In 1998 my youngest brother, Kelton, was diagnosed with autism, a developmental disability that affects communication and social interaction. Autism currently affects 1/88 people in the United States. Kelton is a talented individual who runs cross-country and track, wrestles, plays the drums, loves history, and collects bobble heads and keychains.

This year Kelton decided to enroll in his first art class where he discovered his skill for drawing. His unorthodox style made me reconsider my artwork and examine the differences and similarities that exist between our perspectives. According to Paul Collins’ Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism, artists are four times more likely to have autism in their families. Considering the number of artists in my family, this statistic made me question the similarities that exist between Kelton and me. For this reason, we have decided to draw one of his 6,481 keychains a day for one year. These drawings will be as simple and uninhibited as possible. This project will explore our individual perspectives and examine the similarities that exist between us as artists.

Day 334



I recently started the book House Rules by Jodi Picoult, which is about a teenager with Asperger's who gets accused of murder. I haven't read much, but so far Picoult has done a great job describing classic Asperger's, such as literalness, perseveration, intense interests, need for routine, and social misunderstandings, etc. Besides the plot and protagonist, I also enjoy the chapters that are told by the younger brother, Theo. I like reading his side of the story because it reminds me of my other brother, Camden, and the way he might have felt growing up with a brother with autism. Here are a couple of examples from the book:

"I am supposed to make exceptions for Jacob; it's one of our unwritten house rules. So when we need to take a detour away from a detour sign (how ironic is that?) since it's orange and freaks Jacob out, that trumps the fact that I'm ten minutes late for school. And he always gets the shower first, because a hundred billion years ago when I was still a baby Jacob took the first shower, and he can't handle having his routine messed up. And when I turned 15 and made an appointment to get my learner's permit at the DMV - an appointment that got canceled when Jacob had a meltdown over buying a pair of new sneakers - I was expected to understand that these things happen. The problem is, something happened the next three times I tried to get my mom to take me to the DMV and, finally, I just stopped asking" (11).

"I run interference. I'm the one who physically drags Jacob away from a conversation when he's starting to freak people out by being too intense. I'm the one who tells him to stop flapping when he's nervous on the bus, because it makes him look like a total nutcase. I'm the one who goes to his classes before I go to my own, just to let the teachers know that Jacob had a rough morning because we unexpectedly ran out of soy milk" (12).

Theo's perspective makes me question Camden's and the difficulty of having a brother with autism. It's a hard and atypical relationship, but I hope Cam appreciates Kelt and understands how they both contribute to our family. Kelt wouldn't be as successful if it wasn't for him.
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