leo in bloom magazine

Dear Friends,

Wow, I can’t believe May is coming to an end! This month of Leo in Bloom was so rewarding, both to reach so many new friends and to share and learn from several of my Speller friends.

I wanted to review this month’s theme: the reality of advocating as a nonspeaking autistic. We learned from Ben Crimm about being strategic and pragmatic, focusing on our major needs and not letting skeptics distract us. Joel Nyland shared how mistaken the all-too-common messaging is that early ABA intervention is the way to help us, and how he flourished with the right support. Sarah Ackerman wrote of the importance of unity in our advocacy, and the need to include gender and other equity. Damon Kirsebom shared a powerful piece on the journey of becoming an advocate. And we shared some guidelines and accounts to follow.

I am so appreciative of your attention and engagement! We will resume Leo in Bloom posts in July, as I need a break to focus on other projects and I will be on a much-anticipated family trip in June. We are already collecting contributions for July’s theme, How Our First Time Spelling Felt. Thank you all so much for joining us!

Your Friend,

Danny