Yesterday’s portrait showed my brother Mike’s* rage at himself. His self harm would usually involve hitting his head, biting his hand and slamming his arm into his chest. I mentioned yesterday that, when I was growing up in the 1950s and 60s, I was not frightened of him. Maybe I should have been. Mom told […]
I’ve mentioned before that both my parents loved music. Dad let my older brother Mike* play on the piano and I’m sure they played classical music records all the time when he was around. For a time Mike responded. I’m told he could hum entire movements from symphonies. By the time I came on the scene, Mike […]
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 […]
I’ve been looking though the photographs I took of Mike when he was at his group home. I used to visit fairly often with my parents in the 1990s. We would often take walks through the nearby park. I always had my camera with me. Mike is my older brother. For many years I took […]
I’ve been working from and old family photograph of my mother and older brother, Mike*, taken in the late 1950s when our parents took us on a camping trip (see Portrait, Mike and Mom, Abstract Portrait Mike and Mom, Mike – Close Up, Continuing to Abstract). Yesterday I created the beginning of a watercolor that […]
I just had time today to do a couple of sketches and the beginnings of a watercolor. I am continuing to work on the photograph Dad took of Mike* and Mom, during a camping trip in the late 1950s. I paid attention to that great Bauhaus Master, Paul Klee’s advice: to take my pencil point […]
I’m still investigating the photograph my Dad took of Mike and my Mom. I estimate the date of the photo as circa 1958. Mike is my older brother who is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal. We used to go camping. Mike was a handful, I don’t know how my parents took us all (Mike, Dave, my […]
Many thanks to you who read Part 1 of my book proposal and to those who responded with comments and suggestions. In Part 1 of my proposal I noted: The provisional title – My Brother Michael; The goal – share my experience as a sibling of a low functioning, nonverbal autistic individual; A synopsis of […]
Many of you who follow my blog are aware that my older brother Michael has been a profound influence on my life. He is autistic, nonverbal and very low functioning. Since 1989, Mike’s 40th birthday, I took hundreds of rolls of film of him in his group home, on outings and at his Day Program. […]
I painted the watercolors below based on photos I took during my last visit to see Mike (note – be aware that there may be triggers in this post. I was very emotional at the time), which was two years ago. Mom was still alive and Dave, my younger brother was able to attend as well. […]
