He communicated with others by moving his eyes, using a signal system. When he was young, his father told him stories and read passages from James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and D. H. Lawrence to keep his mind stimulated. His mother strung up letters of the alphabet in the kitchen, where she kept up a stream of conversation. His sister, Yvonne, sang songs and acted out skits. His mother stated that "he wrote extensively since the age of 11 and went on to write many poems, short stories and two plays, many of which were published." Many of the writings described here by Nolan's mother were compiled for his first publication, the chapbook Dam-Burst of Dreams.