My brother Mike is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal. He was diagnosed shortly after autism was classified in 1952 DSM. Mike was at home until I was 10 years old. My parents then made the decision to send him to Willowbrook where they thought they would take care of him. We visited just about every week.

I originally began blogging in 2013 as a way to tell the story of my family. I gradually focused my attention more on visual self expression. Mike was a very big influence on this part of my life as well.

But Dad never gave up on him.

Once, I thought it was a good idea to bring the violin to Mike’s group home. The underlying idea in my mind was that Mike would recognize Dad’s playing and we would have a great family reunion. (I like to dream.)

Mike gave no recognition, other than one of his stereotypical gestures.