I believe that people should not be judged based on how they look. I believe people should not be judged based on how they act. I believe those who have done a wrong should not be classified as someone who does wrong. I believe that before someone is judged they should be understood.

My brother has a few executive function disorders such as autism, ADHD, and OCD. ADHD is a chronic condition marked by persistent inattention, hyperactivity, and sometimes impulsivity. Autism is a mental condition characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts. OCD is an anxiety disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, images, and engage in behaviors in response to these thoughts or obsessions. This means that my brother can’t do the basic tasks most people can. All my life my family and I have had to work around these problems to  make him most comfortable. For instance, food must be put on separate plates or he won’t eat it. We have a small trampoline in our basement for when he watches TV. He needs to take a shower in the morning or it will ruin his entire daily routine. Sometimes he says that the shirt he’s wearing doesn’t feel right, so we have to get him a new shirt even though it is perfectly fine.

With this type of disorder it is almost impossible to look at him and think that something isn’t right. Where as with other disabilities, such as someone who is handicapped, a person could take one look and immediately know they are different, and those people get treated differently. More positively.  Most people are very kind towards them. They often offer help to them and are more understanding. But what about the kids whose problems are unseen?
When people with ADHD act out or start to get impulsive and hyper, most people see them and label them as annoying, wild, obnoxious, or immature. Most people never stop to think and understand that they can’t help it. According to Healthline, about 11% of children from ages 4-17 are diagnosed with ADHD, and there are more people who have ADHD, but are not diagnosed.

My brother liked to hang out with the kids around the neighborhood. He would go over and they would say the meanest things to him.

“We don’t want you here.”

“Leave. You always ruin everything.”

As time went on they stopped coming to our house. They went home when he came over. My brother had reached the point where he didn’t have anyone besides us. All because those kids couldn’t understand what was going on inside his brain. They still don’t.

It’s not only the kids in the neighborhood that couldn't get him. I see it all the time. Nobody ever takes the time to think, maybe they are dealing with something that nobody knows about. Instead we label them as weird, disgusting, or annoying. Even if there isn’t anything mentally wrong with someone they might be dealing with something that can’t be seen.

For my brother’s birthday party he went to the arcade. He invited about fifteen kids, and only two showed up. I sat there looking at my brother’s smiling face wondering how someone could be so happy when so many people declined. I then realized that it’s better to have two friends that truly want to be there and who understand him, than fifteen people who don’t.