My brother, like most peoples brothers or sisters, is annoying as hell.

Sure, sometimes we fight. Even less so now that we’re in our twenties. And his constant chatter about politics and goings on in the world drives me mad.

But I love him.

Not just because he’s my brother and I have to but because I genuinely do. He’s incredibly smart and knows how to build computers were as I can barely switch one on. He loves to play video games, as most guys do, and he enjoys being out in his garden planting flowers and mowing the grass.

My brother has autism.

He’s turning 27 this year and he needs constant care from my mum. He’s not high on the autism spectrum but he has mental health issues on top of that. Depression, anxiety and extreme paranoia.

Ever since I was younger I’ve had to stick up for him because people didn’t understand. They always thought he was a trouble maker. Being a young boy, he probably was but most of what they didn’t understand was his autism. Like most people my brother doesn’t understand when a stranger is joking. He didn’t fully understand sarcasm until he was about 24 and even now he might not. With me and other family members he will understand if we’re joking because we make it obvious enough for him to understand.

Now, I don’t want to bash any family members here but I am just so downright angry with them and I’m really writing this to see if anyone has been in a similar situation.

A family friend made a comment about my brothers parking, his car is his pride and joy, and this woman claimed to be joking. I know this woman very well and she doesn’t have a nice thing to say about anyone. She will say things in a funny and jokey manner but we all know she’s being serious. So when she said this ‘joke’ my brother took it seriously, judging by the look on her face. He then decided to confront her and told her to not speak to him like that to which he got a ‘Fuck off’ and a door in his face. My brother also told her where to go. This woman’s brother then told my brother not to speak to HER like that.

This woman is very close to my grandmother and auntie who live down the street from us and she was quick to call them to let them know what happened, instead of speaking to my mum who is my brothers carer. My mum, later that night, tried speaking to my grandmother about the situation but was told that ‘you are all mad’ so my mum hung up the phone. The next day my brother tried speaking to my grandmother and auntie about it and they said ‘We don’t want to talk about it.’

This isn’t the first time they’ve done this.

So, naturally, like anyone would, my brother got hot tempered and started shouting. And yes, he did name call but he was so angry that his own family wouldn’t listen to him. I would be too, show me someone who wouldn’t! And since then he hasn’t been allowed down to their house. They told my mum they would need a few weeks for things to cool down…

Seven weeks later…

Still no change. They haven’t even asked how my brother is and anytime we mention him it’s quickly moved onto a different subject or goes completely silent. I’m just so disgusted and heart broken for my brother. He only has one friend, and that is a man who used to be his befriender with an autism programme. When the man finished the programme and went onto other things he still saw my brother. And he still does to this day even though he has a son and wife with another baby on the way. This man shows my brother more respect and courtesy than his own family.

I’m not looking for advice on how to deal with my family but if there is anyone out there who has experienced this. Please contact me. I want to know if anyone has had family that’s done this to them and how you’ve handled it.

 

Many thanks for reading.

Much love and Have fun 🙂 x