Sum of your parts

My darling child,

You are more

More than your labels

Autistic, neurodivergent, special

You are more

More than your “episodes”

Meltdowns, tantrums, resistance

You are more

More than your skills

Numbers, alphabets, rhymes

You are more

More than your deficits

Communication, regulation, socialisation

You are more

More than your behaviours

Scratching, biting, hurting

You are more

More than your milestones

Walking, talking, schooling

My darling child,

You will be more

More than your number of friends

Many, some, none

You will be more

More than your marks

Below, above, average

You will be more

More than your career

Engineer, artist, social worker

You will be more

More than your relationships

Single, married, divorced

You will be more

More than your tags

Extrovert, introvert, ambivert.

You will be more

More than your possessions

Car, house, nothing

My darling child,

You are

A living, breathing, ever growing being

You are

A soul, a person, an individual

You are

A mind, a body, a heart

You are

Irreplaceable, invaluable, indispensable

You are

Peace, chaos, life

My darling child,

You were

You are

And you will

Forever and always

Be more than

The sum of your parts

- With love,

Mum

(This post is a poem I have written to my kids, which I will share with them, along with other letters that I have been writing to them over the years (a practice I highly recommend to all parents) when they are adults)