A wonderful colleague at Aspire has shared with us a personal poem, which reflects on the authors own lived experience of Autism. As this week is #AutismAcceptanceWeek we thought this would be a very apt time to share this, to highlight challenges that still need to be overcome and the endless love between a father and son.
“One fine and glorious day my son and heir came my way.
His birth a delight a joy to see,
A fantastic addition for my wife and me.
His early life was such a joy,
A pleasant baby, a beautiful boy.
He started to crawl, climb and walk,
Then not long after he began to talk.
His intelligence shone through, he was no fool,
As time passed, he went to school.
A little different he was here,
Each time we collected him it was with fear.
For times at school were very hard,
A little different he was a card.
Judge and jury the parents would be,
And excluded my boy, my wife and me.
Time at this school did not last very long,
Everything he did was always wrong.
Try another school or maybe four,
But no matter where he was, he was shown the door.
Help, help we would cry,
But the authorities promise was just a lie.
My boy is ill, can you all not see?
Please, please help my wife and me.
To care and manage is very tough,
So hard it is, enough is enough.
No help is given, and all we know,
Is that into care my son must go.
Not because we don’t love him he has all our heart,
But to help him we need to part.
Sit up now everyone and please take heed,
Now give my son all he needs.
Test after test, he’s this he’s that,
And to the ignorant, he’s just a brat.
Finally, after years of fight,
We have a plan to make him right.
A diagnosis, well maybe two,
But wait, what will they do?
A tablet here, and then a pill,
In fact, so many, he’s almost still.
Our concerns are raised, and people told,
And then a meeting they did hold.
Now things have changed and going the right way,
To make my boy well soon, well, maybe one day.
This journey has been years and very hard,
But I love my boy, even the card.
He is different, this is very true,
But to love and support him we must still do.
And when you see my smiling face,
Remember, I may just be in a different place.
So don’t be offended if I don’t take you on,
Its nothing to do with you, my mind has gone.
I’m thinking about my boy and what should be,
He should be at home with my wife and me.”
