Another Brother
Link to Article:
Magazine:
Friend
Month and Year Published:
March, 1994
Page Number:
44
Description:
A big brother retells the experience of understanding his little brother's autism.
Quotations:
...something was wrong. Sometimes he sat on the floor for hours, staring into space and rocking back and forth. I tried to teach him to play with blocks and to roll a ball, but he just pushed the ball away. The blocks he lined up on the windowsill over and over again, always exactly the same way. If I tried to move them, he screamed and kicked. When I talked to him, he looked right through me as if I weren’t there. Mom and Dad tried over and over to get him to say “Mama” or “Daddy”—anything at all—but he just popped his thumb into his mouth and looked away. Once in a while he let Mom or Dad hug him, but whenever I put my arms around him, he pushed me away. That made me feel really sad.
“Benny is very special to Heavenly Father, just as you are. But I know how sad and confused you must feel, because sometimes I feel that way too. But sad times happen to everyone. They’re part of living. And learning. They can teach us things we never knew before—things about ourselves and about what’s really important in life. Even though they’re painful, these times can help us grow.”
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1 comment
I'm autistic, and I don't
I'm autistic, and I don't like this story. What if I don't want to be a different person inside after the Resurrection?
"And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?"
If he doesn't want you to hug him, then don't hug him. If he doesn't want to shake your hand, then don't shake his hand. If he recoils when you try to pat him on the back, then stop patting him on the back! Find a different way to relate to him. Or just leave him alone. He's not lost in his own world, he's more aware of the world around him than you are; that's why things that don't bother you get to him.