I tweeted yesterday (@bruddajack) about a unique video game developed by Taylan Kay.[1] He is trying to raise awareness about autism. Various headlines describe his effort as follows: Video game that mimics childhood autism;[2] Video Game Recreates the World of Autism;[3] Video Game Developer Tries to Recreate the Autistic’s World;[4] Recreating the world of an autistic person […]
Those of you who have interacted with an autistic person surely understand frustration. Most of my experience is with my low-functioning, nonverbal, autistic brother. However, the fact that he is so much different than other people has probably saved me from even more frustration. It is hard for me to imagine what it must be […]
This is the date I remember as the starting point for the photo project documenting my relationship with my brother Michael. He is low functioning, autistic and nonverbal. Below is an entry from my journal from the day after Mike’s birthday. I cringe a little when I read it. I seem whiny, angry and self-pitying, […]
The journal pictured yesterday was where I first started to gather my thoughts about how to present the relationship between my brother[1] and the rest of my family. The statement of purpose is dated April 1992; my photography began a few years earlier. This journal chronicles visits to Michael’s group home and photographs I took of […]
I started my blog in January of this year (2013), with the intent to focus on different aspects of autism, being a brother of a low-functioning, nonverbal, autistic individual. (This is an appropriate place to thank all of you who have been reading my blog entries. I am deeply grateful for your ‘likes’ and comments.) […]
Review of Part 1: Empirical Evidence Relating Emotion and Expression I briefly reviewed Charles Darwin’s book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. In this fascinating account, Darwin established that expressions are related to mental states and that the nervous system acts on the body in response to environmental stimuli. Through his observations, […]
My brother is nonverbal, autistic and very low functioning. I don’t know if I will ever be able to communicate with him on any level but the most basic, i.e., Food=Good, No Food=Not Good. Thought Experiment If it is true that every person has a mental state of some kind, and that mental states are reflected in […]
Dad was a very smart man. One of his jobs early in his career required him to use ENIAC, the new ‘Giant Brain’[1]. Mom said that everything was air conditioned at his office except where the people were working. He once told me of a conversation he had with John von Neumann, preeminent 20th century […]
I’ve been reading a lot of stories about the success of many parents who have struggled to communicate with their autistic children. It is heartwarming indeed, to know that their efforts and frustrations have culminated in discovering that their loved one is a fellow human being with something to say, something to learn, something to […]
