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The Anne Arundel County Chapter of the Autism Society of America is pleased to sponsor the sale of two posters designed by one of our chapter members, Renie Quan.

These beautiful 11x17 posters illustrate the poems of John Burns, a Scottish poet and the father of a daughter with autism.

These poems, and others, can be found in the book Wind Dancer. The poems are written from the unique perspective of a parent of an autistic child. Unsentimental and hard hitting, they are poems with a point to make. They are aimed at providing an insight into the world of autism; they also speak in wider terms about attitudes towards people with disabilities.

(For further information about Wind Dancer, go to www.johnburnsbooks.freeuk.com.)

 

  

 
David's Tantrum


David stands in the classroom.
The world floats around him like coloured balloons.
He holds on tight to the strings,
keeping them together.
Around him words pass by,
sparkling in the air,
then fading like shooting stars.
He only glimpses some of them
before they are lost below the horizon.
From somewhere in the room his name passes by.
The woman with the red hair is making words again.
The words leave her mouth and shatter in mid air,
only the fragments reach him.
The jumble of bits and pieces
frighten and confuse him.
He is losing the connections.
Panic begins to rise in him.
filling his stomach with a million wriggling worms.
He has let go of the strings and the balloons are drifting away.
By now there are hands on him,
pushing and pulling.
The pressure of their touch is unbearable.
He begins to struggle,
arms and legs flail.
The world is spinning by.
A thousand broken fragments.
It is a long time before the balloons return to him
and he can hold on to their strings again.
Later his teacher washes away frustration with coffee.
"You can't control that boy!
I only asked him to sit down."
 

 

 
Jimmy's Race

"Primary Colors" color scheme

"Cool Tones" color scheme

 

Jimmy stands on the starting line,
the row of watching faces is endless.
He wants to win so much,
to be the first, just once.
The gun sounds
and he screams at his legs to move.
But his legs are reluctant heroes,
he only half controls them.
They mimic running.
he can't find the ground.
After the race, smiling faces.
At least he beat the boy with the limp
and the girl who didn't know it was a race.
But you can't disguise losing.
Brave smile. Silent heart.
As Jimmy walks away, someone sticks a badge on his chest,
It says "I tried hard today!"
But Jimmy tries hard every day,
only no one comes with a badge,
just another race.
 


  The price for each poster is $12.50.   In addition, there is a shipping and handling cost of $3.50 per order (not per poster).   To obtain an order form (updated 9/17/03), click here.

Any questions?
Please contact Renie Quan by e-mail at renieq@excite.com or by phone at (443) 421-0745.
  

 

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