My brother Marty is one of my three brothers with a developmental disability.  My younger brothers had a diagnosis and some services when our mother died, but Marty spent much of his life falling through the cracks.  He got an associate degree but never had a job or a home away from the family farm.  Marty came to live with me, my son, and my husband about six months after Mom died.  With help from my husband who is a doctor we took Marty for some testing and finally in his 40s he had a diagnosis of high functioning autism. 

This was the start of Marty's new life.  He got some job training and never looked back.  After he moved back to Northern, IL he lived for a while with our sister Margaret and brother in law Doug who helped him with his transition to new services with Pioneer Center.  He got some additional job training from Pioneer Center for Human Services and they helped him get a community job and his own apartment.  Fast forward to 2010 and Marty is the treasurer of his self advocacy group, has a community job and advocates for a better living situation for his long term girlfriend Gwen.  Marty and I will present together on sibling issues at the Arc of IL in April. www.sibsnetwork.org

Nora Fox Handler