the context of his question. A year later Da-vid asked, “What does ‘make it in the real world’ mean?” With more prodding, Donilu and Donilee discovered that a teacher’s aide had asked David how he was going to “make it in the real world.” David had mulled this over in his mind for three years before fully expressing it to his mother and sister.

Later, David was home-schooled and, as a junior, entered Westview High School where he is now a senior in one of the four autism centers in Beaverton, Oregon. With the assistance of an aide, David also attends mainstream classes. He is very well-liked because of his sense of humor and positive attitude. David is in a job transition program and enjoys working in the school cafeteria each morning.

A huge fan of professional sports teams, David can tell you the colors and names of just about any team around. He’s such a fan that he’ll strike up a conversation with any-one wearing a team logo! It’s a great ice-breaker and a gift that the McGinnis family is helping David develop, along with the art of good timing.

David has the same questions about his future as anyone his age, although he began to contemplate them as a child, trying to sort out how autism would affect his ability to have a wife and their own home some day. The McGinnis family is close-knit and gives David a model example of a loving and nurturing family, so David knew early on that he wanted this for himself as an adult. One night, Donilee saw that her brother was still awake, so she asked him why he was up so late. David wondered out loud, “Why am I still awake? Why am I not in love?” How many sisters hear that from their little brothers?

As graduation approaches, David is ea-ger to walk in the ceremony with his class next year. He also plans to attend the prom.

The Autism Perspective

A year later David asked, “What does ‘make it in the real world’ mean?” With

more prodding, Donilu and Donilee discovered that a teacher’s aide had asked David how he was going to “make it in the real world.”

David had mulled this over in his mind for

three years before fully expressing it to his mother and sister.

Donilee and David McGinnis

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All the typical rites of passage. The McGinnis family reassures David that autism is only one part of who he is. They also remind him that even though it may cause challenges in some aspects of his life, we all face chal-lenges that are buoyed by our individual strengths.

Donilee has been a protective and com-mitted sister to David, to the point where she selects friends based on how they treat her brother. By her own admission, Donilee remembers her “sassy” phase as a young teenager and how it was impossible to main-tain a sassy attitude under David’s influ-ence. “Be wise...I’m wise,” David would tell her. Donilee and her mother would forget

the issue of the moment and just laugh at themselves. “Every mother and adolescent girl need a David,” Donilee says fondly of her brother. David has always been David, to whom his family has given unconditional love since the day he was born. The McGin-nis family embraces who David is, support-ing him to thrive and achieve happiness and productivity in life with his own unique and engaging talents. Following an evaluation as a toddler, the attending physician noted that “mother tends to over-inflate abilities.” “Yes! What else would I do?” Donilu responds rhe-torically. That epitomizes how David enriches the lives of his family, as they do his.

Even as a little girl, Donilee has never

felt apologetic or awkward about her broth-er; in fact, quite the opposite. She is very proud of him. When she sees other people say things or react in a negative way towards David, whether children at the playground or adults in grocery stores, she actually uses it as a learning opportunity for others! Donilee is not shy to educate the community about autism. Those encounters helped shape her into the confident and articulate spokes-woman that she has grown into today.

Inspired by David, Donilee already has years of experience advocating for autism awareness, which is also her platform as Miss Oregon 2006. She volunteers for the Autism Society of Oregon (including their walk-a-thon), and for A.R.R.O. (Autism Research & Resources of Oregon). She also started a “Season’s Greetings” basket program where she gathers donations from businesses and organizations and then assembles the con-tributions into gift baskets. This is the fourth

year that Donilee has distributed baskets to financially needy families who are touched by autism.

This past year, Donilee led an in-house autism awareness training project for the Port-land Police Bureau. The purpose was to help the officers recognize autism and help them respond appropriately to the autistic individual - for the safety of the police officers, as well as the person with autism. At 6 feet 4 inches and looking like a typical young man, David has been approached by a security guard at a local shopping center and at a skate park in Scappoose. He was approached by law enforce-ment because of misinterpretations and/or as-sumptions about his mannerisms. The Portland

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Donilee has been a protective and

committed sister to David, to the point where she selects

friends based on how they treat her brother.

Donilee and David, it’s only Rock and Roll

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Chief of Police ended up sending a warm letter of thanks to Donilee for serving as a catalyst to bring such important awareness training to the Police Bureau. (There is also training available to family members and guardians of people with ASD for safety measure tactics.)

Donilee is a great role model in perse-verance for her brother. While modeling for a bridal store, an attendant had asked her if she ever considered pageantry competition. Well, no, but the more she learned about the personal benefits and the contributions she could make to the community, the more she

became intrigued. She first competed for the Miss Oregon title in 2004 as Miss Portland, where she placed in the top ten. She com-peted again in 2005, placing as fourth run-ner-up. Throughout this development pro-cess, Donilee fine-tuned her ability to speak with poise in her own voice and with a very genuine style, whether one-on-one or to a large group of people, relating to young and old alike. Third time was a charm. Combined with hard work and dedication, she won the title of Miss Oregon 2006! On top of this, she received the pageant’s Volunteer Award - an honor that she is proud of, and one that represents a significant priority in her life.

Rosemary Doolen Wood, Miss Oregon

1960 and recipient of a prestigious talent award for her vocalist performance at the Miss America pageant, knows the spring-board that the organization can bring to community activism. She was in Seaside last June to congratulate Donilee after she claimed the title of Miss Oregon 2006. Like Rosemary, Donilee has enthusiastically em-braced the activist tradition, optimizing the opportunities afforded by the Miss America program to promote her message on autism awareness. For this platform, Donilee is very grateful to the Miss Oregon and Miss Amer-ica organizations. She is also grateful for the memory that has been forever etched in her heart of David rushing the stage as her

crown was announced. As a proud brother, David let his heart and emotion take over and consequently won over the crowd him-self that night.

Darla, Donilee’s booking agent, said that David has taught their family to be ac-cepting. Even though they didn’t make harsh judgments prior to meeting David, they now ask themselves, “Why did we ever stereo-type?” A family is all about being there for each other, and that’s the McGinnis family.

Donilee competed in the Miss America 2007 pageant on January 29. Upon his ar-rival, David left an exuberant message for Darla, “I’m in Vegas!!!” Ron and Donilu exclaimed, “We’re here and we’re so ex-

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Even as a little girl, Donilee has never felt apologetic or awkward about her brother; in

fact, quite the opposite. She is very proud of him. When she sees

other people say things or react in a negative way towards David,

whether children at the playground or adults in grocery stores, she actually uses it as a learning opportunity

for others!Donilee McGinnis holding her crown

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cited!” Donilee has given her family a gift of memories and togetherness that will be treasured for a lifetime – which, for all of them, is the ultimate prize.

Since becoming Miss Oregon in June, Donilee has tirelessly embarked on over 100 community and volunteer appear-ances. She is passionate about promoting a “Right Decisions, Right Now” presenta-tion in Oregon elementary schools and, in fact, we met for this article following her appearance in Klamath Falls. She was full of energy and enthusiasm, even after a busy day. She had taken the train from Portland (on the Washington border) to Klamath Falls (just miles from the Califor-nia border) because it was a great way to meet people - even though it’s a long trip. When I met her for dinner with my partner, Jose Salazar, we had a very en-gaging conversation on everything from global warming to “Little Miss Sunshine.” Donilee has learned to have opinions and express them with clarity, which will serve the ASD community well for years to come.

Bill Holmstrom, Salem Oregon Fire Department Public Education Specialist and PIO, was so impressed with Donilee’s dedica-tion to their 6th annual Toy Drive and her genuine compassion that he and his family actually “adopted” her by the end of the weekend. The Holmstrom family hosted Donilee while she stayed an extra two days to deliver toys to needy families in the Salem area. Two weeks before Christmas, Donilee arrived early one morning at a Salem shop-ping center to pitch donations, and to do radio and television PSAs. The next day, she rode in a Salem FD fire truck in the Christmas parade with 5th grader Caitlin (her brother) who, out of 450 entries, won a contest for a fire drill escape plan. Donilee also wrapped packages in a local church along with other dedicated volunteers. Bill Holmstrom re-marked how Donilee had opened his eyes to autism awareness. He learned that one of the Salem firefighters has a child with au-

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The McGinnis Family, early years to present

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tism. Donilee worked as an inspiration, help-ing them open the lines of communication. Given her young age and dedication to the cause, she seems poised to be an instrumen-tal activist for many years to come.

On hiatus for this year, Donilee will be re-turning as a student at Portland State University where she is majoring in communications.

David is an awesome and very person-able young man who is quick to smile and advise you that it’s unhealthy to eat french fries. He wants a job driving a zamboni at the ice rink. And not surprising, David is a “Name That Tune” expert who has won so many contests and prizes from the local ra-dio station that he made himself ineligible to call in again!

David and Donilee have a great deal in common. Not only do they both value the notions of family and love, but they also be-lieve in the spirit of hard work and dedica-tion to one’s passions. You’re both winners, David and Donilee.

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David