#sibling pride

My sister looking like a stone-cold badass. Sorry for anything I might have done growing up!

I am always afraid to post stuff like this, but I feel that due to the general anonymity of my tumblr account, I can safely post this. Today, I overheard someone say in a sarcastic tone, “What do you do when you have a kid with special needs? Have another kid, obviously!” Clearly, they were talking trash about a parent for having multiple children with special needs. Having an older sibling who lives with autism, I took offense to that. 

So many of my co-workers talk a lot of crap about these kids’ parents. While some of the parents clearly neglect their children (more of a situational thing than being a terrible person), there are many who work their hardest to provide their children with the best possible life. Raising a child living with special needs is an incredibly emotionally taxing and difficult task. 

My parents have received a lot of criticism from others about the way they raised my brother over the years. They have commented about the way he was raised in front of my parents, my older brother and me (seriously). While he has many behavioral things to work on, my parents have always done a great job in assisting with his cognitive and behavioral development at home. Because of my parents’ work with my brother, he never has never had a single cavity; he can recite his siblings’ names, his address, his phone number, and the names of his teachers and aids; he can read extremely well; and he can communicate his needs much better than he could when he was younger. People do not realize that parents in these situations cannot fix everything about their children. Sometimes, it is just who they are. 

While I did not have a typical childhood, and while my parents had to (understandably) sometimes put more focus on my brother living autism, I turned out fine. It can be hard for me, but I am fine. I am doing more than fine. I know I’m fine, and so do those close to me. There is nothing wrong with wanting to have another child if you are perfectly capable of having one. I am actually thankful that my parents chose to have me!

My brother: Why does it have to be 'he'? Shouldn't it be 'one', it's not just boys, right?

Me: Aw yeah bud, that's pretty awesome.

My brother: Just cause I'm a boy doesn't mean I have to be uninformed.