Autism Involvement in Society Essay

My cousin is my age, he is a freshman in high school to be exact. He loves to plays video games, He hates homework. He is a great student, gets all A’s in his classes and hangs out with friends. He is very good at playing the bass (stringed instrument), although he cant keep his concentration very long. You see my cousin has autism. He shows great courage in the face of adversity. Vijay Barona was diagnosed with autism when he was three years old. And he hasn’t haven’t had the easiest time with it. Autism is known as a complex developmental disability. Experts believe that Autism presents itself during the first three years of a person’s life. The condition is the result of a neurological disorder that has an effect on normal brain function, affecting development of the person’s communication and social interaction skills. â€Å"I had great trouble in school’ says Vijay ‘ concentration was the hardest part† He talked about how school work became harder to do as he got older. My parents did help me through it. They got a teacher to come to my house when I was little for some extra help in coping with autism. Vijay had lived in Atlanta, Georgia till he was 9, the moved up into Indianapolis, Indiana. What made this even more challenging? â€Å"Moving up north made this adversity more challenging for me.† Being a new kid at a different school is hard for anyone to go through. â€Å"I always knew something was wrong with me, I was different from the other kids and they never really liked me either† says Vijay. Being as I am now has made me realize how much I had gone through to get where I am now. I was bullied in school. Just because I had autism, and just because I was different. I didn’t act like the other kids or think in the same way as they did. That’s when I knew that I didn’t fit in. Did you ever feel like giving up? â€Å"Yes I always wanted to move back to Georgia,† said Vijay. â€Å"No one really knew about it except my sister. I never talked to anybody about what was going on in my life.† Did this ever stop? He did have a girl in the same grade a while back stick up for him. She really helped him get through bulling. â€Å"It gained me confidence to actually do something about it, Eventually its stopped.†