‘My daughter went from a nonverbal autism diagnosis to publishing kid’s books’

“I wanted to think it was just me being a worrying mum, but I knew something else was going on,” Angela tells Kidspot. 

Sarah Pollard has always been interested in animals, art and writing. 

A creative soul, the 25-year-old lives in the rural town of Southern Cross in Western Australia, surrounded by her farm animals. 

When she’s not helping out on the farm, she’s drawing, playing the guitar and hanging out with animals. 

On the surface, she is just like any other 25-year-old. But if her mum, Angela, saw her success today, she’d hardly believe it. 

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Sarah was diagnosed with nonverbal Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of two-and-half. Source: Supplied

“I thought I was being a worrying mum, but I knew something else was going on”

When Sarah was two-and-a-half, she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Mum Angela noticed something was different about her daughter; she was nonverbal and showed no signs of developing language. 

“If she said any words, she would say them once, and you would never hear them again,” Angela told Kidspot. 

A speech therapist told Angela she “wasn’t too concerned” with Sarah’s development and to re-visit in six months if there was no improvement. 

“I wanted to think it was just me being a worrying mum, but I knew something else was going on,” she said. 

She persevered and talked to other people about the situation. That was when she first found out about autism. “From the very first thing I read, that’s what was happening,” she said. “That's what we're dealing with.”

Living in a rural town in Western Australia, a team came from Perth to assess Sarah. Within a week, they had a diagnosis. 

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Sarah underwent therapy six days a week from the age of two. Source: Supplied

“Without therapy and training, Sarah would likely still be nonverbal”

“It was quite an operation after that,” Angela admitted. 

As there were no services in the rural town, and the city was five hours away, they were directed to Vivienne Morris, director of Autism Education Services. “She was able to teach us what we needed to do,” Angela explained. 

Not only would Vivienne travel for hours to see Sarah, but she also trained local people to work with Sarah. It took a village to help Sarah with her diagnosis, and she underwent therapy for two hours a day, six days a week. 

“She was working hard, and she worked every day to get where she is now,” Angela said. 

“Without [the therapy and training], Sarah would simply not have developed language … she would most likely be nonverbal to this day.” 

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Sarah always wanted to write children's books. Source: Instagram/outbackbushbuddies

A dream come true

Fast-forward to today and Sarah is a vibrant, creative and hard-working 25-year-old.

“I think because she worked so hard from such a young age, she's still a hard worker now,” her mum said.

When lockdown hit in 2020, she began looking for something new to create. “I started to draw my pets and other birds and animals,” she told Kidspot. 

Deep down, she has always wanted to be a children’s book author. So one day, as she watched the animals on her farm, inspiration struck. 

Watching the sheep, dogs, chickens and cats play around, she grabbed a pencil and paper and began sketching a series of cute characters. 

“I created many animal characters,” Sarah explained. “And I wrote stories about the characters, how they live their lives, and the adventures they have.” 

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Sarah has read her book to children across Western Australia. Source: Instagram/outbackbushbuddies

“I love seeing the joy my illustrations have brought to people”

And just like that, Timmy Lamb and the Outback Bush Buddies series were born. 

“The Bush Tale of Timmy Lamb is a sweet, fun story about a lamb who goes out exploring around the farm he lives on,” she told Kidspot. “He has some wonderful adventures and meets some other characters.” 

The Bush Tale of Timmy Lamb was published in September 2022, launching at the Perth Awesome Festival. 

“Mum and Dad helped me self-publish the book,” Sarah told Kidspot.

But there’s more to share - a second book is scheduled to be released this year - The Bush Tale of Miss Hen - with many more on the way. She has also worked on commissions for Early Start Australia, a childhood intervention service, with her cute characters appearing on welcome cards, staff recruitment brochures and posters.

Sarah has also started reading her books to kids in local libraries and schools. 

“I have loved seeing and hearing about the joy my story and illustrations have bright to people,” Sarah said. “And I am very proud of my first book.” 

And it’s not just Sarah who is proud of herself. She has excelled in so many ways, it’s not surprising why Mum Angela is “in awe” of her daughter’s progress. 

“She's amazing,” Angela gushed. “She's high energy, and she's just up for everything, you know, doesn't matter what you do, she’s there! She’ll give it everything she’s got.”

You can grab a copy of The Bush Tale of Timmy Lamb here.

Originally published as ‘My daughter went from a nonverbal autism diagnosis to publishing kid’s books’