Saturday, April 30, 2011

When Your Brother Has Autism

As Autism Awareness Month comes to a close, a nice perspective from Patty Hastings, a student at Northwestern University's Medill journalism school.


CHICAGO -- One in 110 people is identified as autistic, up from one in every 10,000 in 1990 — the year my brother was diagnosed. Does the increasing prevalence signal an autism epidemic or, simply, that the autism spectrum is too wide?
"It's supposed to be worse than being blind, not being able to communicate," said my mom, Debbie Hastings.
I wouldn’t know because my older brother, William, can't tell me what it's like to be on the spectrum.
National Autism Awareness Month is coming to a close, but families of people with autism are aware of this pervasive disorder 24/7, 365 days a year.

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