People with autism just need more attention, they need to be loved and reminded every day that they are not different from the rest of the crowd. My elder brother has autism and speaking from personal experience, we need to be an extra set of eyes for them, guide them and help them make the right choices in life.  

For people suffering from autism, doing every small task can be very difficult, since social interaction is not their strong suit. It was really hard for my parents and me to understand the needs of my brother, as he was not able to communicate his feelings to us clearly.

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Right from his school days till present times, it’s almost like a guessing game, we need to think about what he would like and what would make him uncomfortable. My brother changed six schools in Delhi because no one was able to understand him or what they would call ‘manage’, even though all of the schools had a special section for ‘children with special needs’.

He finally settled down in an NGO in Chennai, where along with education, he was taught basic life skills. My brother made new friends and even though his English was not very strong, surprisingly picked up Tamil in just 1 year.

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As a sister, I know that he loves me the most in the world, just his ways of showing it is different. Expressing emotions is something that doesn’t come very easily to him. Therefore, he would show it in little things, like when I was in school, he would wait at the bus stop exactly at 3 pm to receive me and even now whenever I have a late-night shift he wouldn’t go to sleep until I am back home. Through these little gestures, he always reminded me that he deeply cares and loves me.

For our family, he is very special because we see the innocence in him. If he loves someone, it’s unconditional, there are no ifs and buts in that feeling. All he demands is some extra care and attention from all of us and wants to be treated as an equal family member. 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not reflect the official position of Opoyi.