 About the Author:
My name is Seun Eleyinafe. I am an aspiring New York City Transit Authority train conductor that holds a double bachelor degree in English and History from Herbert Henry Lehman College and an associates degree in Liberal Arts from the Borough of Manhattan Community College. My first interest in poetry came from when I was in high school doing volunteer work with Building with Books (since renamed to BuildOn). I got one of my poetry pieces entered for Obscura – a literary magazine – at my alma mater and I am interested in trains, buses and learning languages. I have done many class presentations, participated in poetry slams, and asked questions from various panelists. While I come from the Bronx in New York City, I live in Lancaster Township in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with my dad. |
I am autistic and
I always annoy my family by
Imitating train intercom announcements
Even though I am speech impaired
I have managed to do many presentations
And ask questions from panelists
My default filter is often wondering if
I have committed any offense, much more
If I made my immediate family mad
My speech impairment
Has led to me being misunderstood
From folks like my dad
About what words I actually say
Being scared of
Bumblebees, wasps and houseflies
Has amplified my speech impairment
My dad barely understands my weakness
Being speech impaired has made
Conversations concerning me
Rather difficult to have.
Because I spoke later,
I have found myself thinking out loud
Or being a chatterbox to other people
Being autistic
Has caused me to be overly apologetic
Or barely understand humor
It is so ironic that I make
Other people laugh while I am being serious
I wish I could understand
The way my dad jokes with
One of my first neighbors
That worked with him at the Nigerian Consulate
I wish I could hide both parts of me
But I determine I have to live with them
So these are my shades.
I’m also autistic and, even if I never imitated train intercom, I can see you ✊
Seun, this is so excellent. Thank for sharing this deeply personal reflection on autism + stuttering. Can I say – I absolutely love that you love to imitate train intercom announcements. They are so worthy of imitation!!! My husband and I used to live in the Boston MA area, and we both loved to imitate the conductors because 1) the Boston accent is a fun one, and 2) for me as a person who stutters, I often stutter less when doing accents and impersonations/imitations. And it feels good in my body to sometimes have a break from stuttering and feel fluent, if only for a short time. I see you too 🙏🏽
Seun,
Wow, what a great piece. Thanks for sharing more about yourself and helping others understand about the different intersections there are on the stuttering journey.
I participated in, and won, the first ever Stutterslam held at the NSA conference in 2019.
Keep going after your dreams.
Pam