Braxton's Improvement

This weekend Braxton came over for a visit. It was a full house with my brother, his wife, and two kids, and my sister, her husband, her daughter, and Braxton. It seems like everytime Braxton comes over, it's amazing how much he has improved since the last time I saw him. He talks a lot more and is interested in what people have to say. A year ago, we would never expect anything like this from him. A year ago Braxton would hardly even make eye contact with anyone and the only time he spoke was to get someone's attention. It truly is amazing how fast he is improving with all the medicine and the diet he's on. Now that he's improving as much as he is, I think it is likely that Braxton may end up just like every other "normal" kid his age.

"Warning: Braxton's Butter"

Every family meal we have together my mom has to be careful about what she fixes because Braxton has a broad list of thing he can't have. My sister has him on a gluton free diet. This means that Braxton can't have diary, breads, sugar, or anything that has gluton in it. Diets like these are supposed to lower the Mercury level in the brain which is associated with Autism. It's a pain in my mom's neck everytime she has to fix dinner for everyone, but it has made such an aprovement for Braxton.

We even have a drawer in our refridgerator for Braxton with things like dairy-free butter (yeah, there's such a thing) that's labled "Warning: Do Not Eat!! Braxton's Butter." I tried it on accident once... it's quite disgusting.

To be Care-Free

"Autism is about having a pure heart and being very sensitive… It is about finding a way to survive in an overwhelming, confusing world… It is about developing differently, in a different pace and with different leaps."



I can't imagine living in a world where everything seems overwhelming and confusing. A world where everyone is constantly judging me because I'm different and it's obvious. It's sad to me to think that this is the world that Braxton must live in every day. Mustn't he notice that he's different? Mustn't he care? I'm not so sure he even notices and I know for a fact that he wouldn't care if he did. I think this goes for all Autistic people. They all seem so independent. It must be inside them. Sure, they're dependent on others, like we all are. But there's something so different in them that makes them so care-free. Autism doesn't have to be defined with all negative details and explanations; there's some good in there too.

"He's Autistic."

So, I figure it'd be a good thing to explain a little more on what exactly Autism is. I know so much about it that I no longer have to use Google to help me out.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It's a mouthful to say, but breaking down the word can help you to understand its meaning. 'Neuro' refers to the nervous system, in this case the brain. Attach this to 'development' and you can figure that Autism can easily be defined as a disorder that effects the development of the brain. This explains to me why Braxton sometimes has trouble understanding simple things and why he is slow with some of his motor skills.
Sounds pretty basic so far, huh? However, Autism is a complex disorder. If it wasn't, we'd have a known cause of it and a cure for it by now. What makes it so complex (besides the fact that we know little about the cause) is the effects this disorder has on the brain.
I'm going to use Braxton as an example for this. When Braxton gets frustrated (and it's not hard to frustrate an Autistic child) he stims, or tenses up and moves his fingers in an uncontrable way. When this happens he often squeals jibberish in a high-pitched voice and rocks back and forth. Stimming is extremely common in Autistic children. It may look funny to other kids his age and gets people's attention in public, but it's just one thing associated with his Autism that is uncontrable.
He stares off in space with a glazed over look in mid-sentence. He runs off in a store when our backs are turned. He yells in pain everytime the air conditioner kicks on because it "hurts his ears." All these things that Braxton does can be explained with one sentence: "He's Autistic."
It hurts everytime we're out in public and people stare at him in curiousity. It's embarrassing even. However, Braxton doesn't care one bit; he still flashes a smile when he makes eye contact with them. And that's why he's such an amazing kid. I'll never be embarrassed when I wear my Autism Awarness necklace or drive around with my Autism magnent plastered on my car. I'll do it any day for Braxton.

Socks, Water, and Calendars

Ever met a six year old that was obsessed with socks? How about a five year old overly interested in water? An eight year old who memorizes dates in calendars? Stumped? I imagine.

Braxton differenteiates people by whether or not they're wearing socks. "Megan's wearing socks. But not on March 12th. She wasn't wearing socks that day!" Or like the time he met my friend, Cayla: "Cayla's got her socks on! Cayla's got her socks on!" He refuses to drink water because he'd rather stare at it. He remembers the last time our family got together, including the time each family member left.

He's unique in every way and  never fails to make me smile.

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.