Which is fine, of course. Kids are going to notice things like this and it's our responsibility as their grownups to make sure they get the information they need in order to be a good friend/sibling/partner in crime. So it was with this in mind that I went out and bought a book for him, called "Everybody is Different. A book for young people who have brothers or sisters with autism."
I haven't really had a chance to go through it yet, but it seems like a very sweet book, with sections titled "the three characteristics of autism," "odd behaviours" (it's British) and "so how are you feeling?" As I browsed through the chapter titles, thinking about how I was going to be reading this with Child 2 at some point in the near future, I thought: Why isn't there a book I can read to Child 1? Surely Child 1 has, also, noticed his brother's seemingly odd behaviours? How come he doesn't get a book I can read to him, to explain HIS brother?
So I've decided to flesh out an outline of this new book that needs to be written. Maybe somebody with actual writing skills can help me make this thing a reality.
Part 1: What is "being neurotypical"?
a. Why are some people neurotypical?
b. General behaviours
c. Is there a cure for being neurotypical?
Part 2: Odd Behaviours
a. Why doesn't my brother or sister ever stop talking?
b. Why does my brother or sister want to play with other kids?
c. Why doesn't my brother or sister like BART trains?
d. Why does my brother or sister keep asking me questions when I don't want to answer them?
e. How can my brother or sister be in the same room with parmesan cheese and not want to throw up?
f. Why doesn't my brother or sister understand how awesome elevators are?
Part 3: So how are you feeling?
a. What you can do
b. Will my brother or sister always be like this?
c. Does your brother or sister ever embarrass you?
What do you guys think? Can you think of anything I left out?
Here, I got us started with a cover:
