The Christopher Finnes Charitable Foundation — Creative Writing Competition 2023
“In honour of the remarkable Christopher Finnes, who spread magic with his own words through his letter-board, we launched a writing competition with the theme ‘celebration’, reflecting Chris’ ability to find joy in all things.
A lot of autistic nonspeakers have comorbid issues. When Luke was just 9 months old, he had his first of many seizures. Fortunately, after years of medications, EEGS, and visits to Children’s Hospital, we were able to keep the seizures at bay. Luke was eventually seizure-free, due to a combination of neuro therapy and a gluten-free diet, and we were able to wean him off the anticonvulsant medications.
For the Finnes family in the UK, sadly, their amazing spelling advocate son, Christopher, passed away from a seizure/head injury earlier this year. Despite the family’s profound grief, they created the Christopher Finnes Charitable Foundation and launched the very first Christopher Finnes Creative Writing Competition 2023 based on the theme “Celebration”. I learned about this opportunity through Facebook, and while in Calgary (Dec 6–10) I asked Luke to consider submitting an entry. He was unusually restless that night, and I found out why the next morning. Luke had a story to share! It took a lot of effort, but between two 1-hour sessions with our practitioner Madison, Luke wrote his very first short story. His friend, Eric the Red, also wrote a beautiful poem. Together they submitted their entries for the December 10 deadline. The contest results would be announced a week later, December 17 on what would have been Christopher’s birthday.
On the Sunday, December 17, we received the awesome news that Eric Herzog was the winner! We were so thrilled for Eric; his poem deserved the first place award. A few days later, we received an email that Luke was short-listed to the top 10! He received a certificate, and his story was published in the Transforming Education for Autism magazine called “The Drop”. We are super proud of the Luke. First story written, and first story published. Looks like a promising future for our budding author!
ERIC’S POEM
Celebrate non-speakers Like a flower celebrates spring Budding before we blossom Give us time to grow Nurture us with knowledge Water us with support My letterboard my roots My voice flowers My peers and I form a garden Here we are heard Celebrated
Luke’s short story:
UNDERESTIMATED NO MORE
Half of the team dropped their gear as Howard drove onto the field.
“How will he play?” they murmured.
Howard was bound to a wheelchair after a tragic crash. His passion was soccer and he refused to give it up. He rolled up in anxious anticipation. He wasn’t sure how his teammates would react.
“Loser”, he heard one boy say.
Coach spoke right away. “Howard is a member of this team and will be respected as such. Anyone who is incapable of that will be asked to leave the team.” Shock rippled through the crowd but Howard stuck around.
He trained all season, and mastered kicking from his chair.
The team made it all the way to the finals and Howard was so pumped. He was living his dream!
When finals came, the team was hungry for another win. Time was racing down the clock and the score was tied. All the boys were sweating as the game was seconds away from over. It was coming down to one final shot. One player suggested to put Howard in. “They will underestimate him”, he shared. Howard accepted the chance to prove himself.
As he rolled onto the field, the other team scoffed. “Easy win, boys!”, they cheered, but Howard wasn’t phased. He set up his shot, ready to bring home the championship trophy. The crowd went silent and Howard could hear his heart beating. All rested on this moment.
The ball came towards him and.............. GOAL!!!!!
The crowd roared in celebration. Howard had carried his team to victory and it tasted great.
Howard was underestimated no more.
Legendary.
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