My brother just turned 5 and sometimes is really really silly, playing around and making these hilarious faces. Other times he goes into these rages and hits us (by us I mean me, my sister, my mom, and my dad) because they're not doing what he wants them to. Because of this, the fact that he barely eats anything but chicken nuggets, and the fact that he is still in diapers, my uncle thinks he has Asperger's Syndrome or something like that. I know, because I heard him telling my grandma that he thought so while my mom was out of earshot. However, I was in earshot. I don't know whether my uncle ever spoke to my mother about it, but I did make it clear to him that I had heard.
My uncle is a very smart man, but I think he is making assumptions. Perhaps it is just me, unwilling to believe that there could be something wrong with my brother, but I think that he will grow out of these things. I hope so, anyways.
I do know that he could be worse. My mother's friend Trisha and her children have been staying with us for a couple days. Trisha has one 8-year old daughter (my sister and her have become best friends) and one 5-year old son. The son has Down Sydrome, which means that he is (not trying to be offensive here) mentally retarded, has speech issues, and has a shorter lifespan. None of these things apply to my brother (well, I'm just assuming here on the lifespan thing), which is a good thing.
Also, my brother is very smart. He started reading at 2 and has a very good memory. But the kid with Down's syndrome - his name is Sam - well, even he has learned to use the toilet.
At least my brother would probably like Star Wars better than Sam.
It sounds like he does have Asperger's to me. I don't know him, so he could just be a late bloomer.
ReplyDeleteAsperger's can pose lots of challenges, but lots of blessings at the same time. Kids with asperger's are (like your brother) EXTREMELY bright although they may not seem like it. They /act/ like they aren't paying attention to things, but in reality, kids like him are learning much more than the average person. The ways that they communicate this knowledge is much different though.
There are some kids with asperger's at my school. They're highly functioning human beings, just developmentally and socially delayed.
However, they're some of the nicest kids you'll ever, ever meet. They don't know HOW to judge people, and are honest and kind.
I know that your brother will probably be evaluated by the doctor for this. But DON'T be disappointed to hear that he does have Asperger's, because it's really not a horrid thing at all.
There were some kids that i worked with when I was volunteering at a shelter for abused mothers and children - five kids had Asperger's and I didn't know until they told me. And they were eight years old.
So obviously, everyone has a different route with Asperger's. Some grow out of most symptoms early, and some don't. But if your brother does have it, he will learn to live with it (he already is, if he does) and he can be treated like a normal kid.
Well. I didn't know that much about Asperger's; I'm glad to hear that it's not that bad, really. ^-^
ReplyDeleteYup. You'll learn more and more about it, too.
ReplyDeleteIt might be hard for you to deal with at first and it might be a shock, but if you think about it, he has always been this way so living with him wouldn't be any different.
That's true.
ReplyDelete(I would normally put an emote here, but I'm not really sure of anything that expresses my feelings, so I'll leave it out. :P (Wait...I just used one, didn't I?))