CHAPTER 27

Original (Published in "Lun's World"): 2005-04-05

Rewritten: 2025-08-26

Lun is six years older than his younger brother, named Namm, but he grows slowly while Namm grows fast, so the difference between them appears to be only three or four years.

Lun has a younger brother, named Namm who is five and a half years younger, and their relationship is somewhat strained.

After learning that Lun was autistic, my wife and I decided not to have any more children in order to care for him wholeheartedly. However, to give him more playmates, we considered getting a puppy, and we were interested in a black-mouthed, black-faced pug because of its human-like appearance.

Later, our family doctor told us that the chance of producing an autistic baby in a second pregnancy was no higher than in the first. Having an extra child might be a good thing for Lun and us. After careful consideration, we decided to take another risk and care for at most two autistic children. As a result, we had another son.

When he was born, he looked almost like Lun, only a pound heavier. I was amazed. We closely monitored his growth, and after confirming he wasn't autistic, we finally felt at ease. Naturally, I continued to care for Lun wholeheartedly.

Lun's reaction to his younger brother's arrival was as follows: First, autistic children are very sensitive to sounds, and his younger brother's constant crying was very upsetting to him. Second, he regressed to his infant stage, picking up the bottle again, nursing in his crib, and wearing diapers again, much to our amusement and laughter.

With good sleep, food and less crying, his younger brother grew well, and Lun became accustomed to the new addition to the family. The older brother grew slower, while the younger brother grew faster, seemingly only three or four years apart. For a while, the two would jump together in the adult bed and interact somewhat.

But Lun remained completely absorbed in his own world, never actively playing with his younger brother, talking to him (in fact, Lun was the same way with us: demanding, but not interactive), or fighting for toys or food. He ignored his younger brother, but he didn't show any dislike either.

Growing up in this environment, his Namm has been accustomed to keeping his distance from others since childhood. True to the saying, "A gentleman's friendship is as light as water," he ignores others and resists enthusiastic strangers. Even now (almost twelve years old), he still hates strangers approaching him and pats on his head and touches on his hands.

As Namm grew older, his intelligence began to surpass that of his older brother, and the power structure between the elder and the younger began to reverse. For example, when it came to where to sit, which TV programs to watch, and which toys to play with, the younger brother always made the first decisions. We always had to step in and defend Lun’s rights.

We were aware of Namm's dominance, so we insisted that he address Lun as "older brother" and reminded him to consider his older brother's rights. If he overstepped his bounds, we would reprimand him and remind him that if Lun was normal, Namm wouldn't have the chance to treat him this way. It turns out that Lun understood this, too. Later, we observed that whenever my younger Namm was not around, went out, Lun would act relaxed, and whenever we scolded Namm, Lun would laugh.

On the other hand, Namm knew to defend his older brother. Once, we were on vacation and stayed in a hotel room on the ground floor. Our pedio door looked out onto the pool. After changing, Llun opened the door without a word and jumped into the outdoor pool, startling us. Namm was furious and lectured us about being parents: "You are such unruly parents! You almost got Lun into an accident." A few years later, Lun moved into a group home, and a few months later, Nam told us he'd cried in the middle of the night.