STARTING A NEW SCHOOL

After more than a year of waiting I was very excited to start my new school in August. I have moved from my old special school to a mainstream primary, so it was a big deal for everyone involved and required lots and lots of planning.   I love my new school!  My class mates are brilliant and I really like chatting with them. They all made me welcome cards before I joined them and a book telling me all about them.  They are all really good at watching for my blinks so that we can have conversations.  It is so good being in a school where I can chat with my class mates and do school work like everyone else.


I also have wonderful teachers, who have very quickly picked up how to understand my blink speech and the skill of giving me multiple choice questions to answer, so that I can do my school work.  I have learnt so much  in just a few weeks, despite missing lots of days when I have been poorly, much more than I learnt in years at my old school.    I've done lots of maths, a subject I wasn't too keen on before, but I'm now beginning to really enjoy it.  I also now have homework to do and really enjoyed learning about the Titantic and making a poster telling about the experiences of third class passengers.  I'll be taking it into school next week, so I hope my class mates and teachers like it.

ANOTHER ARTICLE ABOUT ME

I am delighted to share with you the news that another article has been published about me and my poetry. This time it is in Connected magazine. I particularly like the illustrations to my Silly Poem.


You can link to the article here.  It is on pages 20-21:-

http://www.cafamily.org.uk/pdfs/Connectedsummer2011.pdf

MY FIRST COMMISSION

I'm a regular visitor to Yorkhill Children's Hospital so when Yorkhill Children's Foundation asked me if I would write a poem about Yorkhill staff to celebrate their 10th birthday I was very happy to do so. Yorkhill Children's Foundation is 10 this week and my poem is now published on their website:-
http://www.yorkhillchildrensfoundation.org/our_news/Adam_sq_s_gift_to_Yorkhill.aspx?p=2


I hope you like my poem and if you do perhaps you would even like to visit Yorkhill Children's Foundation's website:- http://www.yorkhill.org/page/donate.aspx and make them a wee donation for their 10th birthday. Yorkhill is a great children's hospital.


YORKHILL


Doctors, nurses and all at Yorkhill
Are great at looking after kids when they're ill.
They do all they can to make us feel good, to make us happy, just as they should.


The Children's Foundation are also brill, they raise lots of funds for Yorkhill.
Hooray and happy birthday, you are ten this week, I hope your good work, hits a new peak.


When I come to visit, I see Dr. Phil*.
He helps me feel better, when I'm feeling ill.
His cleverness stops me from going down hill and funnily enough, his name even rhymes with Yorkhill!


* Dr Phil Davis, my respiratory consultant at Yorkhill.

Edinburgh in August - Festivals, the Fringe, the Book Fest - my idea of fun!

Living in Edinburgh, the Festivals have always played a big part in my life. I have been going to Fringe shows and Book Festival events since I was eighteen months old and always look forward to making the most of living in the middle of the world famous festivals.

My dog Charlie doesn't feel the same. He hates the nightly fireworks and fly past from the Tattoo and he isn't particularly keen on all the crowds. Unfortunately, he just gets to experience the down side and none of the fun and entertainment unlike me.

I've got more events lined up, but so far I have seen Potted Potter in the Fringe, all the Harry Potter stories told in a very fun two man show at the Pleasance Courtyard. It was brilliant and a must see for anyone who likes Harry Potter. Mind you, my mum also really enjoyed it and she has never even read the books or seem any of the films. I got to sit in the very front row and was personally greeted, as were most of the row, by one of the stars. The show is packed with laughs and the audience even get to play a game of Quidditch.

Now that I am eleven I have found that there are fewer shows for my age group on in the Fringe, particularly shows which I can access in my wheelchair. I think people tend to forget about access for disabled children. In fact a couple of years back my mum discovered that I was actually being charged more to attend shows than other kids because I needed a space for my wheelchair. The Fringe booking system had only been set up with adults who use wheelchairs in mind and not kids, so because I needed to go to the shows in my wheelchair I was been charged the same as disabled adults, which was more than the child's admission price. Thankfully, as soon as my mum pointed this out to the Fringe box office staff they rectified the problem immediately. Last year I also tried to go to a show at a venue on the Edinburgh University campus. Unbelievably the usual disabled access to the venue had been removed for the duration of the Fringe!

Accessing the Book Festival tends to be easier, but I was very upset to find at the last show I went to I had been seated behind a huge speaker where I wouldn't be able to see a thing! I'm hoping the organisers are sorting the problem so that I get to sit where I can see the show as I'm back there again this weekend.

Access problems aside I love the Book Festival. I love reading and writing, so it is two weeks of perfect fun for me. I remember the first book I ever bought at the Book Festival - it was Paddington Bear and I was eighteen months old. I loved it and went on to enjoy all the Paddington Bear adventures. Another early favourite was Maisie the Cat. I've met the author Eileen Patterson several times now and I learnt a lot about life in Edinburgh by reading about Maisie's adventures.

I still really like discovering a new author who has written several or who will go on to write several stories about a particular character. A couple of years ago I went to listen to Lucy Hawking talking about the books she had written with her dad Stephen about George. George goes on all sorts of adventures through space. The books are not just stories, but I have also learnt lots about Black Holes, Worm Holes and lots of other things to be found in space. This year I went to see Lucy Hawking again as she has just published George's latest adventure "George and the Big Bang". I was really interested in all she had to tell us about space and space travel and I'm really looking forward to reading my new book. I was delighted that Lucy remembered me from last time I met her and gave me a big hug and a great dedication in my book.

I also loved meeting Charlie Fletcher the author of Stone Heart, which I had just finished reading. My teacher recommended the book and I loved it. I told Charlie Fletcher that I liked it better than Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, and he was pleased to hear that. The story is set in London and I have been to most of the places mentioned, so the story really comes to life when I read it. The hero of the book is also called George, so it is obviously a popular name of story book heroes. He goes on a gripping adventure around London battling statutes which have come to life in search of the Stone Heart of London. I loved it so much I bought the rest of the series at the Book Festival and can't wait to find out what happens to George next.

I've got tickets to a number of other Book Festival events in the next couple of weeks. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing Poet Carol Ann Duffy again. I saw her last year and she was really impressed that I had won a Brit Award for my poetry. She said she didn't win an award for her poetry until she was thirty, so thought I'd done well to win one at ten. I'm looking forward to telling her that I have won three more awards for writing since we met last year!

One thing I love doing now when I go to the Book Festival is asking the authors questions. As I talk by blinking I use my special voice I have on my iPad to ask the questions and funnily enough that voice is called George too.

Bobath

I've been working very hard, but also having lots of fun at Bobath Scotland this summer. Bobath is a special therapy for children with cerebral palsy and I really love it and it helps me alot.
You can read more about it at www.bobathscotland.org.uk

I have been driving a smart wheelchair, doing lots of work on the computer and doing lots of moving and stretching to help me do day to day things more easily and to try and do more things by myself. I travel to Glasgow several times a week for six weeks and have worked out that the travelling is the equivalent to travelling from Edinburgh to Naples - but less sunny. Bobath have asked me to write a poem for them and I'm looking forward to doing that once my therapy block is finished and I have a bit more free time.

ANOTHER AWARD & A BUSY LIFE

I have had a busy few weeks so that it time to update my blog with some of what I have been doing.

Last month was awarded the Rising Star Award for my poetry writing at the Young Scotland "Scotland's Got Talent" Award. You can see what they said about me on You Tube, just search under "Adam Bojelian" (unfortunately I wasn't very well on the day, which is why I have my eyes closed). I was presented with the award by my old friend Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People Tam Baille.

Last month I also spoke to Labour MSPs at the Scottish Parliament. I prepared what I wanted to say before hand on my iPad, so I could use my iPad voice, as I didn't think it would be very easy to give a talk to them by blinking. I told them about my life and especially about things like the fact I am still waiting after a whole year to go to school; and the fact that I wish doctors would talk to me when I visit them. The MSPs really liked my talk and said they learnt alot from me. I do hope they did.

I have also spent some time in hospital which was not fun, but I am feeling much better now.

I was on holiday in London for a week with my mum and dad. I particularly liked going on a tour of Chelsea Football Club and visiting the Wimbledon Tennis Museum.

At the moment I am keeping very busy travelling backwards and forwards to Bobath in Glasgow. It is hard work, but very worthwhile. I'll tell you more about what I am doing there in my next blog.

NEW DATE FOR TRIKE RIDE

The weather here in Edinburgh has been miserable this year, cold and wet. My health has also been poor - the two are closely connected! I have therefore had to postpone my sponsored Trike Ride for Contact A Family, yet again.

I shall be very busy during July and August. Edinburgh is also very busy
in August with all the festivals - so all being well the new date for my Trike
Ride is now 10th September 2011.

The money I am raising will be used to support the work of Contact A Family's parent volunteers. They provide support, advice and assistance to parents of children with disabilities throughout the country.

If you would like to sponsor me and help support this much needed work please
go to http://tinyurl.com/66n2hcw

With A Little Help From My Friends

This week is volunteer week and I wanted to share with you the film published today by the Edinburgh Volunteer Centre. The wonderful Emily who recently won an award for her volunteering talks about the help she gave me and my mum to publicise my poems and charity trike ride.

(cut & paste into your browser if necessary):-
http://www.volunteeredinburgh.org.uk/home

Layers of the Rainforest

Community climbing in the sky
Creatures clamouring and calling
The canopy covers like a cloak

Trees reach tall, touching together
entwining treasure within branches and twigs

Underneath is the understory:
Unlit and unseen
The rainforest holds the unknown

The forest floor, a fabric of foliage
Fragrant flowers and fascinating frogs
It may be far away from Scotland:
but it affects us all -
The rainforest is full of the future.

(c) Adam Bojelian May 2011

More Media Interest

I am practising hard for my sponsored trike ride at the end of May to raise funds for Contact A Family which provides advice,information and support for families with disabled children. I hope to raise £5,000 and still have another £1,500 to go, so if you would like to help you can sponsor me at
http://virginmoneygiving.com/adambojelian

I have been very busy meeting journalists lately as the media has been very interested in both my trike ride and poetry writing.

You can read the article published in the Edinburgh Evening News about me on 25th April 2011 here:-

http://news.scotsman.com/news/Disabled-Adam-faces-tough-trike.6757561.jp

and the article published in the Scottish Sunday Mail on 8th May 2011 here:-

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/real-life/2011/05/08/blinkin-brilliant-adam-creates-acclaimed-poems-with-eye-contact-86908-23116386/

Thank You!

BBC Culture Cafe

Listen to the BBC Culture Cafe Programme featuring me and my poetry broadcast Tuesday 3rd May. I am mentioned in the introduction, the item about me is 28 minutes and 15 seconds in and I even get one or two mentions in the following piece on children's festivals.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010rb00#synopsis

BREAKING NEWS

THERE WILL BE A FEATURE ON ME AND MY POETRY ON BBC RADIO SCOTLAND'S "CULTURE CAFE" 13.15 BST TUESDAY 3RD MAY. THE BROADCAST WILL BE AVAILABLE AFTERWARDS AT

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rv5m4

BBC TV NEWS

To see me on the BBC Scotland TV News broadcast Monday 18th April 2011 go to:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-13118082

TRIKE RIDE

Thank you for visiting my poetry blog. If you have enjoyed my poems do tell your friends to visit too.

Also you may like to sponsor me for my trike ride to raise funds for disabled children and their families at (cut and paste to your browser)http://virginmoneygiving.com/adambojelian

The Sun (April 2011)

I like it when the sun shines,
When it's warm and hot and bright,
To feel the sun's rays on my face,
From early morn till night.

I like to lie in the park,
When the sun is high,
To listen to the birdsong
And watch the world go by.

I like to play on the beach
And smell the rolling sea,
To watch my dad fly a kite
And hope it won't hit me!

(c) Adam Bojelian

First Among Equals

I'm mentioned in the Scotsman newspaper today. In an article about the flagship UK Children's BBC tv programme Blue Peter, it says Gold Badge winners include JK Rowling, David Beckham, the Queen and Adam Bojelian!

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/uk/Sex-lies-and-sticky-tape.6744561.jp?articlepage=2

Coming Out of the Ghetto

I thought you might like to read this poem. I wrote it in May 2010 after I went to an event about disabled children's rights. Lots of people were talking about disabled children being in a ghetto and it got me thinking about it and then I wrote this poem. 

  Coming Out Of The Ghetto 

We are coming out of the ghetto, 

 We are shouting loud and clear, 

 About the rights that we have, 

 This is going to be our year.

 We are coming out of the ghetto, 

 We are going to join you all, 

 Full participation, 

 Is our clarion call. 

 Don't dare to underestimate 

 All that we can do, 

 We have our thoughts and with help 

 We are able too. 

 We may be small, may not walk, 

 May talk in different ways, 

 But with our determination 

 We'll set the world ablaze. 

 Give us disabled children 

 The voice we should have, 

 Stop deciding what is best for us, 

 We've really had enough. 

 We know our minds, if you just ask, 

 We'll tell you what we need, 

 Don't think you always know what's best, 

 Let us take the lead. 

 We are coming out of the ghetto, 

 We are shouting loud and clear, 

 About the rights that we have, 

 This is going to be our year. 

 We are coming out of the ghetto, 

 We are going to join you all, 

 Full participation, 

 Is our clarion call. 

 (c) Adam Bojelian, May 2010 

  All Rights Reserved

Scottish Parliament Exhibition

I am really excited that this week my poems are part of an exhibition at the Scottish Parliament. I hope the MSPs enjoy them and the other works of art by boys and girls with disabilities from around Scotland!

Media Coverage about me and more

There will be more poems soon but in the meantime you might like to take a look at some of media coverage about me and my poetry writing.

This article from the Glasgow Herald was published in July 2010 when I received my Brit Writers Award:-

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/10-year-old-wins-award-for-poetry-written-by-blinks-1.1041851

This one was published in December 2010 when I received my GOLD Blue Peter badge:-

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/top-blue-peter-award-for-blind-youngster-who-pens-poetry-in-blink-of-an-eye-1.1074099

This Scottish Television News piece was also broadcast in December 2010, the item about me is 15 mins and 30 seconds in:-

http://video.stv.tv/?bcpid=1610699553&bclid=0&bctid=710881527001

If you have enjoyed reading my poems on this blog, you may wish to support me in my fundraising initiative for Contact A Family. I am aiming to raise as much money as possible to support the important work of Contact A Family Parent Volunteers, they provide support, advice and information

for parents of children with disabilities. To do this I will be riding 1 mile (just over 1600 meters) on my supported trycle, which as you can imagine is going to require alot of effort on my part.

If you would like to support me in supporting the Contact A Family Parent Volunteers, my fundraising page is at:-

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/adambojelian

Thanks for your support, I'll be back with some more poems as soon as possible, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy my poems which are already on this website.

Adam

A Winter Haiku (19th January 2010)

Gloves, scarf, snowy days

Blizzards howl in icy blasts

Winds chill bitterly


(c) Adam Bojelian

Click here to find out more about what a HAIKU is

Christmas Gibbons (October 2010)

Gibbons are fun at Christmas,

They don't mind the snow,

Gibbons are fun at Christmas,

But there is something about them you don't know.


They are Santa's secret weapon,

They work on Christmas night,

Swinging across the roof tops,

They really are a sight.


Bringing lots of presents,

All around the world they go,

More agile than the reindeers,

Swining to and fro.


They are Santa's secret posties,

Bringing gifts wrapped in paper and ribbons,

You thought the reindeers did this job,

Now you know it is the gibbons.


(c) Adam Bojelian 2010

The Green Fish (17th August 2010)

The green fish wakes me up in the lake,

He swims with me through the water.

The green heron glides speedily to the bank,

I dive into the beautiful depths.

The heron plummets under the water to join me,

The fish plunges down to join us both.

We swim together through the calming and peaceful waters.

The green fish and the green heron sparkle,

Three amphibious allies dancing in the depths.

(c) Adam Bojelian 2010

Summer Time (Summer 2009)

This is the first poem I ever wrote.


In the summer I like to play,

With my dog Charlie every day.

In the summer I go to the beach,

We go by car, it is not far to reach.

In the summer I go to the festival shows,

Enjoy music, books, plays and loads.

In the summer I ride my bike,

It has three wheels it is called a trike.

In the summer I go away,

Visit friends and family with whom I play.

In the summer best of all,

I spend time with mum and dad and look forward to the fall.

(c) Adam Bojelian 2009

Charlie

My name is Adam and I am nine,

And I own the smartest, funniest dog in town,

His name is Charlie and he is a clown.

He is small and white with a waggy tail,

Two sticky up ears and an eye patch of brown.


Round and round my room he'll race,

Wagging his tail and licking my face,

Shaking wet fur all over the place.

"Oh Charlie" mum cries

"Your muddy paws all over the floor."

And Charlie darts straight out of the door,

Only to return when the coast is clear.


Beside me he lies whether I'm poorly or well,

He is as wise as can be and I'm sure he can tell,

Nudging and pawing to snuggle away,

Close up beside me, he'll stay there all day.

(c) Adam Bojelian 2009

A Silly Poem (17th November 2009)

At my school the green fish digs a hole and chases the dog down the road.

In the yard the big dinosaur laughs out loud and tells me a joke,

I laugh.

Later that day I saw a bug eat my teacher for lunch.

The lion reads a book in the tree

and then

a scientist with a monkey drives a car too fast through the air.

In my dreams I catch a spaceship to the moon.

I go off looking for hot dogs.