This little poem will be printed on the opening pages of my soon-to-be-released book IN HIS SHOES - A Short Journey Through Autism.

"You're a child of few words. With a heart made of gold. You've got something to say. Let your story be told."

In this excerpt from In His Shoes – A Short Journey Through Autism we have journeyed to the middle school art class where our main character, Nick, is busy working when he overhears two girls talking about him…

Dani turned sideways and stared at Nick, crinkling her nose in confusion. Dani thought, Is no one else noticing this guy? Whatsup with him?

“…Time is ticking, so get to work, students,” finished Miss Smith.

The kids pulled out their photos and sketches from their binders. The week prior, Miss Smith had piled stacks of photos all around the class and let the students choose a photo to duplicate. Nick had chosen a photo of a hot air balloon taken at a local balloon festival. He was immediately drawn to the rainbow colored balloon set against a clear blue sky. Tami was at Nick’s desk showing him her new set of colored pencils. “Would you like to use some, Nick? These colors seem to match the colors of your balloon.” Nick looked up and took the pencils she held out to him.