Talented Chesterfield boy pens award-winning poem about life with Asperger’s

Kenzi Jupp’s touching poem, ‘I’m Just Me’, won first prize in the Young Poet Network’s annual contest and was subsequently printed in the Young Minds collection.

The talented youngster has since gone on to write more poems and one day hopes to publish a collection of his own to raise awareness of his condition.

Proud mum Mandy Pearce, a teaching assistant, said the poem had her and other family members ‘in tears’ and has been praised by English teacherd at Hasland Hall school, where she works.

“Kenzi has to grapple with Asperger’s, dyspraxia, and monocular vision,” she said.

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“As a result, he can struggle with low self-esteem, so this has been a massive boost for him. He was so happy to find out his poem had won.”

Kenzi’s flair for reading and writing was one of the things that prompted his mum to realise he might be different.

“I remember taking him to the zoo when he was still in his pushchair,” said Mandy.

“And clear as anything, he could read out the signs warning visitors not to feed the animals.

“He’d bring home sheets with words to learn from school which he could already read and spell by the time he got home.

“Language is just his thing. He’s found a way to express himself.”

Kenzi was diagnosed with Asperger’s four years ago.

He feels that people sometimes treat him differently due to his Asperger’s and is keen to help others understand the condition.

In his poem, he alludes to the every day tasks and activities he finds difficult, such as PE, along with inspirational figures thought to have been on the spectrum throughout history such as Mozart and Albert Einstein.

You can buy Young Minds via Etsy.

The book is priced at £3.99 and proceeds go to charity.

‘I’M JUST ME’

BY KENZI JUPP

So I am Autistic,

But what does it mean?

As it’s an invisible condition,

That can’t be seen,

Although sometimes you hear it,

In the way I talk,

Sometimes it makes me clumsy,

When I run or walk

So I am Autistic

But what can I do?

Virtually everything

The same as you.

Although sometimes I do it,

At a different speed,

I can read a book in a flash,

But changing for P.E?

It’s extra time that I need.

So I’m Autistic

But what have you heard?

That we are all weird?

Or a bunch of nerds?

But look back in the books,

Of history,

So many famous people

And inventors, you will see

So I’m Autistic,

And they were too,

Albert Einstein, Mozart, Newton,

To name but a few

Satoshi Tajiri creator of Pokemon

Hans Christian Anderson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs,

The list goes on.

So I am Autistic

What can you do?

To help me be happy,

Like all of you.

Talk to me, include me,

Be my Friend,

Accept who I am,

I’m just Kenzi

ONE WISH

If you had one wish,

For what would it be?

A fast car? Big house?

Or a sack of money?

If you had one wish,

What would you choose?

Diamonds and Pearls?

Fancy clothes or new shoes?

If you had one wish,

What would you do?

Give it away?

Or use it on you?

If I had one wish,

I’d use it to show,

The world through our eyes,

The way our brains flow.

I’d use it to help,

You understand,

What life’s really like,

In the Autism Land

I’d open the door

For you to walk through,

Come take my hand,

Let me show it to you.

I’d show you how sometimes

Noise hurts our ears,

What makes us feel safe,

Our thoughts and our fears.

The things that we like,

Which seem strange to you,

Like flapping and jumping,

And spinning round too.

With one little wish,

I’d help you to see,

How confusing life is,

To children like me.

To see the world through our eyes,

Is my wish to you,

You’d see why we struggle,

If you walked in our shoes.

With only one wish,

I’d change the whole world,

Making it a place of acceptance

For all boys and girls.