When I was little I asked my mom, when will my brother be normal? I did not understand what it meant to be disabled. My little brother has fragile x, which means that he is mentally about 5 years old and is going to be like that for the rest of his life. Other than that, he doesn’t have any physical limitations. He goes to a school dedicated to other kids like he is. The fact that he is in a very different level in knowledge doesn’t bother him. He doesn’t feel shame about being himself. I have slowly realized how pure and great of a teacher he is.
I used to feel ashamed of him when we were in public. Like when we were in some show or other situation where you can clap your hands, he would loudly cheer and even stand up. He is free from thinking too much about things and just does whatever he likes. And that’s awesome.
He is always present. Doesn’t matter what the situation is, he is aware and present in it. When he’s happy he will laugh and smile, when he is sad or anxious he lets it all out. Sometimes it’s hard to look when he is sad, because he doesn’t communicate with speech so well. It’s difficult to have a conversation about deep things, but he surely will listen to you if you talk to him about ambulance, police cars or fire trucks. He loves them.
Love is human true nature. My brother loves unconditionally. It doesn’t matter who you are, how you dress, what your career is, he will love you just because you are nice. He doesn’t judge.
Life is simple. When he was on summer holiday at our grandmother and grandfather’s place he truly enjoyed his stay. Everything he loved was there: food, attention from the elders, a bicycle, safe and quite road to drive it and tractors. In this busy life that we are living he shows how simple and easy life can be. Just the smallest things can bring him so much joy.
Every person has their own personal talents. He likes to play music and sing, not many disabled people are as good to follow melody as he is. Also, he enjoys making announcements like they do in trains and planes. He can also change the tone of his voice and sometimes I have thought that there’s stranger in our house, but it was just my brother.
Many times people don’t know how to be normal around a disabled person. It’s true that they are some way different, but it doesn’t mean they don’t understand. If you don’t know how to react, please don’t at least bully or do other mean things to them. Disabled people are so vulnerable that they may not be able to defend themselves or even tell about what is hurting them. Please be open, kind, understanding and loving to all humans, not just the people you are comfortable with. Show the example to others who don’t know that yet. You have the knowledge and wisdom and love to be kind to everyone.