poets 2022-23
Join us in welcoming these wonderful writers to this season’s Amplify Series!
Amelia Bell
Amelia Bell is a 15-year-old nonspeaking autistic and lives in the Tampa, Florida area. Amelia began writing poetry in January 2021 after finding a way to communicate through spelling in June 2020. Since gaining communication, she has greatly heard and responded to a call to increase awareness around the needs and abilities of nonspeaking autistics. Amelia is driven by the reaching and seeing she has experienced through poetry, which has transformed her being.
Sofia Ghassaei
I'm a 19 year old minimally-speaking apraxic poet with synesthesia. I tend to write about themes others will really understand, like sorrow, gratitude and love, seen through the honest tint of autism. I yearn to show the world my soul.
Matthew McGrath
I am Matthew McGrath, a 20-year-old nonspeaking autistic from Montreal, Canada. When I was 15 years old, I learned how to spell to communicate using a letterboard to express what was painfully trapped inside. I am a warrior and I write poetry because it is a form of healing for me. As a sexual assault survivor and a nonspeaking autistic, healing and helping others to feel my words are the reasons I choose to write. People manage their own lives, but music and poetry can move and inspire them to learn about nonspeaking autistics.
Carlos Schaut
I want to be seen. All my life I have felt unseen. Poetry is my creative outlet. The Lynx Project gives an inclusive representation. I am a non-speaking adult living with autism. My group is under-represented in so many areas, especially in art and poetry.
Parker Scheu
My name is Parker Scheu. I am a minimally speaking individual with autism. Many assume that because I don't readily speak I have nothing intelligent or creative to contribute. Art is a universal language that everyone can understand, just like love. Tell everyone you love the reality of what I share with you now, perhaps you could say it with a poem or a song.