Roodly's Case Study

When I was younger, I thought my little brother, Roodly, was from another planet. He looked nothing like my parents and I. For instance, the color of his skin is lighter and his nose is flatter than ours. At the age of nine, I made the conclusion that Roodly was adopted because he was so different. Roodly even spoke in an unusual dialect. My parents thought his speech was a phase, but his speech didn’t change. When the school reopened in the fall, his teacher took notice of Roodly’s diction. She realized Roodly communicated with her by mumbling his words. Also, she discerned Roodly rarely made eye contact. In response to Roodly’s behavior, his teacher placed him in a speech class. However the speech class didn’t improve his diction, the class brought awareness to another issue. On November 2006, Roodly was diagnosed with a mild case of Autism; a disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact. Upon hearing the news, the …show more content…
My parents knew nothing about the disorder, so they found it hard to believe Roodly was autistic. I, on the other hand, reacted to Roodly’s diagnosis immaturely. Like my parents, I didn’t know anything about Autism. However, I did know Roodly would be associated with a well-known group at school called ESE. The word ESE stands for exceptional student education, but the students weren’t considered exceptional in their peer’s eyes. For the most part, ESE students consist of students with learning and physical disabilities. Because the ESE students are dissimilar than the other students, they’re more prone to be teased. As much as I didn’t want Roodly being ostracized, I didn’t want to be seen with him on school grounds either. I thought being seen with him would make other kids tease me. Thus, I avoided him at school. I didn’t make eye contact or attempt to talk to Roodly. Surely, I was being immature. It would take a while for me to grow out my