My first declaration of life

Dear Friends,

This is a very precious post to me. On my second day of spelling, with the amazing Elizabeth Vosseller, I wrote my first ever mission statement of life. It was such a seismic shift in my life, such an unimaginable upheaval, as I realized: I could somehow finally communicate my long-silent thoughts! My heart felt like an ever-expanding balloon, a hot air balloon bigger than the sun, lifting my whole being out of hopelessness. I always had hoped for some miracle to set me free, but that hope had eroded after decades of failed “treatments.”

And I am not alone in this experience. As you can see from the other contributions to this issue, we nonspeaking autistics who gain access to communication feel this as a miracle, as the dawning of our new lives! And I believe that every nonspeaking autistic deserves such a dawn.

Here is my piece from that session in 2015:

Question: What will your legacy be?

CHALLENGING NEWS INTERPRETATIONS OF AUTISM WILL BE MY LEGACY. NOT HAVING SPEECH WAS INTERPRETED AS BEING RETARDED. I AM PROOF THIS IS FALSE. HAVING A WAY TO TALK MEANS I HAVE MEANING. SO MANY THINGS TO NEWLY SAY. I WILL LEAVE BEHIND MY WORDS. THANK YOU.

Your Friend,

Danny