Having a sibling with ASD
Pedro is a sixteen-year-old boy who really enjoys walking down the street, going out to buy sweets, going to the beach and, above all, being with his sisters, Carlota and Gabriela. They sing songs, watch TV together, take him out with his friends, laugh and have fun, "a role that normally corresponds to siblings and not to parents", Carlota tells us. Both she and her sister support their parents in taking care of Pedro, aware that "sometimes they need to rest or are busy, and they need us". But above all, the role they play is that of sisters to a teenager.
Having a sibling with autism spectrum disorder can mean adapting some family dynamics . "We have to pay more attention to him and we can't leave him completely alone," Carlota explains. She and the rest of the family try to give Pedro more and more tools and resources so that he can develop, but he is the one who is gradually assuming and demanding more autonomy . He now goes to school alone, has learned the way to visit his grandmother and last week, he even took the bus to the swimming pool. He also likes to show that he can participate in housework, which is why he occasionally empties the dishwasher and goes out to take out the trash. Small gestures that mean big progress for everyone.
Laura Collado Quífer
Even so, Carlota thinks realistically about the future: "I think, above all, about what will happen when my parents are not there - she confesses to us - because she needs a lot of help and I don't know how the two of us will be able to take care of it. I think about how we can manage it so that she feels accompanied by us, but without this interfering with our professional or personal lives."
For Carlota, having a brother like Pedro has meant “learning that others don’t have”, which allows her to “deal with people with disabilities more easily, have more patience and perhaps also have a more open mind”. She believes that there are people who, when they look at her family from the outside, think “poor people, what a big problem”, but no, for her having a brother with ASD has never been a problem, quite the opposite: “He is a brilliant boy, very affectionate, who loves us all very much and with whom we feel really happy”.
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