He's Normal to Me.

For as long as I can remember, I always heard people talking about how my little brother was different. He didn't play with other kids, didn't start talking till he was 3 years old and he sat in the corner with a string and bounced it around while humming to himself. But he was happy.

When he started school, I always heard everyone say that he never had any friends and his humming was starting to disrupt other kids. Even though I was young, I had always noticed the doctors and special teachers around all the time for him.

Sooner or later, I learned that my brother was what they called "autistic". It was only when I got to grade 4, and we began to share a school. He was in grade 1 now. I had seen him once at recess and he was playing all alone, but he didn't look sad about it. He was still happy.

When he got to grade 4, I was in grade 6 and it was only then when I started hearing other kids call him weird. This bothered me. What were they talking about? My brother wasn't weird! He had these cute little things of his own that made him my brother, and with his great marks and little knacks for math I think he's the smartest person in the world.

Maybe he thinks a little differently then you, but I'd like to see you last a day in his head.

There is nothing wrong with my little brother.
He's all I know. If your brother is the kind that bugs you, gets into your things, invades your space and has lots of friends over then your brother is 'weird' to me.
My brother is perfect,
he has always been normal to me.

Daniel McKnight
Ontario, Canada