I Am My Brother's Keeper

A 7-Year-Old Author and the Battle Against Autism

By Mark Stackpole

Jace Richards knew something needed to be done.

His younger brother Justin was getting teased by other kids and had been labeled as a brat by some members of his extended family. The youngest of five brothers, Justin was prone to emotional meltdowns and other seemingly strange behavior such as spinning in circles until he could no longer stand and covering his ears at the slightest noise. Justin was getting a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons.

Like any good big brother, Jace wanted to stand up for his little brother and make sure that everyone knew the truth behind Justin's actions. He wanted people to be nicer to Justin; he wanted the teasing and the judging to stop. Along with his mother, Donna, he did some research at libraries and bookstores in his hometown of Gaylesville, Ala., and found that no one was saying what he needed to hear and what he wanted others to know.

So he decided to say it himself.

At the ripe old age of 7, Jace wrote a book. Titled My Brother's Keeper: A Kindergartner's View of Autism (MBK Publishing, 2005), Jace tells the story of Justin's autism and how his family has dealt with it. By sharing his experiences, Jace wanted people to understand autism better and to treat people like Justin with more respect. Though the book started as pictures taped onto pages made of construction paper, today's hardcover version has garnered attention from special education teachers andreaders facing all types of disabilities and has even been adopted by a local school system to help teach lessons about kids who are different.

When Justin was born, Donna and husband John were simply grateful for a quiet baby, as future-author Jace had proven to be quite a handful in his day. "Everyone would say, 'Oh, what a beautiful baby. He is so quiet!' But when Justin went to daycare, his teacher noticed that he did not want to play with the other children. At story time, he would sit with his back to the circle. He was often alone, playing quietly with a toy or two," she says.

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