Autism and Animals

A Child With Autism Reaches Out

A Poem by Berg

Two and a half years ago, 7-year-old Berg came to Horse Boy World burdened with a diagnosis of PDD-NOS and selective mutism. Virtually non-verbal, she rarely made eye contact, would tense her body into a stiff leg/back posture, would avoid all body contact and suffered from regular, long-lasting meltdowns. She lived in a parallel existence watching from afar rather than interacting.

That was then.

Thanks to the Horse Boy Method which helps children with autism connect with their world, today she is a very different child. She has gone from a shy, anxious child who rarely made eye contact to a confident, relaxed one who communicates directly even verbally. The sound of her laughter is often heard on the trails. Her cognitive, sensory and communicative challenges have lessened so much that her PDD-NOS diagnosis has since been taken away.

She is now the child that wrote the following poem.

I am smart and funny.
I wonder what color eyes I have.
I hear the voices in the room.
I see butterflies outside my window.
I want to read a book.
I am smart and funny.

I pretend I am a fairy.
I feel happy today.
I touch a soft kitten.
I worry about subtraction.
I cry when I get a cut.
I am smart and funny.

I understand when I listen.
I say hi to people I meet.
I dream about unicorns when I sleep
when I sleep.
I try to fly.
I hope I make new friends.
I am smart and funny.

To find out more about Horse Boy World and Horse Boy Method, visit Horse Boy World.