FOR ALL OF OUR KIDS

My son is funny and bright

My son is loving and kind

My son shines like the brightest light

My son has a different mind

Not everyone can comprehend

The challenges our children face

Or that a child who has SEND

May struggle to find their place

They slip on their mask every day

Trying to blend into the crowd

Mimicking how other kids play

While inside a voice screams so loud

‘This isn’t right, this isn’t me’

But to let the mask slip is scary

‘Can you accept me and just let me be free?’

But they continue to feel wary

As, to let the mask go will make them stand out

What will others think when they know

That they want to jump, flap, spin and shout

It’s not ‘acceptable’ for this to show

But one day the choice is taken away

They no longer have the ability

To hold up their mask every day

They are now plagued with a fragility

Because the strength that was needed

To hide the bits that don’t fit

Had gradually receded

Now they have to admit

“It’s too much … it’s too hard

Leave me alone … go away

I can’t speak, it’s too hard

No I don’t want to play

Just leave me alone

Stop bothering me

I want to be on my own

I just want to be free

I can’t go to school

I hate it there

They are too cruel

They really don’t care”

I wish I had seen how hard it was for him

I wish I had listened more to what he was saying

I didn’t realise that it was so grim

I didn’t recognise the price he was paying

My son is funny and bright

But the light inside him dimmed

The day he hit fight or flight

If only he could have stimmed

I cannot change the past

But it will not defeat my boy

This feeling he has will not last

He will one day feel joy

Because together we are finding a way out

Where he can be his authentic self

He can jump, flap, spin and shout

He can leave the mask on the shelf