“My autistic brother, written by a 10 year old”

My daughter was asked to write a letter on what Autism Awareness meant to her. This is the letter she submitted to her school in hopes to begin an Awareness Day.

 " Hi, my name is Leah Folgate. I'm 10 years old and in the 5th Grade. I have a little brother. His name is Bradlee, and he has Autism.

What does that mean? It means that he has to work even harder to do things like talk, make friends, learn, and even play with me. Autism is a different, no wrong, way to view the world.

Everyone is different and unique. My hope is that we can help to teach everyone to learn to love what makes us different.

My brother's Autism makes him special and funny. All I want is for him to succeed and stay true to himself. Not to change him, but change how the world views him and others living with Autism. I hope that he will have friends and love school.

That's why Autism Awareness is so important. I knew our lives would be different, having a little brother who has ASD.

My goal is to help change how people view and treat those living with Autism. That people are kind and supportive of their special needs. You can't judge a book by its cover, so I hope people will look past the outward and get to know how awesome kids with Autism really are.... “

Submitted by Amy Folgate

Forreston Illinois