He's Your Brother

Michael, 11 has Asperger's Syndrome. Although he is not portrayed as the sibling with autism issues, it is clear from the start that he shares a place on the autism/Asperger's (a/A) spectrum with his 7-year-old brother, Lawrence. Lawrence pronounces his name Orry and is referred to as Orry by his immediate family. Only Jane, 9 is neurotypical. The childrens' father is a professional cellist and appears to be mildly affected; he travels frequently and does not appear to be actively engaged in their lives. Their mother makes blunt statements and belabors a point to death. Although she might not have Asperger's, these behaviors are very typical among the Asperger's population. Michael has an abiding special interest in trains. Not only does he know arcane information about trains from the beginning of railroad history, he admits that he could talk about trains for all day. He even collects oddments from a local railroad to add to his massive collection of train memorabilia. Orry is a very believable character with severe autism; he is marginally verbal and spends time rocking and echoing what he hears. He also likes to "come even" by sitting in a coat closet. He does make overtures to Michael. One day when their mother could not drive Orry to his therapist, Michael takes him there on the train. From that point on, the brothers bond. Orry talks quite well during his session; once Michael learns that Orry can talk fluently, he encourages him to talk more. Since Orry has shown an interest in trains, Michael seizes this as an opening to communication. This is an interesting book, given the fact that it was written in 1974. It is a good story about siblings, two of whom have very different forms of autism. It is possible that many readers might think Michael is the "non-autistic" brother, but that isn't so. Right off the bat it is clear that this boy has Asperger's. In recent years, the genetic link in re autism has been shown and it is not uncommon for more than one family member to have some degree of autism.

This children's story has been written for the family who has been affected by autism. No, it doesn't explain autism itself, but does describe those effects very well on the entire family unit. Cute story, that leads to hope for those affected. I enjoyed the author's exploration of the brother's relationship.

I just finished reading this book. It times it got confusing but it is pretty good.