Untraditional portraits question

[Jennifer Geary]

I have a question for you. I did this portrait for a friend of mine a little bit ago, of her daughter who is autistic. This girl was amazing, she seemed to exist in her own little world, and I had to paint her. But, I wanted the painting to show her personality, her intense concentration, her feeling of being detached from our world. So, I chose this pose of her...I took the photographs myself and used them as references. Is it bad to have this sort of view in a portrait? Do you think that it shows the mood and essence of the subject? can this be considered a 'portrait'? Comments of any kind are welcome! Thank you for looking!

Happy New Year Everyone!
Jennifer