About the Siblings

Alyssa (Jack and Matt’s Sister)   |   Julia (Alina’s Sister)

Alyssa Cicotta

Alyssa is Tom and Jeralyn Cicotta’s first born, she is 5 years old and is absolutely beautiful. She is in Kindergarten and loves every minute of it! She is so smiley and is daddy’s little girl. Alyssa often likes to talk all about her favorite Webkinz and stuffed animals. She makes friends so easily since she is so easy to get along with and so happy all the time. Her clothes are all about her latest obsession, either Hannah Montana or High School Musical. She has welcomed her two brothers so lovingly since the day they came home. She is always coming up with new games to play with her brothers, especially Matt who absolutely ADORES Alyssa and thinks she is his personal play mate. Alyssa loves to jump on the trampoline as much as her brothers do, and loves riding her Jeep. She has a heart of gold and we are so proud of her.

She has taken on such an important and hard role as a sibling of two brothers with special needs. If you ask her what Autism is, she will tell you that “her brothers brains are different than hers”. Through all the therapists in and out of the house and all the attention drawn to her brothers, Alyssa has been remarkable. She even pretends to be a therapist teaching her brothers different words on flash cards, telling us that she is “working with her brother”. We always set aside time just for Alyssa, since she has been such a joy to us and she deserves it!

Julia Collucci

Julia is an amazing and caring big sister. She and Alina are as close as two sisters can be and do everything together. Julia is eleven years old and kind, sensitive and beautiful. She also has a clever sense of humor, likes reading books and loves cats. Julia loves music and plays the clarinet and piano.

Julia, or “Jules” as we call her, thinks Alina is the funniest, most affectionate person she knows. She is fiercely protective of her little sister and likes to explain to everyone what having autism is like. She has taken it upon herself to be an ambassador of tolerance and understanding for autistic kids. Julia has had to be very patient through many years of Alina getting most of the attention, but she never complains. She says she wouldn’t change Alina one bit, even if she could. She is truly an exceptional child.