This heartfelt poem by Kate Boyer, an Intensive Interaction Facilitator, offers a unique perspective—sharing the thoughts and feelings of someone with autism during Neurodiversity Celebration Week and Poetry Day. Through their words, we gain insight into the beauty, challenges, and depth of neurodivergent experiences.
He went to the door of the brand new room, the one with the yellow door
He felt happy inside because he had not been able to go to the new room before
He felt brave and proud but also scared, it was very different and new
He looked inside and became really anxious, the carpet inside was blue
Horrible blue, nasty blue which made him feel bad and hurt his head
He looked at the lady, the one who he liked thinking she would go in instead
His head was hurting and did that thing when it feels like it does a flip
She reached for a keyring of symbols which she kept on her hip
She showed him a symbol which made him feel better, it said ‘Calm’
He clutched at her hand, it was soft and warm and she opened up her palm
He looked at her and found his own symbol which said he wanted a chair
He looked at her one more time and noticed her very shiny hair
He forgot about the chair and the blue floor, well maybe not completely forgot
But right at that moment he wanted to be with her, he wanted to quite a lot
He squeezed her hand, it was still soft and warm and she didn’t move away
He held her hand for a little while, she seemed to want to stay
He looked through the door, the yellow one, and the blue floor wasn’t so bad
He still couldn’t go in but he wanted to and he began to feel sad
She stepped in and he followed her, he noticed a pattern on the wall
It was a dirty mark, a funny shape like the map at home in the hall
He could see the shape of France, Italy, Germany and Finland too
Maps were the best thing ever and everyone knows that is true
He led her to the mark on the wall and wondered if she could see the same
She understood what he was looking at and then she said his name
She got him some paper, some pens and his favourite book of maps
He had already started a drawing and wanted to fill in the gaps
She got a chair and sat down with him, she got herself a pen
He thought to himself, this was ok and he may want to do it again
The yellow door to the new room, the one with the horrible blue floor
It wasn’t that bad, well not today, not as horrible as it was before
See tomorrow how it feels then, he may want to go he may not
But today was a good day and that felt nice and he liked it a lot
He thought if she doesn’t touch it, she can see his best map book
He will think about that a bit more he doesn’t usually let anyone look
He looked at the clock, he needed a clock, it said it was 2.38
He had to go, he had 2 minutes left and he must get his place at the gate
He looked at her, she smiled again and she knew where he needed to be
So the new room with the yellow door? Well we will wait and see!
By Kate Boyer
