Writer's Showcase: Matthew Ehrenhaft
World Autism Awareness Day on April 2 will celebrate the unique talents and skills of persons with autism. In recognition of this event and Autism Awareness Month, we are showcasing the writing of talented individuals on the autism spectrum on our website. Please send your short stories, poetry, and song lyrics to
editors@autismspeaks.org
for consideration. Autism Speaks reserves the right to edit contributions for space, style and content. Due to the volume of submissions expected, we may not be able to publish them all.
Autism
If at first you do not succeed, Try, try again to get to the lead But sometimes in life it's hard to succeed, Especially with autism, a problem indeed.
Let's start the story At the beginning of the clock It's almost as though My brain has a lock.
It's like living on the edge When no one is there, Deaf, beaten, and vision impaired. It's hard to deal with autism, it's true But others like me, they deal with it too
Just because we're different in the way we see And the way we see is differently That we can still live a life that's very happy Or live a life of eternal misery.
Our life is like a coaster, up and down, Either too high or too low, no middle ground When you try to find peace, It can never be found Either way, destruction bound.
It runs in vibrato, which is fast and slow Like being drunk as some people know A time bomb at times, getting ready to blow Or a freezing river that does not flow.
If autism were normal, personalities might glow Sadly our problems are major, they will never go Some are moody, some get mad, Some stay happy, some stay sad.
Itching and nervous, caught in this curse Only intensify the pain to worse However the brightest in the bunch Actually have something like this For people to understand, that is my wish
Some are so accurate, they will never miss Others just stare, a boo and a hiss For they don't know the curse we endure When they do this, we suffer more
We know we're different, they know we're here I have feelings, and they will appear Even though they may seem different, or even weird Don't laugh at our autism, and please be sincere.
There's one more thing I have to say, There are more of us born each day. People should notice who we are, today And look at us in a different way
Maybe one day we'll all be free But we're still unique, as you can see One day autism will have a key To unlock and complete this mystery.
Matthew is fifteen years old and a freshman in North Port High School in Florida. He was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at the age of five. He is in mainstream classes and recently started writing poetry as an outlet.