MuteStas·

About · the longer version

I am a physically mute poet, artist and model.

hi. this is the part with all the words.

Boy reading his own old notebook on the floor

me, age 13.

I'm Staś. I'm thirteen. I was born without vocal folds, so my throat doesn't make any sound, not a whisper, not a scream, nothing. Doctors call it bilateral vocal-fold agenesis. I just call it being mute.

I'm also autistic. I think in pictures and patterns. I notice when someone's hands are nervous. I can sit in one chair for hours if a room is quiet. I can write for longer than that.

I grew up in foster care from when I was five, and was adopted later. That part of my life shows up in some of the writing, but it isn't the whole story. Now I have a family, a violin, three languages I'm learning, and a notebook that goes everywhere with me.

Holding a violin in profile
Hands on an AAC speech app
Notebook, violin bow, dried leaf

How I make things.

Most days I write first. A line shows up, usually about something small, and I follow it. If the line wants a drawing, I draw. If it wants to stay a poem, I leave it alone. The ones I keep go up on Mute Doodle Den.

Modeling started by accident. A photographer asked if I'd sit for one portrait. I nodded. It turned into more shoots, always with my guardians and my management around.

Story so far

A short timeline.

not the whole thing, just the shape.

  1. 01

    Birth

    Born without vocal folds

    Doctors realised right away that my vocal folds had never formed. From day one no sound could leave my throat, not a whisper, not a cry. The medical name is bilateral vocal-fold agenesis. I just call it being mute.

  2. 02

    Toddler

    A bad head injury

    When I was very small I had a serious head injury. It damaged my pituitary gland for good and froze my growth, so my body has stayed the size of a much younger child even though my brain kept going.

  3. 03

    Age 5

    Foster care

    I went into foster care. I lost a lot in a short time, including being separated from my twin sister. I survived by writing, even when I couldn't really write yet, I drew the shapes of what I wanted to say.

  4. 04

    Pre-teen

    Adopted, moved to Szczecin

    A family adopted me and I moved to Szczecin. The house is quieter than anywhere I'd been before. I got a violin. I started having a real desk to write at.

  5. 05

    Now

    Mute Doodle Den & this site

    I started Mute Doodle Den so my poems and drawings could live somewhere. Then a photographer asked if I would sit for a portrait, and modeling slowly became part of the work too. This site is the official portfolio my team and I keep.

Living realities

What I live with, in my own words.

Plain, honest descriptions, written so people who book me or publish my work know what's actually true.

Mutism (bilateral vocal-fold agenesis)

I cannot make any sound at all, no voice, no whisper, no scream. My hearing and thinking are completely fine. I use a speech-generating app with a donated voice, type, write, sign, and use a lot of expression. Eating and drinking take focus because my airway is more fragile than most people's.

Acquired partial hypopituitarism

Because of the early head injury, my pituitary gland doesn't make enough growth hormone. At thirteen I'm about 130 cm and 27 kg, with the body of a nine-year-old. People often treat me like a much younger child because of how I look. My brain is the age it actually is.

Autism

I'm autistic. Strong noises, strobes and unpredictable touch are hard. Quiet, organised rooms are easy, I can work in them all day. I do best with clear, step-by-step instructions instead of long verbal lists. Looking into a camera lens feels safe.

Complex PTSD, depression, anxiety

Early years left marks. I get low days and freaked-out days. My nervous system tends to expect the worst. Writing is the main way I move things out of my head. Calmness, logic and gentleness from the people around me help, loud voices don't.

What I care about

The small set of rules.

  • 01

    Children are people, not props. Work shouldn't use pain or disability as decoration.

  • 02

    Disabled children and children in care deserve dignity, not pity.

  • 03

    Consent matters. There has to be space for me to say no in my own way.

  • 04

    Stories about hard things still need honesty, not shock value.

Official channels

Where to actually find me.

These are the only accounts run by me and my team. Anything else isn't real.

Laughing softly

also, i laugh a lot.

People assume mute = serious. It's not. There are about fifty outtakes for every editorial frame, and most of them are like this.

that's most of it.

If you want to work together, my team handles everything.

Contact my team

↓ keep going

Next · words

Poems I've kept

this part hurts a little →

Or sideways

The shelves I keep going back to

borrow freely ↘