Autism

[~.:Sunfur the Loyal:.~]

I'm sure you've all at one time or another heard about my brother. I've complained endlessly about him, (sorry) but I think it's about time I've explained /why/ he causes stress.

Some of you may know, but he's on the spectrum. In other words, he has autism. (The 'on the spectrum' is because there's a huge range in autism) Wikipedia describes autism as 'a brain development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior' Sometimes it can be accompanied by repetitive behavior (OCD - I'll get into it later), but I don't think it has to be.

My brother is on one of the lower ends of the 'spectrum' (lower means less functionality), which means that, in a nutshell, he needs to be looked after all the time. He won't ever be able to function on his own. My brother in particular has some OCD and some ADHD. (And something else that I can't remember the name of)

However, I'll start with the base problem. Autism. It severly restricts brain development, but it varies (as shown by the spectrum analogy) between social development, intellectual development, and both. My brother in particular has no social skills /and/ is intellectually challenged. He has limited language skills and has issues learning & retaining the information he does get. We're trying to balance the chemicals by giving him a lot of medication, even I don't know all of it, but it doesn't help a lot.

Second factor is ADHD, short for Attention Defecit HyperActivity Disorder. In Kevin (my brother), it manifests itself in impulse control. If he's angry, he'll act in violent ways that he'll regret later. Ever wanted a cookie or something but decided it'll give you a stomachache and decided against it? He'd go for it. (Which is ever so useful since he has food sensitivities.)

Next is OCD, short for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Remember in The Incredibles where the small office guy is ordering his pencils straight when Mr. Incredible bursts in? Organization to a tee is sometimes a symptom of OCD. (My brother likes hiding my clothes to clean my floor.) As well, Kevin focuses on one thing in particular, and he WANTS it. Enough to throw a temper tantrum over it. For example, every day when we drive to his camp, we see these car dealerships. And you know those triangular flags that usually decorate the outside? There's a particular one (flashy streamers to be precise) that he LOVES and throws temper tantrums if he doesn't get.

Which brings us into the unnamed thing he has. Long story short, he gets highly stimulated by lights and sounds - as long as he controls them. You'd think that disco lights & loud parties would be his heaven, but they're too sudden, unpredictible. You know how on Barney the dinosaur stuffed thingymabobber comes alive with a magic noise and sparkles? He'll replay it over and over. Same with a certain sound, and then (the best part) he'll repeat certain sounds over and over. So essentially we hear the same thing over and over and over. The streamers reflected lights, that's why he liked those.

So what does this mean for me? I basically have to avoid anything that'll set him off to avoid a major meltdown. And even if we do that, there's still a couple variables left. One of which is the weather; 3 of 4 people in my family get nasty headaches when the pressure changes. A normal person would take an advil and move on, Kevin tries to bang it out of his head. And on top of that, he'll have meltdowns if he's made anxious by people who don't know how to deal with him.

So it's only a little stress in my life! XD That's constantly in the background, ON TOP of social issues, school issues - and doesn't go away in the summer. So pretty much, since I know him best (and my parents are working) the task of looking after him falls to me. Lately, and we don't know why, he's been a bit more agitated, and I've been noticing some less-than-pleasant symptoms in myself.

Not sure why I typed all of that up. Well, that's a lie, really. I wanted to vent a little bit, let you guys know what my life is /really/ like. People at my school often think that 'she's too happy to have anything wrong in her life'. And although I personally don't have Autism, I almost feel like I do because of the repercussions.

We're not sure what causes autism. But there's a theory going around that it has to do with the immune system of babies when they get their first vaccines. It easily could have been me. But the scarier thing is that if I get vaccines (I've ever only had 1 that I can remember), they could affect the likelyhood of my children having autism with or without the vaccines they get.

So I just wanted to vent. Thanks for reading if you got this far down. If you have any questions about any of the disorders I mentioned above let me know - I'm happy to answer any and all questions. <33

[`ˆ´ v î ø l é t `ˆ´]

Awh, dear, I'm so sorry about your brother (though I already knew). I didn't really connect the dots and realize how hard it must be for you. But if there is anyone that can do this, it's you.

Don't forget to make time for yourself as well hun<3. Everyone needs a break and I'm sure your parents and your brother will understand.

I'll pray for you and your family, love.

[Whitestar``]

Aw, I'm sorry Sunny. I know it must be hard. At the Church I used to go to there was this little kid named Jake. He has a mild form of Autism, but he is fantastic. He is a great public speaker, and loves to talk. But he has issues when he doesn't get what he wants and when people touch him, he screams. Insanely loud in front of every one, and it's very high pitch. Although I may not have to take care of him, I realize that his parents have a very rewarding, yet tough job. So, your fantastic Sunny <33.

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[~.:Sunfur the Loyal:.~]

Thanks for the support guys. <333


Alright, so we have an update on my brother. We have a doctor for him in the 'States, and we talk to him through phone conferences. (Well, that's a lie, my parents do.) Anyways, he had to get some dental stuff done in June, and of course they can't do it when he's awake, otherwise he'd have a fit, so while he was knocked out, we did some blood work and had it sent to the lab.

And the results were surprising.
So basically the ones I knew about were food allergies - and there are a /lot/, and even more sensitivities.

Here's where it gets interesting, and I can sound all smart.
So when he was (Well, we were) babies, Kevin would drink milk (obviously), and soon after he'd start to giggle hysterically, so much that he'd fall over. Your first thought was probably 'Woah, drunk baby', and that's true.

What happens is that when he took milk in, it went down to the gut, and the gut broke it down. But Kevin has a lot of yeast in his system (fed by sugar) and that made his gut more porous. So that means that the molecules that got out were bigger. Those pieces happen to be the size that fits right in to cause a chemical reaction. That chemical reaction is pretty much morphine. So, every time my brother had milk, it was causing a morphine reaction. Also, he really likes sugar, juices, etc, which feeds the yeast, (I think. Either that or creates that morphine reaction. In any case, it's addictive.)

So, the logical reaction would be to get rid of yeast completely. Okay, let's say we do that. Yeast is constantly dying, and when it does, it releases toxins. In my brother, this shows in stimmy-ness and I think crankiness/OCD. So, it'll get worse before it gets better.

And it gets even better.
The opposite to adrenaline is something or other, I forget the name. This hormone is to counteract the effects of adrenaline, and yet, my brother doesn't have this hormone. That's why he's really hyper & bouncy & all that jazz.

There's more, but I'm too tired to remember it if I have been told it yet or not. ><