Silent Mermaid by Brielle Stewart

 Silent Mermaid was my first attempt to write vocals to go along with my stunning music.  I’m so pleased with the result.  I’m debuting this song on my blog that I share with my loving friends. I’m so happy to have them all in my life. This is for them. 

Silent Mermaid

Mermaid who can’t sing

Soon you will rejoice

Swimming in the starlight

Soon to find your voice

Swimming in the sea of tranquility

Making your new rules

Stay strong

Now you belong

Loving friends will see you through.

Shine on mermaid. Shine on!

Mermaid so stunning

Your voice is in the world

Silent no more

Your sweet song will be heard.

 

- Brielle Stewart - 2021- 13 Years old

copyright Brielle Stewart 2021

 

Ryan Shank-Rowe

 A lot of people could spend a day in my body, like the movie "Freaky Friday."

I wish you could experience the total of my senses in my world.

It is sometimes not easy to describe - it is beautiful and chaotic at the same time.

Before RPM (Rapid Prompting Method) I couldn't use speech or other means of communicating.

RPM is the way my senses needed to be taught and I'm thankful to Soma for understanding my autistic mind.

I am an autistic man who lives in Centreville, Virginia.

I have a wonderful family and great support system.

I wish that every autistic child could grow up in a system that embraced the acceptance I have.

I'm looking forward to my future and learning new ways to be more independent.

That doesn't mean I won't need help sometimes from others. 

Helping me usually gives others a new perspective and a very deep appreciation that we are ALL actually INTERDEPENDENT.

Without Voice by Sasha

Sometimes, I look back to the long journey of my life,

From staying silent to saying my thoughts,

From constantly acting like a fool that learns

To play games meant for babies,

Lacking the voice to say out loud:

“Please, teach me about the tons of beauty from life around.

Can, want, and am able to study countless things,

But I act out because you can’t hear me!“

Yet you let the war continue.

You bring sensory distracters and leave,

Allowing me to cry alone until I calm down.

You feel happy and content:

“The behavior is fixed!”

The past feels like a war, being treated like a fool.

Thinking back to coping endlessly with figuring out the way to be heard,

I couldn’t help but wonder if my family will place me

In a special institution?

Placed somewhere far away and be forgotten?

I was terrified, not knowing if this is the plan for the rest of my life.

I tried to protest, since I really felt

That my life will no longer be meaningful.

Firmed with my ability

To be somehow compliant with endless teaching,

Moving full steam ahead,

I had to act like a learner with something to prove:

I was somebody who did work

And who was able to learn!

Healing was all I wanted !

Life taught me

That someone who is good and has strong motivation,

Can be praised with teaching skills

Where communication was the target.

So I learned to have at least

Some words that came on pre-made plastic pieces

That I could form in sentences.

I figured out how to place words

pretending the basic meaningful communication.

Back then, I really hoped

That one day

I’ll let people know

About the well-formed language in my head.

But the worry about

When my speech will likely start to be meaningful to others,

Bothered me for a long time.

Such low motivated ...man!

I wanted that war to end !

Unexpectedly, my parents were still hopeful.

They found a teacher who showed me how to spell

On the letter board.

Printed letters of the alphabet allowed me

To say any word that came to my mind.

For a long time I was waiting for the moment

When the thoughts in my head will be heard !

Meaningful and nice, full of wonderfully forming ideas,

My friendly, bright life has finally began !

I mastered pointing out words.

The teaching lessons came to be pleasure instead of torture.

My letter board voice became stronger and stronger

Letting inner thoughts out after they were

Stored unspoken for a long time.

My war has stopped, but my life continues.

I found that lots of papers posted by scientists

About life with autism,

May lead families to make a wrong choice

For people like me.

So, I decided to write this and many more poems

To tell the truth

About the mystery of life

Without voice.

Trevor P.

 My Body is a Robot

My body is a robot, controlled by half of my brain.  Every move I make is hard to control.  Each step jerks, not helping my nonspeaking body move smoothly.  Normal on the inside having no clue how to navigate his world. Some robots have a low bond with their owner, out of control like a dislocated limb.  My robot is learning to listen to my real mind.

Controlling the Hands is Complicated

The hands are lonely.

The hands have risk.

The hands are worried.

The hands have fear.

The hands will rise.

The hands know love.

Ryan MD

 6-15-21

I am a person with a lot to say. I am more like you than you can imagine. There is more to me and people like me than you can know. I make more mistakes with my body but my mind is into learning all I can. I make people mad by not being like other people but I know I need to be myself with my own ways and plans. It is hard for me to like the plans other people have for me, it plants a seed of personal like need of not living the life I want to live. The people I know are trying to help however I must be me. 

6-29-21

I am not like little people 

I am really true to my kind 

I can make others mad with my choices 

But they are my choices 

I need to be my own self 

People are not understanding my need to do things 

My way 

I like many little things my way 

Many, many things are not my way 

Like naming things and having pets 

Too many bad things my list 

I demand my own list of good things 

On my list i would have hiking every day 

I would have eating chick fil a 

I would have poetry class all the time 

I would have my life to live 

It is how i feel 

Shine Through the Clouds by Miller Laffoon

 “I choose to be happy, despite my struggles and I choose it every day.”  Miller

Shine Through the Clouds by Miller Laffoon

Life gives me two distinct choices,

From them both I must decide.

Will I crash like the waves listening to negative voices,

Crash like the waves hearing the world’s deafening noises,

Or will I sail into the horizon and thrive?

It is simple to stay docked with the comfort of the shore,

It is harder to choose to sail with the wind,

The sea is intimidating, while standing stagnant is a bore.

Life is a series of opened and closed doors,

Dwelling is my enemy, gratefulness is my friend.

Each morning I rise, and to myself I must say,

“Which voyage will I embark on when I wake?

Will I sit with my troubles and lose my way

Or hoist my sails and seize the day?”

It is a choice only I can make.

I will cry out with my head held proud.

The choice to sail is the choice I will choose.

I might seem silent, but my words ring loud,

Like the sun, I will shine through the clouds,

In the choice to be happy, one cannot lose.

Sophia Kapoor

 I love the painting “ Starry Night‘ by Vincent Van Gogh …the vivid bright colors and so expressive. Here is a small poem I wrote a while back on this lovely painting.- Sophia Kapoor.

Starry Night

The indigo sky is so vast

The yellow is a ray of hope

The dark tree casts a shadow

All weary people rest

The starry night you make me want to dream

Hide under the shadows

The moonlight shines on my face

I wander far away ....

How many of you shine bright in the sky

I am just in solitude

I brighten the path for weary souls

The Azure shines on too

Will you shine always