I’ve been doing some reading about stimming. In a previous post, I speculated whether my brother, diagnosed as autistic, profoundly retarded and nonverbal, was a ‘stimmer’. Although he doesn’t engage in much repetitive behaviors, he performs certain ‘trademark’ actions quite frequently. For instance, he will slap his head, often while biting his hand; he smacks […]
I’ve always tried to be a doer. This might have resulted from my attempts to help my mother with my nonverbal older brother, diagnosed with autism and profound retardation, I don’t know. Since the focus of my blog is to address my problems and attitudes from the perspective of a sibling of an autistic brother, […]
It’s funny how words can change meanings over the years. During my childhood, most of the attention went to my older brother, who was diagnosed with autism and profound retardation in addition to being nonverbal. Mom would take us into New York City every day and drop me off with a family friend while she […]
Touching has always been an issue for me. I don’t exactly know why. I want to explore touching in the context of autism. My older brother has a diagnosis of autism and profound retardation he is also nonverbal. His hands are delicate. He often holds them in a position, not unlike the way some people […]
I came across some notes I made about Michael during one of the assessments done by his group home staff. Mike is my older brother who is autistic, profoundly retarded and nonverbal. Everybody seems to like him, though. It is eye opening to see him from the perspective of non-family members. Outsider view This is […]
Photographs lie My first inkling that photographs do not tell the truth came from a conversation with Mom. “Michael never really was like that,” she used to say about some of the old snapshots we would look at now and then. It wasn’t too often, because it was painful for her to remember. There was something […]
I’ve heard a lot about ‘stimming’ but have not taken the opportunity to read up on it yet, aside from looking up the definition. Stimming is short for ‘self stimulation’ and is manifested in repetitive movements, typically seen in autistic individuals. Like my posts on facilitated communication, I want to relate my personal impressions and […]
My Dad was a theoretical physicist, and was always open to answering any questions that I had. I owe my father a great debt of gratitude for his voracious appetite for life. Some of that rubbed off. I am reminded of him because I just found something interesting in one of my journals from 1993. […]
In my post on facilitated communication (FC), I mentioned that I had not done much research on the topic. I presented my impression of it on the basis of a trial run with my brother, Michael. For those of you who have not been following my blog, Mike is my older brother who is autistic, […]
My search to understand my older brother, Michael, who is autistic, very low functioning, and nonverbal has led me in many different directions. I have read about epistemology, the study of what is knowable; theories of consciousness; anatomy of the brain; principles of neuropsychiatry to get some idea of what could be going on in […]
