Movies/Books

ASD IN MOVIES/BOOKS

As you may or may not know, the whole reason I chose "Living with an Autistic Brother" as my topic for this project was because the book: "The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon. In this book, Christopher (our protagonist) is a teenage boy who has Asperger's Syndrome. The book is based around Christopher's life and the way he thinks. This was only one of the two media forms that involved a character with an Autism Spectrum Disorder that I had encountered.

The other being the movie: "The Black Balloon" which is an Australian film directed by Elissa Down. The basic synopsis from Wikipedia: "Fifteen-year-old Thomas Mollison and his family move to a new home in the early 1990s. He is anxious because he has to start at a new school, and make new friends - all he wants is to do is fit in and be regarded in the same way as everyone else. However, it seems he struggles to achieve this goal. Although his family appears to be a fairly happy one, Thomas often feels isolated; it seems as if his mother only dotes upon his brother, Charlie, and does not pay any attention to him. Thomas, however, is devoted to his brother and shows affection for him. Charlie is Thomas's older brother who lives with autism, as well as Attention Deficit Disorder." (x) This movie definitely connected with me mainly because of what Thomas (the sibling) goes through. I remember there's a scene in the movie where Thomas ends up crying in the bathroom late at night because of his conflicted feelings about Charlie's disorder. Sometimes I find myself thinking about that which only leaves me with a strange feeling of extreme guilt because Dong can't help the fact that he has Autism. The movie is definitely something that expresses the life with living with an autistic family member is like. I recommend you all see it because it'll help you understand and shed a few tears.

Thanks for reading,

Byeee

Time

TIME

Living with an autistic brother sometimes requires the best organization skills within the family. There are places to get to. There are appointments to attend with speech pathologists, therapists etc. A lot of family time can be spent in the car or in waiting rooms. Sometimes, even as the sibling the blank walls of a waiting room can get annoying.

A lot of time has to be given so Dong can go his speech therapy sessions and it's my parents that take him there. They sacrifice a big part of their day caring for Dong and making sure that he's okay and that he is progressing well. Sometimes, I try to pitch in say about half an hour to an hour each night just to sit with him or ask him about what he did at Kinder or at his speech session. But as the work load of being at the higher level of high school becomes heavier and more important, trying to find time for that is tough.

Maybe that's something for all siblings as well. Especially with younger ones, where time has to be managed and organized so that there is time for us to talk and be social with each other.



Thanks for reading
Bye

Knowledge

KNOWLEDGE

In 2002, one in 250 children were diagnosed with Autism. In 2012, those numbers have changed to one in 88 children children being diagnosed. As a result, people have now heard the word 'autism' more often, but some don't really know what that means. The increasing number of diagnosis means that there is a higher chance that someone might know or is related to a person that is diagnosed under the Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Before my brother was born, I had never heard of the word autism let alone knew what it meant. It wasn't until my brother was three that the word became familiar and I had gained knowledge about the disorder. We had studied a book called 'The Curious Incident of the dog in the night time' in English that year and that novel was about a boy who had Aspergers Syndrome. He was our protagonist and we went on a journey with him about his life with his dad, and his ups and downs as to finding out more about why his mother left him. This was my first ever interaction in the area under theAutism Spectrum.

Autism falls under the Autism Spectrum umbrella, which also includes Aspergers, PDD-NOS, childhood disintegrative disorder and Rett syndrome. Autism (along with the others) usually effects the development of a child/person. An easier way to see it is, everything is completely the same, it's just their brains are 'wired differently'. 

For me personally, I'd like to think that a lot more people in today's society would be more accepting of this disorder because of the increase in diagnosis. And that's a comforting thought in a way because it means that more people will eventually learn more about Autism and be more aware of it. That's probably something really selfish to say but I'd just like people to understand the disorder and maybe that's what I'm trying to get it. I want more people to gain knowledge and pass on knowledge so the world could be educated.


Thanks for reading
Byeeee

Sister

The Sibling

This one will probably a much more personal post and I'm not exactly sure how to 'word it' so bare with me on this one. I guess part of this blog was to help express what I was feeling when things happen around Dong and I think this post my be a little similar to that.

Siblings with autism often feel lonely with the amount of attention that is shown towards the autistic sibling. For me, I try really hard not to feel that way because I'm old enough to know that he needs the attention and I'm capable to look after myself. But sometimes I wish that maybe there was someone my age with whom I could talk to and knows what I'm going through. I don't often like to let myself think about it too much because I feel extremely guilty because I know there are families and people going through much worse situations than I am.

I also often stress about my brother's future, things like school, friends, love relationships, careers and if he'll manage to live by himself when he's older. I even stress about my parents stress levels and how they're coping with it.

Nothing really prepares you on how to be a great sibling to an autistic brother/sister. In fact, you were never taught how to be a brother or sister at all. There are no classes you can take that tell you what to do and how to react, There is none of that and sometimes I really wished there were! I wish there was a book that I could read that has all the situations I could face with an autistic sibling and how I could react to them because sometimes I really don't know what to do.

Anyway, that was a bit of a negative post but thanks for sticking with it.

Thanks for reading.
Bye.

SCHOOL

SCHOOL

A few weeks ago, Cathy from Early Childhood Intervention visited our home to discuss the topic of Dong going to primary school. He will of course be starting next year. There's a part of me that is really excited yet the overprotective side is really scared and worried for him. I'm worried how he will cope being in this new environment with at least another 20 kids who don't really understand the concept of being on the Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Betty (Dong's speech pathologist) says that Dong is capable of going to a mainstream primary school which I thought was good news. For Dong, it gives him a chance to be 'normal'. Soon, Dong will be moving into Kinder so that they prepare him for Prep.

As a sister, I want to make sure that he is OK. And nothing bad will happen to him. To keep that precious world of his as it is. But there's a side that wants him to achieve success on his own through primary school and high school.



Thanks for reading and feedback would be appreciated ♥

xx

SPEECH PATHOLOGY

SPEECH

For the past month, my brother has been seeing a speech pathologist. These one on one sessions with Betty, happen once a week. I have been attending these sessions 3 times now and I really do enjoy being a part of my brother's speech development.

In these sessions, there is a lot playing involved; this is because my brother learns through play. She has this things about 'stupid creativity' or something along those lines where she will give everyone else a card, but won't give my brother one, therefore he has to learn to ask for help. Betty says that my brother struggles to ask for help which makes this concept something to work on and continue.

My brother also does this thing called 'labelling' where he will point and say:" This is ...." What we are trying to help him with is also starting to using describing words to help him. 

Singing songs also helps my brother increase his length sentence. There's this particular song called: "3 green speckled frogs" that my brother really likes. This is also involves play so he really does enjoy it!

As of February, my brother is going to be joining a group session with a couple of other boys his age, as this will encourage him to interact with other children. He will also learn to take turns( which he is struggling to do) as all of this will prepare him for primary school!

Holland

HOLLAND

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland. - 

 Emily Perl Kingsley

I was first introduced to this piece of writing in year 8 by my English teacher whilst we were studying 'The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night time.' This writing is a very good anecdote to what I was thinking through the whole process of my brother's autistic diagnosis.

I had to come to the realisation, that I was now in Holland, and I wasn't going to Italy. And just like the Emily states, I would get to discover the wonderful things that Holland had to offer. And sure, my friends would talk about Italy and what a magnificent place it was, but it doesn't really matter, because I went to Holland, and I experienced the wonders and joy of Holland.

Maybe that's what this blog is really about. Maybe it was to keep you updated on what Holland is like. To share to you, those that were in Italy instead, or those that have never been, the ups and downs of Holland.

SUCCESS

SUCCESS (TOILET TRAINING)

DONG'S ACHIEVEMENTS

I believe in I have posted about Dong's introduction to the toilet a few posts ago, and this is just a really quick update on the fact that he is now going to the toilet by himself and without being reminded! I am extremely proud of him and that he has been able to take the step of development in his basic 'life skills'. I think he started just wearing underwear at Childcare and he refused to go back to nappies. He's even really hesitant to wear nappies during the night.

THOUGH. He's already becoming a slacker and he keeps forgetting to flush AND turn off the light. If I received a dollar for the amount of times that has happened, I'd be a MILLIONAIRE.

Familiar Place

Familiar Place

26-08-12

A while back, on a Sunday, my mum, Dong and I went to see a show at Melbourne Festival Hall. We received tickets from Early Intervention to see Circus Quirkus. I think the event was free and was hosted by Rotary Club of Preston.

The show was entertaining for ALL of us! It was full of laughter, gasps and clapping. It was a great day for all of us I'd say. It was one of those memories that I think I'll remember for a while.

The thing that stood out for me, was that the audience were all special in different ways. The environment in there was amazing. I'll give you an example.

While I was queuing up for the candy bar, there was a father and he's two kids (daughter and son). The daughter left to go back to her seat or something along those lines and the father and son were left to buy the food. When they went up to order, I found it strange that the son started ordering instead of the father. I realised that the father was partially deaf after he tapped his son on the shoulder and did what I recognised was sign language. I think he was disagreeing about something the son had ordered. The awesome lady that was serving them must have understood what he was signing because she signed something back and he nodded. And for some odd reason, that stayed with me for a while and will probably stay with me for a life time.

I think it was because I was in a place where there was no judgement. Everyone came from different situations. Everyone was unique. It was nice to be in that environment where I could meet people that were in a familiar situation like me. And to the two little kids that had to learn sign language just to communicate with their father, I wish you the very best of luck with your bright future ♥

I am internally grateful that I have the family and love and support that I have.

Toilet Training

TOILET TRAINING

Dong's Achievements

So recently, Dong has started to use the toilet and receive his 'toilet training'. After weeks and months or urging, he finally used the toilet for the first time.I think this is a great achievement for my brother especially now that he is 4 years old. Before then, we had regular visits from Catherine from Early Intervention Childhood who would always be giving advice and tips on what we as a family could do to help Dong improve.

This:

was given to us by her to help Dong to use the toilet. He now, in fact can go to the toilet himself without assistance from my parents which is a massive step forward. Though, he still has to be reminded to go, so for that, he still is reliant on nappie pants.

Research: Although no statistics have shown yet, but Autistic children tend to learn visually and therefore visual support would help them. Like the picture above, the pictures clearly support the instructions. Autistic children tend to struggle with knowing when it is time to go to the bathroom.

Anyway, I'm glad that Dong is starting to use the toilet. This means, more practice at his childcare as well. My mum have this phrase: "mim mim" which somehow translates into going to the toilet.