Can you be a poet if you have speech and auditory processing issues? The nation’s first Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, is living proof that you can.

Gorman has always had a love for words. However, the path to becoming a poet wasn’t easy.

Both Gorman and her twin sister were born prematurely. Their mother, Joan Wicks, feared they might have physical and developmental issues because of their birth complications.

Gorman was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder in kindergarten. She also has speech articulation issues that make it difficult for her to pronounce certain words and sounds.

Despite these challenges, her mom says she was inquisitive and a bit of an “overachiever” from a young age. “She had trouble expressing herself,” her mom says, “but she was always advanced in her thought.”

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