Poam found | Autism PDD

Is this your child?
Is this your child?
someone asked me
when I was shopping
in a crowded store.

Is this your child?

I stopped for a moment
and looked at
at my son.
He hadn't let me
comb his hair
that day,
and he wore his
favorite teeshirt
which was
decorated
in ketchup red
and chocolate
brown.

His face was smudged
and dirty,
we had been
to the park
and he had fallen
in a mud puddle.
He was singing
God Bless America
over and over
in his offpitch
voice.

Is this your child?

She asked again
I looked into her
unfriendly eyes
and cringed at
her tone of voice.

Taking a deep breath
I ruffled that unruly hair
kissed his smudgy cheek.
Turning to face her
I answered
loudly and proudly
"Oh yes,
this is my child
his name is Dhylan

Isn't he wonderful?"

c. 1999 Sally Meyer.
Autism is not the end of the World
. . . . just
the beginning of a new one.

Bright Eyes

My beautiful boy babbled on time
He sat up; he walked, showing good signs
His eyes were bright and clear
His smile so dear
Suddenly things began to change
Struggling to speak and the brightness began to wane
His fixation on things grew and his focus gone
I watched him slipping away into a fog
Still cuddly and funny and makes all my days sunny
IT is called PDD and it is difficult to explain
This causes all sorts of delays in his brain
Still smart as a whip just harder to express
Working through all this sometimes turns out to be a mess
Not seeing him advance like he should
Holding on to the knowledge and wishing that he could
Loving him and teaching him is all that we have
We will conquer the monster together hand in hand.

By Lauren Joanne Miller

I think I'm going to give a copy of "Bright Eyes" to my son's teachers at the start of this next year. It just fits so perfectly. Thanks for posting both poems.

"Loving him and teaching him is all that we have
We will conquer the monster together hand in hand."