Hi there! My name is Frankie, I’m seven years old, I’ve a sister called Fifi, our story’s being told. She’s only five, still little and new, Compared to me, she’s tiny, it’s true!

Fifi’s a bit different than me, not just cause she’s a girl, Mummy says she’s Autistic—it changes her world.
 I don’t quite get it, it puzzles me so,
 But bit by bit, I’m learning to know.

Sometimes the things that she does, or she won’t,
 Make me frustrated, "she’ll do it" they say, she don’t!
 She never says “Frankie,” she won’t call my name,
 Daddy says she is “nonverbal,” What's that? I say.

Fifi won’t play like my other siblings do, She won’t roar like lions or wrap presents too. She does things her own way, she won’t copy me, Her play is different. Though sometimes I can’t see how that's fun!

She won’t play at hide-and-seek, won’t whisper “love you,”
 She skips forest school and the fun things I do.
 At night when I’m tired, she just won’t sleep through,
And sometimes I think, “That’s a little bit rude!”

It makes me feel sad when she can’t join my play,
 But Mummy and Daddy both show me the way:
 “Change how you see her, don’t look at what’s gone,
 Notice her magic, it’s been there all along.”

She won’t say “I love you,” but hugs hold me tight,
 Her kisses all whisper, “I love you, all right.”
 Though words aren’t her language, I know it is true,
She’s telling me softly, “I love you, too.”

She won’t sit with Santa, or leave reindeer a snack,
 But she loves Christmas lights and the songs we sing back.
 The carols all sparkle, she hums every tune,
She twirls round the tree, like stars and the moon.