Adam’s writings

Adam won multiple awards for his poetry and blogs.

All Adam’s work and more can be read on his blog.

A beautifully illustrated book of Adam’s poems, Playing With Words, launched at the 2023 Edinburgh International Book Festival, can be purchased from the AdsFoundation Shop.   You can link to some of his best known work directly from this page.

Further down this page you will also find links to pages from Adam’s blog where others have spoken or written about him. This includes a link to the beautiful film made of the Celebration of Adam’s life held in April 2015, shortly following Adam’s death, at which NHS staff, teachers, charity workers, friends and family read Adam’s poems and talked about his huge impact on the world.

Adam’s family retain copyright and all intellectual property rights worldwide over Adam’s works. If you wish to reproduce any of Adam’s works, permission from Adam’s parents can be obtained by contacting them via the AdsFoundation using the CONTACT US tab above.

A selection of Adam’s Works

A Poem for NHS Change Day – Adam was commissioned by NHS England to write a poem to celebrate the first NHS Change Day. The poem was published in The Guardian newspaper and Adam was interviewed about NHS ChangeDay on BBC Radio Leeds.

Caledonia Dreaming – Adam lived for most of his life in Scotland. Adam was asked by his school to write this poem for the Burn’s Night Celebration. Adam’s well known sense of humour shines through.

Coming Out of the Ghetto – Adam wrote this powerful poem about disabled children’s rights after attending a conference on children’s rights. The poem later won an award from Amnesty International.

Charlie – Adam’s poem about his much loved dog Charlie, who now stars in the Dr. Dog series.

Christmas Gibbons – Just like the gibbons in Adam’s poem, this poem sprang across the Globe after it was set to music by Hollywood musician Tom Harrison and reach number 2 in the itunes Christmas Chart in 2012.

Edinburgh in August – August is festival month in Edinburgh and the Edinburgh festivals, especially the Fringe (where Adam himself performed in 2013) and the International Book Festival played a huge part in Adam’s life from the age of 18 months when he first visited. In this blog Adam talks about what the Festivals mean to him.

Green Fish – Lots of people have said this is their favourite of Adam’s poems.

Happiness commissioned by Kirstie Stott -Adam auctioned the writing of a poem for Children in Need. Kirstie won the auction and asked Adam to write a poem about what makes him happy.

International Raga – Adam loved listening to and creating music. He wrote this raga using Garage Band.

Layers of the Rain Forest – In this poem Adam, inspired by visits to My Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, beautifully describes the rain forest and its importance to us all. Adam used each stanza to describe a level of the rain forest.

Leadership -Commissioned by NHS Leader Rob Webster.

My Achievements – A blog listing Adam’s main achievements.

My First Commission – Adam received several commissions from NHS and charity organisations. His first was from Glasgow Children’s Hospital (Yorkhill) a hospital where Adam always received outstanding care.

Opps I’ve done it again – A blog by Adam about winning his Young Scot Award.

Summer Time – Adam’s first poem

Twitter My Window on the World – A blog explaining what Adam gained from Twitter.

What Does Good Care Look Like – A blog by Adam aged 13 years, explaining what makes good healthcare. This blog is widely used by the NHS and in healthcare education in the UK and USA.

World Cup Winner – Adam imagines scoring the winning goal in the world cup. The poem is particularly impressive for the level of emotion Adam manages to convey.

Other’s words about Adam

Links to more media coverage about Adam can be found on his blog.

Adam Remembered – Links to media and other tributes to Adam following his death.

A Celebration of Adam’s Life in words, music and prayer – A beautiful film of the Celebration of Adam’s life where NHS staff, teachers, charity workers, family and friends read Adam’s work and paid their tributes to him. Dr. Kate Grange also played a beautiful tribute to Adam on her flute.

Determination and Talent, – An article for Special Children Journal written by Dr Zoe Picton-Howell (Adam’s mum) explaining how Adam developed his ability to communicate so well, despite his significant physical impairment.

AdsFoundation will be running a series of on-line workshops on healthcare law and ethics.  Please CONTACT US if you would like to be sent more information about these. 

We welcome your feedback on this and all our resources, including information of any additional resources we should include or any changes you think we should make to our existing resources. Please use the CONTACT US tab above to share your thoughts with us. Thank you

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