This week’s post comes from the first Unrestricted Interest Teaching-Writing Fellow, Said Shaiye. We love this recent essay he wrote on ableism and writing advice. Said wants to create and steward learning opportunities for neurodivergent writers and we want to amplify and support Said in his quest.

A bearded Somali man with a blue hat and pullover looks curiously away from the camera.

“Hi everyone, my name is Said. Said Shaiye. I’m a late diagnosed autistic Somali man living in Minneapolis. Faith is really important to me. I love poetry & photography. I just graduated with my MFA from the University of Minnesota. I wrote an experimental memoir called ARE YOU BORG NOW? It was a finalist for the 2022 Minnesota Book Award.

Words are my life because they have always been more understanding of me than people. Paradoxically, words have brought more people in my life who understand me. So words can help us build bridges we never thought we’d build, and I think that’s beautiful.

I love teaching writing because it’s always been a dream to inspire a love for letters in others. There’s nothing quite as magical as developing a strong relationship with writing.

I taught undergrad creative writing at UMN for the last three years. I learned a lot from that experience—mainly, how harmful most approaches to teaching writing can be. This is especially true for neurodiverse students.

I strive to teach from a place of empathy & care. I believe kindness is my best asset as a teacher. You won’t ever see me giving harsh critique to a student because I don’t believe in that. Instead, I value positive remarks, affirmation and encouragement. My whole philosophy is creating trust. Trust between my students and I, and more importantly, trust between a student and their own voice.

I love working with autistic people because we understand each other so much easier. A friend of mine once shared with me a scientific theory involving waves. She said when two waves are operating at opposite frequencies, they cancel each other out. But when they are operating at a similar (not same) frequency, they amplify each other. They become stronger together, vibrate more powerfully, than either of them did on their own. This has often been my experience with autistic people — vibrating higher, more powerfully — versus with allistic people (feeling like all our attempts to connect end fruitlessly).

Anyway, I’m not a scientist, so I probably butchered that theory. But I am a poet and I found much beauty in it. And I think that’s better than science, or magic.

Okay that’s all from me and hope we can work together!

With Poetry,

Said Shaiye”

The Listening World

Amplifying Said