Let there be light!
Let there be light...
A blank canvas
Lies...
Open.
Unique palettes,
Artistry at work.
A rainbow of opportunity...
Broken?
Noises clamour,
Compete
for attention.
Pandemonium consumes his world.
Fists clenched
He beats himself in time.
Torn apart, he curls.
Clothes scour
His very self -
regulation eroded.
Abrasive to his being.
Skin on fire.
"No! No! No!"
He melts
down
Inside
His monotropic mind.
Why? Oh why...
Can't he just let it go?
She thinks...
Deeply,
Fingers tapping,
She speaks well...
No hi or goodbye
She interrupts...
A lot.
Her brain
Focussed
Unyielding
Will not switch tasks...
Will not stop.
Unthinking?
Unfeeling?
Imperfect?
Incomplete?
Dehumanised
Spectres
Of mankind;
In defeat.
"He's extremely autistic;
She's just a little..."
'They'* think they're being kind,
But they just belittle.
Because it's not a scale,
No gradation
Of degree...
It's a palette,
Of difference...
Of disability.
It's a spectrum of traits
Unique works of art
Who knows where it ends?
Who knows where it starts?
Like a prism of colour
Red is not blue
Meet one autistic person
You HAVE NOT met two!
Humanity
Challenged
And
Awakened.
Darkness retreats;
Chinks in the armour
Of ignorance
Unseats.
Neuro diversity
Understood.
Real people.
No longer ghosts
Of themselves.
Knowledge is truth,
And truth must take flight.
Let's treasure the spectrum...
Let there be light!
Copyright asserted: Samantha Smith 31/07/2021
Notes:
1) They * refers to those referencing the autism in the poem, and not to those with autism.
2) Poem inspired both by my personal experience with my youngest son who has sensory processing difficulties and demand avoidance, and is awaiting assessment for autism (autism spectrum disorder), and by an article by C.L.Lynch in Neuroclastic.com: It's a spectrum doesn't mean what you think
*3)Photo credit: Froken Fokus
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STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz:
I recently finished watching a series, The Good Doctor, about a doctor with autism. It was a good one. I haven't encountered someone with autism (or that spectrum) so it was refreshing to watch and learn a thing or to.
Hope your son gets all the care he needs. cheers!
Thank you. His main struggles are sensory and demand related, so getting dressed, finding clothes that he is comfortable in is a struggle, but once he is happily dressed, the clothing issue is usually behind us for the day. He can also get overwhelmed by too much noise and close spaces if he isn't in control of the noise or space ;-) As regards demands, they can overwhelm him and can be as small as asking him to take his washed clothes and put them away in his room and any of the aforementioned can lead to emotional melt downs as he struggles to regulate his emotions. If he doesn't have demands placed on him and can find comfortable clothes then to the outside world, people probably would not even know that he has struggles as he behaves generally like most children do (school holidays are therefore when he can most be himself). His struggles do impact his ability to access the school curriculum and so he has an Education and Healthcare Plan in place (EHCP) at school that provides him with the support he needs to access learning. I am sure he will carve out his own niche in life, and he has us to cheer him on every step of the way.
He sounds like a special boy and giving all you have said I believe he is in good hands.
Thank you. We count our blessings every day.
Oh wow! A poem definitely a wonderful submission and it reads really well.
Thank you, it's very personal to me and close to my heart. I just hope I did it justice...I worked hard on the structure too.
A poem close to his heart... Cheers
Does your son have special abilities as a result of his autism?
No, not really, although he does have a fantastic memory! So...maybe...the neural pathways have developed differently. Coincidently I received a call from CAMHS just today saying that he finally has an assessment next week after a 3 year wait! Fingers crossed. Thanks for stopping by to read my poem :-)
Really cool 🥳
This is great mews.... I hope everything goes well and smoothly
Please, don't mention sir
Let there be light and they was light,I see.She trying to touch the sky but unfortunately she couldn't, congratulations to you.
Woo, it seems the word spectrum, brought a lot of topics around autism, but this is where it all started as though your submission was first.
My best wishes to your son, I believe being autistic comes with special abilities, I pray those abilities and the love of his family becomes his means of drawing strength.
Beautiful piece... ❤️
Thank you for stopping by and showing my poem a little love :-)
It was a pleasure reading through @samsmith1971 🙂🤸♂️