Autism: A Short Story

I don’t live with my step-brother but he has autism. Sometimes it could be hard to have a real

relationship with him because he can’t talk but I try as best as I can. I would describe our

relationship as if he was around 4 years old, which is sad. I sometimes have to tell him what to do

because he doesn’t know entirely what to do. Also I sometimes feel out because his immediate

family understands what his saying, even though he doesn’t actually speak. I’m still young so I

don’t entirely understand like the extent of his disorder, but I do know to try to not treat him as if

he is out of place.

The kind of autism that he has is the type that is mentally disabled, mute, and has serious

language delays. I sometimes don’t know what

D’angelo

doesn’t really like getting know people. He is most comfortable with his dad and mom

and some of his uncles, but when it comes to his cousins and step siblings he doesn’t

really know us that well so he doesn’t usually like to be with us. I don’t really mind it

because I understand he has a problem. The key when you are dealing with someone with

disabilities you can’t be sensitive to the behavior they give you. I learned to just accept it

and try to let him get to know me to build our relationship, so that he is comfortable

around me.

Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life. D’angelo needs a

lot of help sometimes so everyone in the family has to help him. It could sometimes be a

lot of work but we do it because we all love him. We try to include him in most trips and

things that we do when he comes to visit or when we visit him. When we help D’angelo we

hope that one day someone will do the same thing that we do for him to us when we