It seems I've been trying to reach my older sister from the time I learned to crawl. My mom tells me that I would look around for Jodie and when I spotted her, my little arms and legs would struggle to get to her. Unable to share her space with me, she would bolt as I approached .As I got older and began to grasp the concept of Autism, I made it my mission to educate folks who stared at Jodie or looked disparagingly at my parents when she squealed , jumped up and down, flapped her hands or kicked and screamed on the floor. " She's not misbehaving, she has Autism", became my mantra. As my own knowledge grew, so did my need to educate and bring awareness of Autism to my friends and even to strangers. I hated when people stared or made fun of my sister. …show more content…
As she got older, bigger and stronger, she became much more aggressive and difficult.. One day my mom was driving the car and Jodie sat behind her in the back next to me. When Jodie realized we were not headed where she wanted to go, her agitation quickly built. The screaming got louder and I gasped with fright as she unbuckled her seat belt, stood up and began pounding her fists on my mom's head. Desperate to stop her, I unbuckled my seat belt and tried to push her back in her seat. I screamed in agony as I felt her teeth pierce the skin of my arm. In that moment my only emotion was hate! I hated her for all the attention she got, for the constant struggle she caused and for the havoc she created in our