I hope this is the right place to ask this. I'm beginning to think that DB is autistic. He's 49. I think that by exploring this I might begin to see him and my family in a different light.
As a child he would be always fighting at the slightest provocation and he hit hard and he meant it. He is still not very far away from a fight as a 49 year old adult. He would run away from school whilst at primary school. He's very bright but absolutely non-conformist.
As an adult he is unemployed and living in the family home. He contributes nothing and doesn't help my mother at all. He writes poetry, which is quite pithy and to the point. I can see he has an ear and an eye for needle sharp nuance.
Reading an description of autism recently in a novel, made me think 'that's a bit like my brother': uncontrollable temper, very bright and no empathy/awareness of other people. I don't actually like my brother - he disrupted everything as I was growing up and my parents weren't in control. However, lots of people outside the family dynamic do like him - they like they way he challenges established thinking.
He needed speech therapy as a child and I can remember his speech as being very rushed and unintelligble.
I thought he was just badly behaved and spoiled by my mother - which has also happened - but now I'm not so sure.
Any thoughts?