![Six panel colour comic strip in a grid of 3 panels wide by 2 panels high.
The first panel shows a young boy and his mother. He is Black and wearing a yellow t-shirt. A white caption box above them reads ‘My brother’s autism went unnoticed for most of his life’. The mother is leaning downwards to the boy, with a stern look on her face and her right arm outstretched. The boy is looking up at his mother and appears upset. A speech bubble comes from the mother and reads “You’re a big boy now. You have to learn to talk.”
The second panel shows the same boy. A white caption box above him reads ‘No one tried to understand why he behaved differently’. His eyes are closed and his palms are clenched, with his arms held up to his head in distress. There are three speech bubbles directed at the boy coming from the right. The first reads ‘Calm down!’. The second reads ‘Why does he act like that?’. The third reads ‘You’re such a baby!’.
The third panel shows the same boy as a teenager in a doctor’s office. A white caption box above him reads ‘It took many years for him to get a diagnosis’. A male doctor, wearing a lab coat and a lanyard, is speaking to the boy. A speech bubble from the doctor reads “We can officially diagnose you with autism”.
The fourth panel shows the teenage boy and his mother at home. A white caption box above them reads ‘Getting a diagnosis helped him set boundaries’. The boy’s mother is facing the boy, her right arm slightly outstretched towards him. A speech bubble from her reads ‘Coming down for dinner?’. The boy is stood facing his mother with a calm facial expression. A speech bubble from him reads ‘No thanks. I’d like to eat alone today.”
The fifth panel shows the same boy wearing a backpack talking to a girl. A white caption box above them reads ‘It helped him build stronger friendships.’ The girl has shoulder length brown curly hair and is carrying a satchel. A speech bubble from the boy reads ‘By the way, I’m autistic so some social cues don’t always come natural to me’. A speech bubble from the girl reads ‘Noted!’
The sixth panel shows the boy and his mother sat next to each other on a sofa. A white caption box above them reads ‘Being young, Black and autistic isn’t easy but it has its perks’. The boy, with a slight smile on his face, is speaking to his mother. A speech bubble from him reads ‘I got a distinction for that three-thousand word essay I wrote twenty thousand words for’.](https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/c703282d-4c6f-42cc-b42f-3575a2c85934_My+brother%E2%80%99s+autism.jpg?w=1338&auto=compress%2Cformat&rect=&q=100)
My brother’s autism. © Sarah Akinterinwa for Wellcome Collection.
About the artist
Sarah Akinterinwa
Sarah Akinterinwa is a Nigerian-British cartoonist and illustrator who regularly contributes to the New Yorker Magazine, and has been featured in the LA Times and the Guardian. She creates humorous cartoons and comics about life, love, and anything that inspires her.