I will apologise right away for this long post!
I am 51 and have an elder brother who is 53 and has special needs. He cannot read or write although he recognises letters and numbers (can put his PIN number into a card reader for example and can write his name). His speech can get lazy at times but he is way brighter than people think. He is an avid West Ham fan (I take him to home games), loves American Football and also somehow knows the TV schedules and when his favourite programmes are on and on what channel! He is incredibly kind (which people can take advantage of) and has a natural affinity with animals. He worked for 30 years with horses but had to give that up at the beginning of the year which was really tough on him.
He and my mum were a really tight unit, she was utterly amazing, but she died very suddenly without any warning in 2011 and I kind of took on my mums role in the household (he lives at home with our dad). After a year of trying to combine this with a high powered job I walked away from a successful 20 year career (without any regret) to concentrate on being there for my brother and also running their house and helping my father with the small family business.
I take a lot on (I also do charity work) and know that one day my brother will live with me which I have absolutely no problem with but I know that I find myself putting everyone else's happiness above my own.
My family are my everything but I don't have anyone to talk to who truly understands my situation. Friends are very well meaning but unless you've been in these shoes you can't truly understand.
So basically I was wondering if there was anyone on here who is in a similar situation?
My brother is pretty damned awesome and yes.....I am biased! But I want to give him the independence he had with his job so that not everything he does is directly linked to us. Sadly it is hard to find things such as clubs etc for adults with learning disabilities (there is a lot more for children/young adults) although I have been put in contact recently with a couple of potential sessions liked to Mencap which we are checking out.
Sorry for the probably confusing ramble!!