This is a true story of inspiration about my little brother Ryan. When Ryan was 2, the doctors diagnosed him with autism, and told my mother that she would never see him have friends, he would never be a part of the family and would never tell her he loved her. The diagnosis was grim and Autism wasn't well known. As a single mother of four in a small town with little outside resources, my mother worked her hardest to raise Ryan like any other normal kid. She demanded a regular school curriculum with a teacher's aide. When Ryan entered middle school, he took the attention of the high school basketball coach, who asked him to be the team manager when he hit 9th grade. Ryan spent his first two years of high school in a slow learner's curriculum, but at the end of his sophomore year his teacher retired, and told my mother she felt Ryan was ready for regular school. He did his last two years of high school in regular courses and graduated on the Honor Roll. He also served as lunch help in the cafeteria washing dishes for a small salary. Ryan then went to "college", which was a series of courses at the local career center based around life skills and job skills. Despite being autistic, he was able to lead a normal life throughout school and graduated as one of the most popular kids in his high school.
Ryan turns 23 this fall. The local disability centers has him hired temporarily as an office help, and he also has a full time job at an eye doctor's as office help. Although he lives with our mother, he is fully able to live on his own, and has spent weekends alone in the house cooking his own meals on the stove.
Autism often comes with a grim diagnosis and the promise of a difficult life, but it doesn't have to be if you don't want it to be. Ryan is one such case. (Video - local news, 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eE3r0vRqrA)
Coshocton, OH
