Sydney began writing stories and poetry
in 2005 at the age of 12 years.  Her stories
are generally about courage and kindness;
her poems, about love.  She has written
presentations for the 2005 West Coast
Symposium for Faciliated Communication, the
2006 ARC conference in San Diego, CA, and the
2010 Conference for the Greater Long Beach
Chapter of the Autism Society of Americaa.  She
has also published two articles and a poem in
'The Autism Perspective Magazine', and
published a book of poetry called 'The Purple
Tree . . . and other poems'.

























A Poem for Mom











You are like a cradle;
you love me
and protect me
but rock to and fro,
back and forth about being me.
Back,
like our dreams of what I might be;
Forth,
like a tall taste of reality.
You are love
You are bossy
You are black
You are white
You are my closest friend.
God keep you till the end.
~

Sydney's very first presentation
@ the West Coast Symposium for Facilitated Communication 2005:


I remember
being teased at school by boys
when I was seven or eight years old.
I wanted to scream at them
because I can't help being autistic.

Before
I could block out all the watching people
but now
I don't even want to.
I want to listen to what they have to say.
I absolutely love to be with boys and girls
once in a while,
but they can be mean
closed-minded
little brats.

My life began when
I started being able to communicate.
Until then
I was like a lonely little,
and sometimes lazy little, girl.
I didn't want to work
because I actually saw no point
because it didn't help me
to communicate.

Living like that was only
lonely.

But Soma came along
and lifted open the lid
that had kept me in darkness
for so long.
Once it was lifted
glorious light streamed in
over my languishing body
like water to a thirsty soul.

Soma taught Mom
how to communicate with me
and Mom and I have been talking ever since.
Now I can choose my own clothes,
make my own decisions,
and make lovely friends out of people.

*Backly Darlene has been a friend
like no other;
like when she opened my anxious mind
and set me free about learning to talk.
Lovely Darlene listens to me
like a girlfriend.
Good-hearted Darlene
has helped me learn how to type on a Dynawrite.
I love having a voice
speak my words.

Now that I can let people know my thoughts,
I can actually plan backly dreams.
I hope to be a writer one day.
Obviously, I am going to have to work at it
but it will be a labor
you can only dream of.
I am actually looking forward
to beginning.

I want everybody to know
the truth about how people feel,
particularly about those "Autism" labels.
My label of "Autism"
is only a word.
I does not tell you
anything
about who I am.
In that respect it is meaningless.
It will not tell you anything
about what I can do.
I only want people to know
what I am capable of doing
instead of what I can't.

Labels never fit.
They only actually do damage
because they stop people
from looking deeper,
more intensely.
"Goat" becomes "stubborn"
in your mind
because you have lucky labels
on which to assume.
The lucky label originated
in stories your parents read to you
as a child
and you have persisted in believing them.
My label originated in
an old medical book that is
old and outdated like
the fairy tale about the goat.

I absolutely love people to be near me.
People are persons loving one another,
loving life,
loving elaborate, lovely people.

I actually love people, dolls and animals.  
Love absolutely is the
most important thing in my life.
I'm "Past China"
because I'm loved by Mom.
Actually, lots of people love me,
but Mom actually "La la's" with me,
and that backly activity helps me
to sing in my mind.
I love to sing "La la"
to all backly music.
Singing absolutely makes me feel
beautiful;
like an angel.
I can actually hear Mom and I
harmonizing beautiful music;
actually hear the love between us.

Love is the best feeling.
It gives me Hope.



* "Back" is a word Sydney uses to mean "deep love".  She uses the word "back" because
of the wonderful sensation she feels when her back is rubbed or the tingle she feels running
up it when she is very happy.  The word "backly" used here, therefore means:  Very Lovely  
Sydney's Writing
Click Here
for Sydney's January 9, 2010
Conference Presentation for the Greater
Long Beach Area Chapter of The Autism
Society  of America