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My Son With Asperger’s Wants to Tell You What Being Different Means

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This morning we were reading about being different and all of the sudden, my son, Griffin said, “I just came up with this poem.” He’s come up with some amazing things, but I wanted to make sure he wasn’t remembering it after reading it somewhere. He told me he was 99.9 percent sure he just came up with it, and after doing some research, I didn’t find anything like what he wrote. I love moments like these, where I get more insight into the amazing person he is and the person he’s becoming. He teaches me so much, and I just love his words of wisdom.

Griffin shares his parents’ passion to share their story in order to help others. He wants those with and without autism not to feel alone and to know they are special. He also wants to educate those who don’t understand autism. He confidently shares with people he meets that he has an Asperger’s diagnosis and knows it’s just part of what makes him special. He plans on being a video game designer and composer when he grows up.

Here’s my sweet boy reciting his poem, “An Ode to Being Different”:

“Hi, I’m Griffin. This is a poem that I wrote. I wrote it because I don’t like discrimination. It is called, ‘An Ode to Being Different.’ 

“Different sometimes seems unfair
“But please do not ever despair.
“Different is what makes this world so great.
“Different is never something to hate.

“And it’s not. Bye!”

Follow this journey on What Will This Day Bring?

Originally published: October 3, 2015
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