A woman built her autistic brother a house in her back garden for £13k and says it’s been a “game-changer” to give him the independence he needs. Tiffany Chou, 36, an accessory designer, moved back to Maui, Hawaii, US, in 2019, from New York City, US, to look after her brother, Chris, 33, after hearing that he was unhappy in his residential home.
The siblings – who are both adopted – hadn’t lived together for 15 years, so Tiffany was apprehensive about what it would be like as she says Chris’ behavior could be “challenging”. Tiffany and her boyfriend, Erin Reid, 38, an artist, decided to build Chris a cottage in their back garden. “There was a little structure in our garden that Erin tore down and built up again from scratch. The home was built out of reclaimed materials, and fitted with second-hand furniture to keep the costs low,” said Tiffany.
