ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Two downriver brothers have become legitimate stars on TikTok and Instagram. They are hoping their nearly 700,000 followers are learning an important lesson along the way.
Jake Tilk and his younger brother Max are best friends and have been that way since they were children.
Max might look like your average guy, but he has what Jake Tilk likes to call a superpower: autism. That superpower leads to other powers.
“Max has a bunch of different skills because he’s a prodigious savant, and because of these skills, he’s a lot smarter in certain areas than the normal person.”
Max only uses his superpower for good, and that includes TikTok.
“We’re really using this as a platform to spread awareness and really share love and share our story and show families and people all over the world that people with autism really have value,” said the older brother.
The Tilk brothers used to do YouTube videos together as children, but this is different. Their TikTok videos are taking off, with 43.9 million views on their most popular video.
“He’ll (Max) sit there, and he’ll read the comments and watch the videos that we’ve already filmed for hours and just giggle in his room over and over,” said Jake. “He looks at every single person that comments as his best friend.”
They are changing what people believe it means to have autism one video at a time.
“It feels really good to know that we’re actually making such a significant impact in such a short period of time,” said Tilk. “It’s the craziest thing, and the thing is, the thing that makes me the most happy about all of this is that it makes Max really happy.”
If you want to follow the Tilk Brothers, you can find them on TikTok under @mybrothermax, Instagram under @mybrothermaxie and Facebook under @WhensYourBirthday.