Walking in his shoes: The life of a student with Autism

During my visits to the healthcare center I was fortunate enough to meet so many inspiring students coming from a variety of backgrounds, each with their own unique stories but there was one story in particular that stood out to me. It was the story of one of the older students there who had never failed to impress me with his intelligence and prevalent knowledge in the area of money management so much so that I would even rely on him at times to help some of the other students better understand certain topics they had difficulties with. 

As I continued to observe him I grew all the more curious about his story and was desperate to find out about it. I was not prepared for what I heard. 

The student, who wheelchair never held him back from learning more, had a tragic story that had shaped him into the self-sufficient man that he was now. At the age of 19, he lost his mother and soon after he would also lose his father. It was his father’s dying wish that he would always be taken care of even after they both passed away. Even though he had a brother, who he would eventually end up living with, he didn't really have any family to lean on for support because his own brother was deeply consumed by alcoholism. 

With all these deeply tragic truths in mind, his father decided to rely on his son’s teacher to take care of his son after he had departed. In his heart, he knew that his son would be left alone with no one to understand his unique needs, leaving his pleads as his last words.

He currently still lives with his abusive brother who intends on kicking him out of his home and is heavily reliant on the staff at the healthcare center to tend to his daily needs from feeding him to keeping track of his medical checkups. His story is not dissimilar to that of countless other people in the country that suffer from autism and it is one that to this day still brings tears to my eyes.