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Dealing with the unexpected
True life: My autistic brother.
You often hear people say that they have this'amazing' bond with their sibling(s). As one of those people, I can tell you that this bond isn't forced. I remember the day I met Colm (the day he came home from hospital) like it was yesterday. I remember him lying in a Moses basket and thinking 'Wow, he's real!’. That was the start. Nothing could prepare me for what was in store for Colm and our whole family.
He was diagnosed with autism at two or three years of age and that was the start of a new way of life. Growing up with autism in your life is not easy. Firstly, you think you're definitely the ONLY person in the world who has a sibling with autism (you're so wrong about that), you think everyone else thinks your whole family is a bunch of freaks (wrong again) and you think that autism is the worst thing that could happen (also wrong).
When I was younger, I would cry myself to sleep thinking 'Why me?'(No, not the song Linda Martin sang in the Eurovision), but why did I have to go through this? I couldn't invite my friends over to play, I couldn't go to my friends houses as I was on babysitting duty and plans had to be made weeks in advance!
It's not easy; sometimes you feel so alone and like you can't even talk to your parents. But take a look at yourself as a person. Think of your qualities and traits, how many of those would you have if your sibling wasn't autistic? Patience, empathy, maturity and humour - these are all things that I believe we all have as a result of our experiences. Autism opens your mind up to a whole new world, a world that accepts you for you!
So as a 20 year old girl who has been the teenage sister of a boy with autism, let me say that you are so important to your autistic sibling. Yeah, it's a rough ride and sometimes it's really crap, but the respect you gain from your peers and others around you is unbelievable. You don't realise it now, but you're pretty amazing! This doesn't apply just to people with autistic siblings, but to siblings of anyone with a disability or illness.
My brother is 16 years old and cannot speak. He has small words which I can understand, and he is like a baby. The day I heard him say my name, I cried for half an hour. It's amazing; it really is the little things in life that make you happy. :-)
By: shinners
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