A Junior Prom They'll Both Remember

Middletown, NJ - Like most teenage girls this time of year, Claire DiGiorgio has one thing on her mind: Prom.

Claire is a junior at Middletown High School South, and will attend its junior prom Friday night.

"When she wakes up in the morning, she talks about prom. She talks about it all day," said her mom Valerie. "'How many days are left until Friday?!' 'It's almost Friday!' She is very excited."

Claire is developmentally disabled. Her prom date is a senior, a varsity soccer player who will head to Purdue University in the fall. Claire asked Christian "Chip" Liskowitz to accompany her to prom with a handwritten note, and he said yes.

"You never think something like this will happen," her mother marveled in wonder. "I never thought Claire would go to prom. Or if she did, I thought she would go with her group of special-needs friends."

A unique program at Middletown South

Claire, 18, and Chip, 17, met through a program at MHS called Circle of Friends. It's a unique offering by the school district that pairs special-needs students, such as those with autism, Down's Syndrome or physical challenges, with high school kids during study hall.

Circle of Friends meets twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's not homework help; it's talking, socializing and getting two student groups together who otherwise would rarely interact.

"You can get volunteer hours, but that's really not why most people do it," said Chip. "The first day I went to Circle of Friends, I was apprehensive. But then Claire came right up to me and said, 'Hi, I'm Claire!' It's such an amazing club. It really impacts you. I can't even describe how much it's changed me."

He and Claire also participate in a gym class at South, led by phys-ed teacher Roderick Murchie, that matches high school kids with special-needs students for games like kickball, floor hockey and volleyball.

Since then, Chip and Claire have become close friends.

"We text each other," he said. "I look out for her, she's like my little sister."

On March 17, he walked into gym class and Claire was acting nervously, holding a piece of paper behind her back.

"She came up and handed it to me, and it said 'Will you go to prom with me?" I was about to cry," he said. "Of course, I said yes."

In the days leading up to prom, Claire texts him now constantly, he says: "13 more days until prom!" "4 more days!"

Something different

Valerie said she didn't notice there was anything different about Claire, her first born, until she was 3 years old.

"I was in this other moms' group, and we all have our kids, and she wasn't able to do the Easter projects the same way as the others," the Middletown mom recalled. Someone eventually suggested to have Claire evaluated.

"They told us she was developmentally delayed. It's because of a genetic chromosomal disorder," Valerie said. "She just did everything slowly: She talked late, she walked late."

Valerie and her husband, Paul, took Claire across the country searching for an exact cause and perhaps even treatment — Miami Children's Hospital, the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

"At some point you have to accept that this is the diagnosis, that she's never going to catch up," she said. "It was hard."

Cliare has an IQ of about 60, but she's high functioning. Middletown South has been wonderful in pairing her daughter with "normal" teens, said Valerie. In addition to Chip, Claire became friends with another Middletown teen who graduated last year and now attends the University of Georgia.

"But she Facetimes with her all the time, and when the girl is in town she picks her up and takes her to Starbucks in Red Bank," said Valerie.

That same girl took Claire for a manicure/pedicure Wednesday afternoon to get ready. On Friday afternoon, Claire and her group of friends will go to a pre-prom party in Lincroft, organized by the mother of another special-needs girl. Then it's off in a limo to Jacques Catering Hall in Keyport for the big event. Chip will sit at a table with Claire and all her friends.

"For one evening my daughter just gets to be a typical teen doing what typical teens do," said Valerie. "For a special-needs mother that is priceless, and I am grateful every day."

Photos: Chip and Claire, holding her promposal letter, after she asked him to prom; at Circle of Friends; at MetLife Stadium for the Middletown South championship football game this past fall.