I sat back on the couch and picked up my computer, it was no less than 5 minutes later when my mom hollered my name. I promptly found her and asked what she wanted, although, I already knew, she wanted me to put my brother, Tristan to sleep.
You probably have guessed that she was talking about my little brother. Nope. She was talking about my older brother, my 16 year-old brother, to be exact. Why? I have one word: autism. It's a disorder that affects children's development and social skills. It affects different people in different ways.
For example many people with autism don't speak at all. Luckily for us Tristan does. But, he talks in a unique way, he quotes characters in cartoons. Sometimes he will say something one character says and you have to say the next sentence or phrase and he will replay the scene with you. I think that he has every Disney cartoon memorized. Maybe it's because he spends every day in his room watching his TV. While he watches TV he is practically bouncing off the walls, so he is still getting his exercise.
Another interesting aspect of Tristan's autism that many other autistic people don't possess is he has a sense of humor. I will be sitting in my room and he will barge in and shout "BOO"! And of course I'm going to jump 3 feet into the air, and he thinks it's hilarious. Also, once my mom was standing by our pool fully dressed and he shoved her in, now he has a reputation for shoving people in.
Tristan does have a bad side. If he doesn't get what he wants or something is annoying him then he will sometimes punch, slap, pinch, and so on. If you click your tongue that aggravates him to no end. Also, he doesn't like it when people sing, he will start screaming a different song. In some cases we can't give him what he wants. For example, once he wanted a disc but it kept skipping; my mom ordered him a new one, but I guess he wanted it then and he started fighting with her. He takes medicine in the morning, in the afternoon, and before bed to help control his anger.
Every case of autism is completely unique and so there is so much more to tell about Tristan. But to do so it would have taken forever and nobody would have wanted to read it all. But I think that what I have written are the most basic parts of Tristan's autism and what anyone would need to know before meeting him.
ANYONE CAN BE NORMAL, IT TAKES SOMEONE SPECIAL TO BE AUTISTIC
Off to put my brother to bed,
~Yayapie
