Musings of a Canary Poet

Abstract

The following poems are a window into my challenges, hopes, and fight for self-determination as an AuDHD woman living in today’s society. I was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at twenty-eight–and while I’m immensely grateful for the healing clarity that my diagnosis provides, I didn’t realize it would only reinforce the sense of “Other-ness” I’d felt my whole life.

It says a lot about society when a diagnosis amplifies stigma instead of dispelling it. But I write from a place of conviction that things will get better. Not everybody knows what it’s like to be autistic, but loneliness, feeling misunderstood, and lack of safety and belonging–these are experiences shared by people across all walks of life. If more people focus on these threads in the overall discourse surrounding autism, it’s only a matter of time before the world becomes a more compassionate and accepting place.

Until then, for every lonely, misunderstood soul reading my words, I hope they can inspire in you this deeper truth: the pain isn’t the end. In fact, it’s fertile soil–for cultivating change, community, art. It’s just waiting for you to plant the seed.