‘Thriving and Surviving’ – a poem for Neurodiversity Celebration Week

Posted: 18/03/24

We're supporting Neurodiversity celebration week.

By Emma Silver Price, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Officer at CNTW

I have been struggling all of this time

And I crossed that line at the age of 29

From the realisation that I was actually not fine

To seeking help and getting a diagnosis that was mine

 

A year later, I look back on 3 decades of emotion

That led me to where I am, amongst all the commotion

Fleeting between jobs, trying to boost my serotonin

And finally settling here achieving promotion after promotion

 

I must be getting noticed”, I had in my mind

But my rejection sensitivity always has me in a bind

I must constantly say “yes” or I’ll get left behind

If I’m not the ‘go-to person’, my fate will surely be signed

 

The truth is, I look a certain way externally

But in reality, I take everything so personally

I’m happy, I’m animated, I do it so purposefully

And internally my mind is racing for eternity

 

My mind moves too quickly for my body to react

That when I eventually do something, I’m needing to backtrack

Have you cleaned up?”, “Have you seen those clothes that were stacked?

You haven’t? Why not? Your brain must be cracked

 

All these things at home that constantly get missed

Surely this can’t possibly be a gift???

I persist with my lists and still my mind drifts

To the endless chaos piling up in my midst

 

To all these feelings of being incapable

I need to let you know that I am irreplaceable

Don’t get me wrong, some days feel really unsustainable

But the adoration for my uniqueness truly is unmistakable

 

We’re proud to be supporting Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2024. Neurodiversity Celebration Week is a worldwide initiative that challenges stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences. Together, let’s change the narrative to understand, accept, and celebrate neurodiversity.