First things first!

[JoshP]

I might as well break the ice here. My name is Josh. I am the Administrator here at TogetherForAutism.org! I have a 24 year old brother who is affected by autism. I look forward to meeting all of you and learning more about autism! :D

[AutMom]

Josh,
Would love to hear more about your perspective as a brother.

You've put a lot into this website.:)

[AutMom]

[QUOTE=JoshP]I might as well break the ice here. My name is Josh. I am the Administrator here at TogetherForAutism.org! I have a 24 year old brother who is affected by autism. I look forward to meeting all of you and learning more about autism! :D[/QUOTE]
Josh,
You have a 24 year old brother, and I have a 23 year old son. Interesting that we are still learning about autism....

Not sure if you saw my last post on this thread:
(Would love to hear more about your perspective as a brother.)

[JoshP]

Hello AutMom. Apologies for looking over your last post...somehow I missed it. At any rate...I'd love to give you my perspective as a sibling of someone with autism. Not sure exactly what you might be looking for so feel free to ask specific questions.

Growing up with a brother who has autism I believe has been a true blessing. It has taught me more about compassion, sensitivity, and caring than anything else ever could have. Obviously my up-bringing was a bit different than most people who have siblings without any mental handicaps but that was their family and not mine. There is a reason I'm in my family. God didn't put me in it because I couldn't care for my brother or deal with the situations that come with having an autistic sibling. He put me here because he knew it would not only teach me certain things but that I would also be able to handle it. All of my friends have been supportive/understanding of my situation and have also been eager to learn more about my brother and autism. Many stereotypical judgements of people with mental handicaps have been broken down because of people getting to meet my brother.

As you mentioned, I am still learning about autism. I probably won't ever stop learning. And one of the main reasons I started this site was so I could personally learn more as well as help other learn more.

I hope that answered some of your questions. Feel free to ask more! :)

[AutMom]

Thank you - Did you find you grew apart a little as many siblings do as young adults?

Sounds like you've learned a lot from the experience.

My 20 y.o. daughter has started to think about what responsibilities she would like in the future - like guardianship. Have you thought about that?

[JoshP]

I guess you could say we've grown apart. Really just because I'm rarely at home anymore so I don't get to interact with him near as much as before. As far as the future and issues like guardianship...the thought has crossed my mind but I honestly haven't really done much more than that.

[AutMom]

Yeah, my daughter lives away from home now, so there isn't as much interaction between them. She has attended a few of our monthly meetings. It helped her feel more involved.

They sometimes annoy each other as do most siblings.:D