As a child, I often wondered about my little brother’s idiosyncrasies. “Mom, why can’t my brother talk to me?” I would ask, or “Why does he always cry and get angry?” Without notice, my brother would flap his hands like a fledgling, and if I accidentally let out a whistle, he would have a meltdown. Such are the capricious symptoms of autism. When my brother Jaden had to go to speech therapy, I would always accompany him, and...

In my computer science class, I look forward to competing against my friends to see who can write the best program with the fewest lines of code.

Two years ago, my father's small engineering company was hit hard by the recession, and as a result, my mother had to work overtime and my even my grandmother had to find a part-time job during weekdays. Laden with guilt, my father became depressed and behaved erratically: he would leave home without telling us where he was going or squander our money on trifles. Predictably, this led to many arguments between my parents, further exacerbating my dad's condition. However, I...

My dad runs a small civil engineering company that completes projects for clients around the Los Angeles area. Every day, I work for him as an ad hoc office manager by organizing all of his files and contracts, sorting through all the emails he gets, making phone calls, and performing other clerical duties. Occasionally he would open up one of his blueprints on his desk and he would start analyzing the plans, highlighting different portions, and making notes. At first,...

There is really a sense of community and...