Braxton's Story

Family has always been important to me. My sister, Carrie, is sixteen years older than I am. Regardless, she's one of my best friends. When she gave me my niece she gave me another best friend. Chelsea is only a year and a half younger than me. We tell each other everything and I couldn't be luckier to have such a close, reliable family.
When I was nine Carrie had a son. Being the only boy in the family he got spoiled quickly. Chelsea and I would dress him up and make him tag along in every game we played. Little did we know that very soon things were about to change.
When Braxton turned two, he was diagnosed with Autism, a development disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction. That's the Google translation that we got when our parents tired to explain it to Chelsea and I. In lamest terms, Braxton wouldn't turn out like other kids his age. He wouldn't talk as much as the others. He wouldn't make as much sense. He would most likely end up in special classes at school. All of this meant but one thing to Chelsea and I: Braxton wasn't normal.
As we got older it became easier for us to understand just what our parents meant back then. With each year Braxton fell further and further behind in development. He looked the same as everyone else, but we like to believe even cuter. By the age of four Braxton was still not talking, he would only say simple words like "yes," "no," or "mommy" and "daddy." However, this kid was smart. He would lay on the floor for hours, just looking at the video boxes. The next week or so he would be sitting at the computer typing out every video's name and the description of the movie that he memorized from the back. He would memorize every word he could and later he would type them all out on the computer. Needless to say, their computer soon became full with files.

Braxton's now eight years old and it's fair to say that his Autism hasn't held him back. He talks (sometimes too much) and is capable of carrying on conversations. He still loves to write. His new obsession is calendars. He enjoys memorizing special dates like birthdays and holidays. This progressed into him memorizing every family visit (time and date) and on what day of the week my birthday will fall on when I turn 34. His Autism doesn't and will never define who he is. He will continue to grow stronger and who knows, maybe even defeat Autism.