How Autism Changed My Life

900 Words4 Pages

I was in elementary school when my youngest brother, Dominic, was born. The first two years of his life were filled with the average toddler developments: first words, first steps, first day of preschool. Now, almost a decade later, it is hard to remember when the shift happened in him—my mother used to tell me that it was like the light suddenly went out of his eyes. When my brother, Dominic, was diagnosed with Autism, my family and I were introduced into a whole new world that showed us how beautiful difference can be. When I first learned about my brother’s diagnosis, the description of Autism was simple: a disorder that affects your mind. However, as I aged, I realized and grasped the true complexity of it. Autism affects how you …show more content…

Change in aspects related to my family, our savings, and more importantly—myself. With Autism came the divorce of my parents, them getting married to new people, and now having four grandmothers instead of two. With Autism came all the college funds and life savings going straight to my brother in speech classes and a special school for Autistic children that my mother would drive 30 minutes everyday to. With Autism came the change in me, the change in my personality and ability to have empathy and kindness towards others. With Autism I grew, and with Autism I learned more about the harsh and beautiful reality of the world. With Autism I became independent, and with Autism I continue to work hard everyday in an attempt to pay back my brother and my parents for the sacrifices and pain they have endured. To put it briefly, Autism unleashes an immense amount of change. However hard to detect at first glance, that change in the long run can only result in growth, maturity, and …show more content…

Once time, my family and I were out eating with Dominic and he started to scream in joy and flap his hands. There was an elderly couple next to us who rudely commented that he should be silent, totally ignoring and failing to grasp that my brother was different, and at times, it can be difficult to silence him. There are few instances in my life that I have ever felt that immense amount of rage, rage at the inability of the couple to show compassion and empathy towards someone different. Autism has taught me to value the beauty in difference and comprehend that every human could be in a delicate situation. There are things in life that are out of our control, things in life that make people different than us, but we should not show prejudice towards others when we have no comprehension of what is truly