Local author discovers influence of his brother

“When we talked, it was about politics, sports, or family, ‘Was it chickens or ducklings mom kept in the corner of the kitchen one winter?’”

He knew his brother was a pioneer in the field of autism; he had been to Japan dozens of times, liked being an expert witness in cases involving autism and had co-authored 10 books with his boss about the topic.

“I didn’t even know his boss’s name,” he said.

In 2021 when Gary Mesibov fell victim to Alzheimer’s, Mr. Mesibov decided to write a book about his brother.

“In July of ’21, he was still pretty conversant on a lot of things in the past,” Mr. Mesibov said.

As the time grew close to begin interviewing his brother, Mr. Mesibov became nervous.

“Am I going to be able to have enough information for more than a five-page booklet?” he said. “Will there be anyone who worked with him before the year 2000?”

In Chapel Hill, N.C., Gary’s son arranged for Mr. Mesibov to meet with two of his brother’s colleagues who had started working with him as graduate students in the late 1970s.

“I met with the two of them in Gary’s room for about an hour and a half and then they suggested a couple of people and then they suggested a couple of people and then I started getting emails from people saying, ‘I hear you are writing a book about Gary, I would like to talk to you,’” Mr. Mesibov said.

In the span of three months, starting from the day of that meeting on Dec. 29, 2021, Mr. Mexibov conducted interviews over Zoom with 83 people.

“People from all over the world,” Mr. Mesibov said, “Europe, Japan, Singapore.”

Those interviews became Mr. Mezibov’s book, “Mesibov, Schopler and TEACCH, Changing the World for Parents and People with Autism.”

Mr. Mesibov lists the 83 interviewees as co-authors.

TEACCH, in the title, is an acronym for Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children, which was developed in 1972 by Eric Schopler and Robert Reicher.

Mr. Mesibov’s nearly 300-page book is a mix of expert experience and the real-life stories of the parents of children with autism spectrum disorder.

Mr. Mesibov said his brother presented a view of autism that offered a perspective not previously considered — the culture of autism.

“What he meant by that was, to think of autism, not as a disability. Think of it the way you would if you had a group from another country here and they didn’t speak English and you didn’t speak their language, you wouldn’t condescend to them, you wouldn’t think of it as a disability. You would be interested in the fact that they have traditions that are different than yours.”

Mr. Mesibov, the director of the Institute for Learning Centered Education in Potsdam, has authored six books, five of which are based on education. Mr. Mesibov self-published the book about his brother because he wanted to meet a tight deadline. The book was published just in time for the annual TEACCH Conference in Chapel Hill, which would mark the program’s 50th anniversary.

Mr. Mesibov is an avid gardener and a self-proclaimed sports fanatic.

His next project is an audio book containing a 33-minute interview he conducted with Jackie Robinson in 1962 when he was a junior at Boston University and on the staff of the student-run radio station. The interview was held just two days after Mr. Robinson was notified of his acceptance into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“Mesibov Schopler and TEACCH” is available on Amazon.com. Mr. Mesibov will be donating proceeds from the sales of the book to an autism organization.

“I have learned that the greatest need of people with autism and their families is to increase public awareness and education about autism. I want to contribute to the public’s understanding of what autism is, and what it is not,” he said. “As a 35-year-old autistic man in England said to me, ‘The problem is not us; the problem is the perception of us of others.’”