My Brother, is he normal?

Question

I have one brother who is 12 and is autistic. He isnt serverly but he is more intermediate and has learning disabilitys. He is well behaved and quiet but not clever. But really good at memorising clocks. What I want is for him to be able to know the basic stuff, basic money count, division etc --> not no high tech algebra. But even that is really hard teaching him. Same as my younger brother who is 9 (10 tomorrow) and he is on the brink of learning disabillitys. He isnt clever at all. He is in year 5 but is like doing year 3/year 4 work and some year 5 work. It is hard to teach him basic things also. How can we make sure he can be more cleverer. We were thinking of getting him a hometutor, what can we do for the autistic one? I am a fourteen year old girl and I am the eldest and smartest. I get good grades and In my mocks I got level 6,6,6 in my exam. I just want the to be normal.

Answer 1

As a mother of three children with autism I have found teaching them basics by music is the easiest way. There is a company called "Rock N Learn" they have the most wonderful teaching videos. Even my six year old who is the most severe knows her shapes upto decagon, can tell time and knows the value of all coins and how to make a dollar with different change.

I understand why you would want them to be normal. But you should want them to be happy. You don't have to be normal to be happy. Sometimes I believe they are more normal then we are.

Answer 2

It's wonderful that your brothers have such a caring sister! To begin with, there is no such thing as 'normal'. What is important is that your brothers are able to reach their potentials and to live a satisfying life. As human beings, e all have our own strength and weaknesses. Even those with autism and learning disabilities have strengths to build on. It is important to use each person's strength to the best advantage, and work on helping with areas that are not as strong. Your autistic brother may have great memorization skills and areas of interest that can help motivate him. I'm not sure what the younger one's strengths are,but they also can be used to help motivate him to do better. The best thing you can do for both of your brothers is to continue to love and support them for the unique people that they are.

Answer 3

You are a very caring young lady, may i say,I have worked many many years with Autistic people, and have learnt very early on, that the Autistic person, when you get to know them, is very special in many ways, people often misunderstand this conidtion, because they do not undertstand it.With autisum, the person always has one or two very clever traits, far cleverer than, shalll we say "the norm"unfortunately they dont seem to be able to hold the concentration for any period of time, but the best advice i can give, is nurture their quality, encourage this in them, applaud them when a new activity arrives, this will encourage them even more. never try to give them too much to do. at any one time,when they are having a bad moment, just let them get rid of their anger and frustration, and just keep giving them the support that you already have for them, We know they are never going to be any different than they are, just work at the things they show they are good at.. god bless you sweatheart, your doing well.