"Let us not look back in anger
or forward in fear, but around in awareness.... --James
Thurber"
Below is some information that I think you, the brothers and
sisters of children with Autism or Autistic Spectrum disorder, may find
useful.
I hope it helps!!!!
 
How do I explain my Brother's/Sister's
Autistic Spectrum Disorder to other people like my friends?
First
of all think about what you want to tell other people and give it a "name" or
"description" like ....
"My brother has a disability called Autism that
makes him a bit different from us" or "My brother has a problem communicating
(which means speaking)"
Then you need to explain what this means which
can be really hard so you could say something like .....
Tell them that
they cannot "catch" autism from your brother or sister because it is a
disability NOT an illness.
That your brother or sister may look like they
are being naughty but they really aren't because they don't always know how they
should behave like you do.
That they need to be patient with your brother
or sister as they may not know that they are interrupting you and may seem very
rude but they really don't mean to be.
That it would be nice to ask your
brother or sister to play with you because this would help your brother or
sister. BUT also say that your brother or sister may not want to play with you
because he or she likes to play on his/her own a lot because they can find it
too hard to understand what they are supposed to do.
That your brother or
sister might ignore what they are saying because they may not realise that you
are speaking to them so it would help if they say your brother or sister's name
first when they speak to them BUT they still might not talk back because they
find it hard to have a conversation and if something else catches his/her
attention he/she will start thinking about that instead.
Also try to say
something nice about your brother or sister like ...
"Joe is really good
at ....." (computer games/counting/reading or what ever your brother or sister
is good at)
I am sure you can think of lots of nice things to say even if
sometimes your brother or sister makes you mad or upset.
©2003 & Beyond
|
