Growing up with my little brothers, I learned that my second youngest brother, Kayden, had what is called high functioning autism. All I knew was that Kayden had trouble controlling his emotions and would sometimes change his mood instantly. At one point, Kayden would be laughing while playing with his friends, then all of a sudden he would start yelling at them because someone accidentally stepped on his shoes. Kayden also got better grades than the rest of his brothers when they were at his level in school. He's also better than my brothers and I at any video game, from "Super Mario Brothers" to "Call of Duty." Besides the mood swings, he has very good grades and is much better at video games than the rest of his team. brothers, I didn't fully understand how autism affects Kayden, or what really makes him different from others. I wanted to learn more about autism in general and how it affects my brother. At first, I didn't know who to interview or where to look, so I started by emailing my psychology professor, Ms. Weglin. She was very kind in pointing me in the right direction to our school's special education department and recommended I start with Mrs. Custis. Ashley Custis is a special education teacher at Spearfish High School who developed a love for adults and children with developmental disabilities and graduated from Black Hills State University in May 2013 with a degree in special education from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Ms. Custis had previously taught children with autism, so she was more than willing to help me in my search for information. I was able to go to the special education room to interview Ms. Custis. I started by asking “what is autism?” » Ms. Cus...... middle of paper ...... all variants contain features similar to classic autism. I enjoyed my interview with Ms. Amy Goodman, she was very informative and kind throughout her response. Ms. Goodman made it clear that “when you meet a person on the spectrum, you meet a person on the spectrum. Each autistic person is as individual as a snowflake is, and no two are the same. Autism is both a social disability and a way of life. “In recent weeks, I have learned a lot about autism. Being able to interview people facing and living with autism gave me a better perspective of how it affects an individual. I now understand better why my brother acts the way he does sometimes. Autism is more than a social disability, but a lifestyle that affects each person on the spectrum differently. Every person with or without a disability is unique.