Adhar

When you have a disability, normally you would be sad, and think that you would never be normal. Not my cousin. Adhar, my younger cousin, is autistic. Before he was born, the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and was like that for a few days. When his parents realized that his breathing was slowing down, they went to the doctor and found out the truth. Thus, when he was born, he was autistic and off balance, due to a lack of oxygen.

Now, nine years later, his condition has improved, but a lot of work still remains. Though he is off balance and autistic, Adhar has never lost the light in his eyes. He is working hard to become normal like other kids, improving every day. He is in preschool, however, hardly being able to write and read, but starting to form sentences and walking almost perfectly. Despite his disability, Adhar finds good things in life too, like playing games and such. He laughs a lot and loves fully. With the help of his family, he gets to play games like a regular person.

This August, he and his family flew from their home in India to Oregon for Adhar's therapy. We went there a few days later to surprise his older brother for his birthday. We noticed right away that Adhar was a lot better than when we had last seen him in the previous summer. We played a lot of games, and he eagerly joined in. Adhar can't learn the way we do, but he found his way around it. He taught himself how to do math problems with big numbers in his head in a matter of seconds. We quizzed him with some problems, and he got all of them right. He would also call himself and other people silly, and then laugh, when the person did something stupid. Adhar has learned to live his life to the fullest and is always a positive child. He loves music and plays the Tabla (small drums/ Indian musical instrument). When we lived in California, he used to fall a lot, but most of the time, when he fell, he just laughed, got up, and continued to play with us.

A hero doesn't have to be somebody older than you, nor do they have to be a guy wearing a cape. A hero could be anybody, big or small. Stephen Hawking once said, "It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life, and I haven't done badly." Adhar is a hero and he never feels angry about his disability, but enjoys his therapies and his achievements. From him, I have learned to laugh out loud at anything that stops you or makes you fall, and then get up and carry on with what you are doing. I have also learned from him to think positively about my problems because there are other people in the world who suffer more than me.