Fifteen-year-old Torontonian Madhavan Thevar has always been interested in expressing himself and helping other young people to do the same. As a third-grader, he edited and disseminated a magazine featuring hand-written stories, opinions and journalism from himself and other children.
He noticed that some children’s’ voices aren’t as often heard. This realization began nearly two years ago when he began volunteering for a respite-care initiative called rEcess. Once a month, the program allows parents of school-aged children with disabilities to spend a Saturday afternoon and evening going on a date or getting some much-needed rest. Meanwhile, Thevar, his fellow volunteers and the kids partake in activities ranging from quietly colouring to letting loose on a bouncy castle. “I didn’t know much about these kids until I started working here and learning from them,” he says. “They have their own ways of expressing themselves, like hand signals or tapping you when they need something. Some of them are really good at drawing or making crafts. They’re all really creative.”
Thevar, encouraged by a teacher who had noticed his talent for composing poetry, wrote about the kids at rEcess and what they had taught him about neurodiversity. The resulting 22-poem collection, titled I Am Unique, also touches upon other topics that have been recently been on his mind. “I wrote a poem about racial injustice, and several about how medical workers need to be admired more and how much work they’re doing, especially during the pandemic,” he says. In fact, he’s potentially interested in pursuing medicine himself after secondary school. “I’d like to work with kids, maybe as a pediatrician,” he says.
With a goal to make a difference, Thevar decided to use his poems to raise funds for research and interventions benefiting children with neurodevelopmental disabilities through Kids Brain Health Network. With the support of his parents, Thevar printed a collection of his poems in a hard-copy volume featuring hand-painted illustrations from family friend Yuma Vasuki, a writer, translator, illustrator and laureate of the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize, a prestigious Indian literary honour. Vasuki is also the father of a child living with cerebral palsy.
To support Thevar’s thoughtful campaign, visit its web page and make a donation through GoFundMe’s secure payment service. Thevar will send each donor a thank-you note and a copy of his poetry book.
Here is a sample poem from the collection:
If I Could
If I could, I would tell you I am unique,
Than all the other people out there.
I would tell you unique does’t make me a freak,
And I wish you wouldn’t stare.
You may think I am ignorant and simple.
That I can’t see the world around me.
But that is not true,
I just see it from a different view.
I walk the same earth as you.
I see the same sun rise as you.
I just enjoy it inside from a different view.
If I could I would tell you, I might seem unusual to you,
But I see a world where I am king.
Where I am not stared at and called peculiar,
One where I am not related to fragility and instability,
I see a world where I can be anything.
You can call experts and therapists,
They may tell you I have a disability,
They may tell you I am different,
They may tell you I do not have the capability,
They may tell you I am unique and don’t have the physique,
If I could, I would tell you I do not care!
So what if I can’t use stairs,
Or talk about, here and there.
I am still the same, maybe different on the outside,
But my inside is really what I pride.
I am still the same as her and him,
I don’t need a title, far too grim,
I don’t need to be pitied,
For I will succeed,
Just like him,
And just like her.
And if I could I would stand here and say clear and loud,
I have autism and I am proud.
