At school one day, Benjamin Giroux and his classmates were asked to write a poem entitled 'I am.'
He and his classmates were provided with the first two words of each sentence, and the rest was down to them.
And young Benjamin went beyond the call of duty. The brave 10-year-old took it as an opportunity to convey to others what it's like to have Aspergers syndrome.
Although it's beautifully written, it's heartbreaking at the same time.
"I am odd, I am new. I wonder if you are too," the poem begins.
"I hear voices in the air. I see you don't, and that's not fair."
Aware of his differences, he worries about other people's harsh judgements.
"I worry what others might think. I cry when people laugh, it makes me shrink."
The poem ends more optimistically, with Benjamin realising that we're all a bit strange deep down.
"I am odd, I am new. I understand now that so are you."
When Benjamin's mum and dad spotted the poem in his room, they were deeply moved by his heartening words, and immediately welled up.
"We were both so proud, and yet so heartbroken, that this was how he felt," dad Sonny told the Huffington Post.
Sonny and his wife then shared Benjamin's beautiful words on Facebook in a bid to show him "that he is not, odd, alone, or isolated and that his diagnosis is something to embrace and not something to hold him back."
The post has been shared almost 5,000 times and has received over 9,000 likes.
The reaction on Facebook has been overwhelmingly positive for the family with many describing the poem as beautiful.
"Beautiful. Made me cry x," wrote one commenter.
Another wrote: "It saddens me because it's a reminder of the difficulties our children with Aspergers go through. Beautifully written Benjamin! Well done."
As a result, Sonny says that "each like, share and comment he's received since has made him feel like not only he does fit in and belong in this world, but has also moved him beyond words that he's touched so many."
You can read the poem on Facebook below.
