When my older brother Mike was at home (in the 1950s and early 1960s), our family went on camping trips. It wasn’t easy. Mike was (and is) autistic, low functioning and nonverbal. Mom tried as hard as she could to connect with him, but there was an impenetrable barrier. No one could get through. It was heartbreaking. Mom thought Mike willfully shut her out. That is a difficult conclusion to avoid, given all the love given and effort made to get through.

This is one of my watercolors of Mom and Mike based on an old family photo.

Here is the photo – I am connected to the hand on the left hand side.