My Autistic Brother

Lately the advice I've been giving to some people is to seriously think about getting a different diagnosis. Autism is a spectrum and everyone's different is the common belief, but I've noticed that people seem to give out the Autism and ADHD diagnosis quite a bit because it's so broad. It's like how certain doctors will prescribe pills for depression even though the person might not have depression.

What I'm basically saying is that a high-functioning autistic, or basically any autistic person above low-functioning, will do fine in life and people really shouldn't worry about them nearly as much as they do. But, if a kid or an adult is misdiagnosed as having autism when they actually have something like bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia, then they could spend years not getting the help they need, and actually getting prescribed medicine that does a lot more damage than people would like to admit.

But, in all seriousness, everyone has a solution and everyone has an opinion on kids with autism and developmental disorders, everyone seems to have experience with them as well, and all of the advice you receive on how to deal with kids like that will be different with a handful of common threads in the advice. I can't tell you the correct things to do because there is no correct answer, and there likely never will be. There's no special formula for raising children to be productive members of society that works 100% of the time. People aren't machines, people are mindless animals that need to be trained, people aren't puppies that need to have all of their needs taken care of from the moment they're born until the moment they die. Every person is unique, and their struggles are unique, and we need to treat them that way. Not as 'special snowflakes' but simply 'snowflakes'.

Just my two cents.

 

He won't end up like Chris. You have to fall into impossibly specific circumstances to end up like Chris.

 

I'd like to thank everyone for giving me all this very helpful information. Just to make things clear, my brother is currently not seeking any professional help. I'm not sure why, but the main reason is likely because his parents just aren't in a good place financially. It's also possible they just don't think he should have professional help. I feel a bit uncomfortable about asking to get him help, but I'll still consider doing it.

 

Show your parents chris chan and explain to them what not treating is what led to chris. I only say that for them saying he shouldnt have professional help

 

Asking a 13 year old to do anything and getting results is near impossible. Asking your brother to seek professional help IS going to be impossible.

Since he is a minor only your parents can get him help, minors are generaly not listened to for a "self diagnosis".

Showing your parents chris would be a wake up call. But as his brother the best advice I can give you is, don't be like Bob and barb.

 

I was thinking of just showing them in chronological order, but now I really think I should. Thing is, I they think might just get mad/assume it's fake. They seem to have a bit of a prejudice against the Internet sometimes.

 

Show the documentary

 

Far better idea