Zack Peter - A Shot of Hope: Real Wisdom from a Real Sibling Warrior Providing Real Hope for Autism

Copyright 2014 by Zack Peter

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Print ISBN: 978-1-63144-004-5

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63144-020-5

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

The siblings are our future, the lovely and inspiring Miss Jenny McCarthy spoke to a crowd one day. This woman has made such a social impact that she inspired me to become an advocate myself. They are such amazing sources of love, she continued. And one day, one of those siblings is going to write a book, and that book is going to change the world.

Well, my dear readers, that day has come. And this is that book (at least, I hope so).

Autism shakes up your world. It has changed my life and I wasnt even the one diagnosed with it, athough I did have an asinine science teacher in high school who asked me if I had been. Little did he know my actual story.

I do not have autism, but I am the big brother to, among five others, an incredible (and often mischievous) little boy who was diagnosed in 2005. His full name is Ethan Wolfgang, but we call him Deets (Ill explain why a bit later). He is one of the greatest gifts my family has ever received. And at times, one of the most challenging.

Because of Deets, I live a life that I never could have imagined. Starting at the age of sixteen, Ive written a book, created the Play Now for Autism fund-raising brand, and hosted my own awareness-based talk radio show. It was all because my brother inspired me to make an impact on society. Now, as a young adult in my twenties, my life is nothing short of a blessing. But it wasnt always so easy. There were many early mornings, long days, and late nights. Some were frustrating, some lonely, some filled with triumph, and some filled with tears. This may sound shocking coming from me, a self-loathing leech (as Ive been labeled online) who wrote a book titled When Life Hands You Lemons... Throw Them at People . But if theres anything this journey has taught me, its that I do have a heart.

Autism truly has taught me a lot. Its taught me compassion; its taught me the meaning of hard work; its taught me the value of a sibling bond; its taught me patience (which I have learned is very difficult). Its taught me how to make a really strong drink. Its also taught me how to hold on to hope, even when everything seems to be going wrong, when life has decided you could use a nice rainstorm right after making it out from under the tidal wave by the skin of your teeth. Dont act like you havent been there, because you know you have. Everyone has. No matter how far youve come or what your life tolerance level may be, weve all been pushed past the point we thought had no returnthe point we never imagined we could survive.

It has definitely been a journey. A long one that is far from over, thats for sure. When it comes to Ethan, he is not yet fully recovered. Ill be honest about that. He has his good moments and his bad ones. He never fails to amaze me, though. I am proud of him and so excited to see what the future holds for him, for myself, and for the rest of my family.

Its been a rough road with my family. Some of them support the treatment my mother has chosen for Ethan and others have been very against it, which has definitely caused some friction. But out of it all, life has gone on. We have gone on. I think thats one thing people forget: Autism doesnt stop your regular life from happening. It just adds to it.

I still grew up in a dysfunctional household, and had my own issues as a teenager, in addition to all of the advocacy-based projects I began to take on. When you take a very political world that feeds off controversy, and mix in a very politically incorrect kid named Zack, you have the perfect recipe for one emotionally unstable and slightly neurotic adult with a list of insecurities a mile long. But I chose to not let my brothers autism (or any other life challenges) break me. Instead, I allowed it to empower me. Now this is my journey of coming out of pity and using what Ive learned to build a better life that includes a demanding career and a bright autism-free future for my brother.

I owe a lot to Deets. Every day I get to see my brother grow and improve; it brings joy to my life and makes all the struggles worth it. Its given me that spark of hope that miracles are real and they can happen to anyone, as long as youre willing to accept them.

The road is never easy and always brings strife. Sometimes you have to fight really hard to get to the middle, then try ten times harder than you thought you could to get where you want to be. Or at least somewhere near it. Sometimes, you really do need that drink at the end of a really long day, because Lord knows we deserve it (but less often than we think, Ive learned).

So get ready, because this journey is a wild one. At times it will probably make you cry, but Ill do my best to keep you laughing. At times youll smile, and at others Im sure youll probably gasp at some of the things Ive had the gall to write. Im nearly fearless because of autism. Im not afraid to shake the ground. Im not afraid to stand up for what I believe or against what I do not support. My hope is that by the end of this book, you too will walk away with an ounce more courage to keep going.

Authors note:

I have changed the names of certain persons in this account in order to preserve their anonymity.

CHAPTER ONE

The Game Changer

I was born with a mouth and an ounce of courage, and ever since I can remember, Ive never been shy to use either. At the moment of my birth, my mother was ready to shoot me out, but I was just too comfortable in the water bed of her uterus and refused to be born. Which is why I put up a good fight as they vacuum-sucked me out of her. Basically, Ive always put up a good fight when it came to a worthy cause.

I didnt have your typical normal childhood. Well, with the way things seem to be going nowadays, I guess it wasnt too out of the ordinary. The split household, the alcoholic stepfather, the busy mom, the love/hate relationship with food and dieting, the lack of direction or discipline, the nearly failing out of schoolyou know, the normal first ten years of a childs life.

Without getting into too much boring detail, my parents had me while they were still in high school, split at an early age, and after a couple years, they both got married again and started having more kids. So, most of my time was spent bouncing around from Moms to Dads, to Moms moms and Dads dads, but I was never really anywhere full-time. I assume this is part of the reason I can be so neurotic. There was a real lack of stability and guidance, so I kind of had to find direction on my own. And after a while I became very good at using my mouth and my ounce of courage to provide that direction for others. My mom refers to it as being bossy. I just call it making shit happen .