Lyrics A Portrait of the Autist - Dan Bull

A Portrait of the Autist

I’m awkward, can’t talk to anyone
I fall at the first hurdle, it hurts to get it wrong
My mind’s wired a different way to everyone else
So I might seem strange, and be left on the shelf begging for help
Placed in a position in which I’m desperate now
Ashamed of my condition when I’m meant be be proud
It’d be great to fit in and blend with the crowd
Without a red face, a sense of dread;
I’m trembling now
I like things a certain way, a pre-determined order
And it disturbs my thoughts if the certain order’s changed
Uncertainty unnerves me, close the curtains over the windows
It’s a curse, Asperger Syndrome
We ought to stick around
Be autistic and proud
We ought to stick around
We ought to stick
I don’t notice faces in open places
My focus phases out and goes to blazes
And an overloaded brain is no way to be social and say hello to mates, is it?
It’s made me feel alone for ages
Because I know there’s no hope to change it
To most a face is an open page -to me it’s closed, the prose erased
And how am I supposed to behave
When nobody’s taken a moment to show me the way?
But it’s OK
I still hope and pray the status quo can change
And I still scope the skies waiting for blokes in capes
And I’ll fly when I know how I’m supposed to behave
So won’t you take a moment to show me the way
Autism assisted me in becoming a poet
Because I feel deeply but I just struggle to show it
I care for those around me though I don’t know how I’m supposed to tell people
So I wrote it down, prepared my vocal sound
Then shared my opus on open ground
Those with this syndrome are endowed with a determination to succeed
That the non-Asperger brain often fails to achieve
And yet we go off the rails easily, but believe me
I’ve seen what we can be when we’ve got dreams to reach that no-one else can
And piece by piece the diagnosed’ll find the folks to help them
To aspire to the heights their sights are focused on
I know it’s a long fight but we’re the type to go the whole hog