I AM (a poem by 10 year old Benjamin who has autism)

[Saiisha]

I am odd, I am new
I wonder if you are too
I hear voices in the air
I see you don't, and that's not fair
I want to not feel blue
I am odd, I am new
I pretend that you are too
I feel like a boy in outer space
I touch the stars and feel out of place
I worry what others might think
I cry when people laugh, it makes me shrink
I am odd, I am new
I understand now that so are you
I say I "feel like a castaway"
I dream of a day that that's okay
I try to fit in
I hope that someday I do
I am odd, I am new.

This poem really touched me, and if you want to see the original post in Benjamin's own handwriting, here it is on National Autism Association's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NationalAuti...

[S.L.]

Good Grieving: Narrative Perspectives of Loss and Bereavement

I love this poem.