Braden Sanchez is a happy little boy with a beaming smile, a faithful dog and an unrepentant love of “Star Wars” and Legos.

Braden Sanchez is autistic.

Thanks to a series of lucky breaks, patient family members and available services, the 11-year-old and those around him have adjusted to the disorder.

“I wouldn’t change him for anything,” said Tony Sanchez, Braden’s father. “He’s so smart. He’s a smart-a–, which he gets from his mother, and he has a smile, which goes for days and days and days that will just melt you.”

Autism spectrum disorder and its related social communication disorder are neurodevelopmental disorders associated with impaired social interaction, communication and a penchant for repetitive behavior.

In Braden, this culminates in shyness and an ability to ramble about a topic without end for hours — be it facts about the U.S. presidents or why his favorite character Luke Skywalker is the best.

According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 68 children in the United States, and is about five times more common among boys than among girls. April is Autism Acceptance Month.

Braden is one minute older than his twin sister Mia, who does not have autism. The two are inseparable.

“They were in separate kindergarten classes, and when most kids get out, they run to mom or dad,” said Sedona Sanchez, mother of the twins. “They would run to each other.”

Older brother Trystan, currently studying at Montana State University, rounds out the Sanchez family.

Tony and Sedona first noticed something different with Braden very early.

“We always knew something was different,” Sedona said. “[Braden and Mia] are the same age, and she was meeting the milestones before him.”

A family friend was actually an autism specialist. She either didn’t see the signs or didn’t want to point them out to the parent.

It can be a hard thing to accept.

“I was the one always saying ‘oh he’s fine,'” Tony said. “Then one day I went to a meeting of “The Father’s Network,” where you can listen to other fathers talk about their children. There was a dad in there, I remember him talking about how he thought his life was over. He finally came around and realized his child was special in his own ways.”

The Sanchez family started therapy and treatment at Kindering while Braden was an infant.

Kindering, a Bellevue-based organization providing resources for differently-abled children and their families, was able to provide Braden with valuable therapy and services. Early treatment can have major ramifications later in life.

“We actually started services before diagnosis,” Sedona said, claiming the lengthy wait lists for resources can make it too little too late after diagnosis. “We had a therapist over seven days a week, and now we’re at three days a week.”

Tony has been a board member of Kindering for two years and is always looking to expand what is available. The organization recently expanded services from birth to 3-years-old to a more lenient 12-years old.

Braden can find it difficult to socialize and make friends, but he has help from Linc (named after Abraham Lincoln) his service dog. The golden retriever has made Braden feel more comfortable in public and with talking to other kids.

Even so, the lack of resources available to those with autism is striking. The Sanchez family went to several schools both private and public before deciding to home school Braden.

“He would get in trouble almost every day for his disability,” Sedona said. “The teacher would be frustrated because he wouldn’t look at her while she was talking.”

“He would get overwhelmed and would get under his desk,” Tony said. “The schools weren’t following his [individualized education program]. It would be like telling a kid who needs a wheelchair that they couldn’t bring the chair to school. We wanted to provide the resources he needed, but were told that the person had to be a school employee. An employee they didn’t have.”

It was a no-win situation.

So the Sanchez family went the home school route, wherein Braden learns core subjects [math, English, etc.] at home, but is sent to an exchange school for P.E., music and robotics.

Linc has been a life-changer for the family, they said.

“He’s learned how to interact with people and he’s more confident in his own self,” Tony said. “It’s also helped in public. If you see a kid crying or yelling at the store, people assume it is bad parenting. With a service dog, people are just more understanding.”

The public perception of autism is something the Sanchez family works hard to change, and notes that more people seem to understand.

“It’s a silent disability,” Sedona said. “And there aren’t enough resources out there. We’re lucky, but we weren’t always. Not everyone can afford what you need.”

They said before they did find some resources and got a handle on the disorder they were spending between $8,000 and $10,000 each month on therapy, staff and other resources.

But the biggest casualty of the last decade may not be the pocketbooks of the family or even Braden, who is a sweet, loving boy. When one child has a disorder and requires a lot of attention, other children can get left behind.

Mia has never complained about her lot, instead becoming a “mothering” figure for Braden, worrying about her older brother.

She reminds people that Braden is just like her, or you.

“Just because their brains work differently doesn’t mean they should be treated differently,” Mia said. “He may not be able to work as fast but likes being treated the same.”