Sydney Edmond

This teenager's poetry, from her published collection, offers delightful insight into the way she sees the world. Her mom tells the fascinating story of how Sydney learned to communicate after being diagnosed with autism and apraxia ...

A Voice of Her Own

Sydney, who will soon turn 18, began speaking when she was about a year old. According to her mom, Lisa Edmond, "After receiving vaccinations at 15 months, Sydney developed chronic and debilitating congestive and gastrointestinal illnesses." Within a month, she completely lost the ability to speak and was afflicted with apraxia. After visits to three different neurologists – the second of whom erroneously diagnosed Sydney with congenital encephalopathy and told Lisa that the therapies she suggested were "too labor intensive" ("the lowest point in my life," says Lisa), it was determined that she had autism.

Lisa Edmond shares her story of the challenges – and the joy – of raising this beautiful young woman who has not only learned how to express herself, but whose talent for poetry has resulted in a published book, titled, The Purple Tree and Other Poems. 

Lisa's Story ...

"When we came upon a means for Syd to communicate, our lives felt as though they'd finally begun to breathe — to at last take a substantial step forward. We experienced such enormous joy. And for Sydney, it was huge."  –Lisa Edmond

Click here to continue reading Lisa's Story. Click here to read two poems from Sydney's collection.

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