So today I walked into my mom's room to check up on what my brother Brandon was up to. He was playing on the Nintendo DS, nothing unusual. I sat down beside him to watch him play Monkey Ball, his favorite game of all time. And he's good at the game too, like really good. I've watched him play every now and then, and it still amazes me how well he can play that game.
If you check up on Autism in Wikipedia, it'll tell you that
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior.
And it's true. My brother is 12 years old but virtually lacks all social skills. Although he can speak and understand certain words and phrases, he isn't verbal and cannot hold a conversation with someone. He is pretty hyperactive and has an OCD of making sure certain things (such as shoes) are properly and neatly put together.
Since he was younger, my mom would do her best to find help for him. It wasn't always easy to come by though, and the government wasn't helping us out all that much either. But now that autism is becoming so prevalent in the US (roughly 1 in every 100 born I think), it seems like people are becoming more aware of how important it is that we set up programs to help.
Autism has a lot of setbacks, but for the most part they aren't really aware that they are suffering any setback at all. In fact, Brandon is pretty much always in a happy mood. It's really refreshing in a way.
What amazes me about autism is the skill they can have in certain things. If you've seen Rain Man, you saw a case of an autistic person being very good and efficient with numbers. Others learn to piece computers together by age 6. Some can memorize countless facts, perfectly. My brother is great at Monkey Ball.
Many individuals with ASD show superior skills in perception and attention, relative to the general population.
This isn't to say that it's all fun and games though. Taking care of an autistic child is difficult work. They can get upset and won't be able to tell you why. They have lots of energy and strength because they don't hold back. It's been a real challenge, but Brandon has taught me so many things. Patience, humility, responsibility, understanding, compassion, and what it really means to love someone without being able to have it sent back to you. I'm proud to have him as a brother.
Awesome post, my brother actually has mild aspbergers disease which is a similar social disorder althought I believe autism is much more sever. GJ to you for being a great brother. Maybe you should get him on starcraft 2? Who knows, maybe he'd be a prodigy!
On May 01 2010 08:29 Kenpachi wrote: so he has no social skills?? does he use the internet to communicate?
He knows a select few phrases that help him communicate what he wants and things like that, but he can't carry conversation with someone. I don't really know if he would want to anyway haha. He was also recently taught how to identify himself and what number to call, in the case that he may get lost or something. Someone would have to approach him and ask though, because he wouldn't be able to do it himself.
monkey ball is great. I wasted so many hours playing the original on gamecube, unlocking & beating the master stages.
also, my cousin has aspergers symdrome which is similar to autism but I guess it's more minor. He gets special help from people at his school and he's learning to function normally in society (and he's pretty hilarious too, he likes to tell jokes)
On May 01 2010 08:45 Tynuji wrote: Actually, very little austistic children excel in those memory or genius like things, the rest are socially imparied and lack communication skills.
A lot of people watch rain man and think that most autistic people gain an incredible ability when in actuality, most are just socially handicapped.
Yeah this is true. I wasn't implying that they're all prodigies, but I do believe they all have the potential to be great at something. It might be hard to find though. T:
Yes, I think that is what it's called. It's pretty amazing!
What is your preferred definition of autistic? Because I have been diagnosed as autistic several times and diagnosed as not autistic several times and so I find it sad that many doctors are not putting in the work into differentiating between the very obviously different symptom sets between, say, your brother and I. So I wonder how people in families like this feel about that.
Great blog and nice read. You're an amazing older brother, much more understanding than me I'm sure haha. I just saw him play Monkey Ball and that is some amazing skills. Believe me, I've tried.
Yes, I think that is what it's called. It's pretty amazing!
What is your preferred definition of autistic? Because I have been diagnosed as autistic several times and diagnosed as not autistic several times and so I find it sad that many doctors are not putting in the work into differentiating between the very obviously different symptom sets between, say, your brother and I. So I wonder how people in families like this feel about that.
who gives a shit, ur clearly not autistic, why start arguing definitions when all he's doin is tellin s story?
that's tight bro, I had no idea, how old is ur brother? my sisters autistic too and she just turned 12
she's awesome, like pretty much the greatest thing that's happened to me, I love er
EDIT : oh also she has disgusting good memory. we buy her computer versions of ispy which is like 50 books in one game, and she'll memorize the whole thing after one go, its fuckin sick
Yes, I think that is what it's called. It's pretty amazing!
What is your preferred definition of autistic? Because I have been diagnosed as autistic several times and diagnosed as not autistic several times and so I find it sad that many doctors are not putting in the work into differentiating between the very obviously different symptom sets between, say, your brother and I. So I wonder how people in families like this feel about that.
who gives a shit, ur clearly not autistic, why start arguing definitions when all he's doin is tellin s story?
that's tight bro, I had no idea, how old is ur brother? my sisters autistic too and she just turned 12
she's awesome, like pretty much the greatest thing that's happened to me, I love er
EDIT : oh also she has disgusting good memory. we buy her computer versions of ispy which is like 50 books in one game, and she'll memorize the whole thing after one go, its fuckin sick
EPT
