Singer and television personality, Nick Lachey, is heading up the 5th annual Lindt Gold Bunny Celebrity Auction to raise money and awareness about Autism. Lachey told People Magazine he has a 19-year old brother who was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at age 9.
Zac, who lives with their mom Cate in Cincinnati, was diagnosed when he began having trouble learning in elementary school.
“He wasn’t learning in the same way as the other kids at school,” says Lachey, who now lives in New York City with his wife, Vanessa, and their son, Camden, 18 months, for his new hosting VH1 gig, Big Morning Buzz Live. “They originally thought it was ADD. It took a while to narrow it down.”
He says Zac eventually enrolled in the Cincinnati School of the Performing Arts, where he pursued his interest in technical theater and sound.
Lachey went on to describe his brother today:
One thing he finds pleasure in? Video games. “He’s big into them,” says Lachey with a laugh. “I’m not hip enough to know the popular ones anymore.”
Still the two are close. “No matter what, he’s my brother and I treat him that way,” he tells PEOPLE. “He’s very self-sufficient. I just want him to feel like one of the guys. We joke. He’s no different to me.”
It’s a great thing when celebrities speak out about issues like Autism and Asperger syndrome, especially when they have first hand experience dealing with it in their own families.
[image via People.com]