Brantley's Rebels

Brantley was diagnosed with nonverbal Autism with a slight mental delay (and later on with ADHD) at age 3. He is 12 now and those of you who are around him, know that he has improved tremendously with ABA through the ABC Center and Speech, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy through both the West Texas Rehab and his school.

For the first 6 years of Brantley’s life, Brantley struggled to communicate and use words. It would get to the point where he would have a complete meltdown because no matter how hard he tried, no one could understand him. At 6 years old, Brantley was finally able to say a few words. Those single words turned into short sentences, those sentences, became longer, and then he was finally able to carry on conversations. In just 6 years, he has come from not talking to nonstop talking with an impressive vocabulary for any child his age! He goes on and on about the movies and games he’s going to create when he’s a future game/movie maker. This all happened because he had amazing therapists and family who would not give up on him. I remember when he first said “I love you” without any prompting, words could never explain the amount of joy and pride I got at that very moment. This boy continues to amaze me every single day and with each milestone he passes. Even though he continues to surpass all these milestones, he still faces the social impact that most children/adults who are autistic face. Other children don’t understand why my son gets so easily excited, and that when he does, he makes loud noises, or stims, or just doesn’t seem to know what to do, and because of that, I’ve had to witness many of Brantley’s peers refuse to play with him. I’ve witnessed children going to tell their parents that that boy over there, my son, was weird and they didn’t want to be near him. I’ve seen children just completely walk away from Brantley without giving him a chance to play. He knows he’s different from others, he’s even told me he knows, and I have to remind him that it’s ok, and that it’s boring to be “normal” anyways. I love my son and all his quirks and tendencies he has, and those quirks make him special, and unique. The reason why I Join the walk, is so I can see that there is a community that accepts those like my son. So that I can know that there are people who won’t turn away my son because he’s different. I want my son and others like him to be accepted for who they are, and for others to understand autism, and how it impacts those who are autistic.

Many people, even family members and friends, really do not understand the hardship or the challenges that come with having a child with special needs and do not know much about autism. I am all about AWARENESS and ACCEPTANCE in our community. We are starting with a small goal, believing we are going to reach it... this is not just about raising money, but raising awareness. I am hoping to make this a HUGE walk, friends join, please... friends of friends, and family, please come.