Suvi Pandey

Suvi lives in India with her brother, Vinayak, who has autism. Both her and her brother are adults, and she is 11 years older than her brother.

When Vinayak was born, I was probably the happiest person in the world. He completed our family, he took our happiness to an all new level. What hit us really hard is that he was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 and a half years old. We initially misunderstood it as hearing disability, but it was clear later on. Vinayak and I had a very different relationship albeit the strongest one you can ever imagine. The society always looked at him with pity in their eyes. What they don't see is the smile plastered on his face, his strong personality and his mind sharper than many "normal" people. When people ask me, how will be adjust to the world? They will feel defeated when my little brother can do so many things they can't. He can solve a 100+ pieces puzzle within 3 minutes; he is a baking master. To top it all, he won a gold medal for sports at school. Just when Vinayak and I were leading a normal life, we lost our father four years ago, when he was 15 years old. During this time, he showed so much endurance, stability, and maturity. He kept us strong through those times, far beyond what a "normal" person can do. He performed all the rituals, with a smile on his face, he expressed emotions in his own beautiful way.

He recently passed his 10th grade, another achievement to all his others. Plus I can see some fashionista vibes in my little teenager man. He does not suffer from autism, but he will suffer from the way you treat him. Hence, I try to create as much awareness on autism that can help autism acceptance. He is different, not less. He has taught me more about life than anyone else in the world ever will. As the saying goes, hope is a rope that will swing you through life. I don't know what the future holds, but with him in my life, I will be just fine!!

Behind every autistic child is a family that stood by him/her rock solid.

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out” - Dr. Seuss