If you were to look at my family, you would just think of them as normal people. But what’s on the inside is unique. What I mean by this is if you have a medical condition like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), then you look normal, but act differently and feel differently to others. Everybody in my family has a condition. Let me describe to you why my family is unique.
All families are unique, but families that have lots of people with conditions of all kinds is more special than what you think. As I said before, most people in my family have something that makes them unique. Take me for example. I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and anxiety issues. If you don’t know what that condition is, it means I have difficulty with concentration and following instructions. I may be different, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do great things. Take my Mum and Dad for example, Mum has something wrong with her blood, yet she supports children who have special needs with their education. My Dad has had appendix cancer, yet he helps people to speak and learn to communicate as a speech pathologist. My brother has ADHD, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and Autism. The reason my brother and I have problems is because we were born early. I was 36cm and weighed 605 grams when I was born but dropped to 520 grams a week later. I was this small because I was born 3 months and one day earlier than what I was supposed to. My brother was born at 33 weeks and 4 days gestation, weighing 1.53 kilograms.
Although being born early is hard, it doesn’t mean we can’t support each other. Our family has learnt to build on each other’s strengths and cover each other’s weaknesses. An example of this is that I’m not very organized but my Mum is, so she helps me be organized by providing timetables and schedules to follow. Also, my brother isn’t the best at writing and reading but my Dad is, so he helps him read and write. Mum and Dad also work as a team to complete all the housework and take my brother and I to appointments and extracurricular activities that keep us active and safe. Our family is a family of survivors. Our medical issues don’t stop us. Despite the challenges we have, we support each other to try our best and never give up.
It’s not just my immediate family that supports me. My grandparents also support me by sometimes picking me up from school, and sending gifts and cards to encourage and show their love for me. Other members of my family support me too. My aunties and uncles support me by organizing play dates and babysitting us. My cousins also support me by playing with and treating me like an ordinary person.
My family is also unique because they come from all around Europe. My ancestors come from Ireland, Denmark, Wales, France, and Cornwall. Some of my ancestors migrated to Australia to escape from poverty either as a child or an adult. My uncle has Aboriginal heritage. My uncle’s ancestors were special because they were in Australia long before us. They dated back thousands of years ago and shared their traditional ways with others. Their traditional ways have only been passed through because people believed that even though they were different, they could make a difference.
All my ancestors supported each other through their hard times in life, and because of this they taught generations after them to do the same, which was finally passed down to me. As you can see, my family is unique in lots and lots of ways, but we still make positive changes in the world.
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