Prompt: describe the biggest challenge you have faced and how you have dealt with it.
I held my brother's hand in frustration as he continued to struggle to write the letter "A" that was placed before him on loose-leaf paper. We had embarked on this difficult journey for over four months, yet there was no sign of improvement. No one, including me, could understand how the mind of an autistic child worked. What seemed like an innate task for most people was a treacherous obstacle for my brother. In his world, two plus two did not equal to four. This was a challenge that did not require "book smarts" or a Nobel Prize to overcome, but rather the ability to adjust to my brother's needs. I endeavored to construct a technique with which I would be able to teach my brother to write. I acquired a handful of skittles, which were my brother's favorite, and aligned them, so that they formed the letter A. Immediately, his eyes were transfixed on the pieces of colorful candy and he sought to grasp the closest one. Holding him back, I proclaimed to him that as he slowly traced around the aligned skittles, he would continually receive a skittle. My brother, who at this point was mesmerized by the delectable in front of him, complied without hesitation. I grasped his anxious hands and we carefully began tracing the formation of skittles in front of us. Of course, success was not instantaneous, as my brother let go of the pencil to pick up one of the skittles and hesitated to continue writing. Patience was the key to this process, and so I waited for what seemed like to twenty minutes before embarking on this journey once more. As the hours went by, we repeated this process until our goal was reached and my brother had written the entire alphabet before me. I knew I had not cured a disease or ended world hunger, yet I felt a sense of satisfaction that resulted from my brother's success.
I held my brother's hand in frustration as he continued to struggle to write the letter "A" that was placed before him on loose-leaf paper. We had embarked on this difficult journey for over four months, yet there was no sign of improvement. No one, including me, could understand how the mind of an autistic child worked. What seemed like an innate task for most people was a treacherous obstacle for my brother. In his world, two plus two did not equal to four. This was a challenge that did not require "book smarts" or a Nobel Prize to overcome, but rather the ability to adjust to my brother's needs. I endeavored to construct a technique with which I would be able to teach my brother to write. I acquired a handful of skittles, which were my brother's favorite, and aligned them, so that they formed the letter A. Immediately, his eyes were transfixed on the pieces of colorful candy and he sought to grasp the closest one. Holding him back, I proclaimed to him that as he slowly traced around the aligned skittles, he would continually receive a skittle. My brother, who at this point was mesmerized by the delectable in front of him, complied without hesitation. I grasped his anxious hands and we carefully began tracing the formation of skittles in front of us. Of course, success was not instantaneous, as my brother let go of the pencil to pick up one of the skittles and hesitated to continue writing. Patience was the key to this process, and so I waited for what seemed like to twenty minutes before embarking on this journey once more. As the hours went by, we repeated this process until our goal was reached and my brother had written the entire alphabet before me. I knew I had not cured a disease or ended world hunger, yet I felt a sense of satisfaction that resulted from my brother's success.
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