This book is to teach people to preserve the environment and the dangers of wasting chemicals on the ground. This book is also against bullying and discrimination. It is to teach children and adults to treat each other with respect and dignity. No matter who is different, we are all equals in the eyes of the Lord.
From this book, I have created a ballet so the viewers can see and grasp the purpose of the book visibly. The book is described in great details through the ballet from the beginning to end.
The Green Flamingo book was written to detail my experience in elementary and junior high when I was bullied because of my disability and because of my hight.
That is why I created The Green Flamingo because The Green Flamingo is me. And when people read the book and see the ballet, they will see that the green Flamingo could be themselves as well.
AUTHOR BIO: David Pedemonte-Forte
I was born prematurely. My mother was 5 months pregnant with me when she had to be hospitalized. She had to stay in intensive care for two months. When she was seven months pregnant, the doctors induced labor. She suffered a lot to bring me in this world.
At the age of five entering kindergarten, the teachers noticed that I did not have any communication with them, verbally or physically. I could not speak and I did not want to be touched. My mother was called back to the school in which they explained to her, and she was told that I had to be tested because something was definitely wrong with me.
Dade County public school board tested me and after six months of testing me with a psychologist, psychiatrists, IQ testing, speech therapist, etc., they reached the conclusion that I was profoundly autistic. In other words, they're telling my mother that there is no hope for me. They would just try everything that is possible to help me, but there is no cure for my condition according to them. So in order for me to go to school, she would have to give me prescription pills.
My mother said no to all of them. She is dependent on The Lord and worked on me with faith hope and love and the guidance of God. in junior high, I became a member of the honor roll society of America. At age twelve, I entered high school and I accomplished to obtain a full grant from the University of Miami in the music department.
After I graduated from high school, I entered the university, and obtained my bachelor's degree with a trophy of exceptional achievements from the dean of the university with honors at the age of nineteen. 5 years ago, I became an ordained minister. I am also a president & CFO of a non-profit organization that caters to autistic people because my purpose in life is to give back because God has been so good to me. And one day, they will say as I have said, “I have autism but autism does not have me.”