Dear, Dear Friend:
I await your posts…
They make me laugh …and cryThey educate me
They make me wonderIt seems your words come with me on my journey with my beloved child
Sometimes your words make me feel appreciative, and I am aware that I don’t face the same degree of struggle you experience, and it is then I realize that I cannot fully understand…
Sometimes I mitigate this with the idea that it is all relative…
A feeling of some kind of guilt usually follows both of these thoughts
Sometimes I realize that our struggles are oh so alike…
Sometimes I am with you on the page and I too have lived what you are writing…
Always, always I carry your words with me when I am working with a family who has a child or a situation that seems similar to yours
Perhaps this child does not speak words
I know however – that this child has a language
and that it is up to the rest of us to learn it
Sometimes you give me a glimpse of what might be possible
This ignites and nourishes my hope
I am getting different perspectives from accompanying you on your journey…
learning from the paths you are taking so that I can follow…
or look across to a slightly different path…
to gain perspective
or perhaps leave my own trail to help you find your way
but realizing, either way, we are still together on this journey
Sometimes I wonder if I am sugar-coating autism…
I hope not
Sometimes I wonder if I am not positive enough
I hope not
I am trying to write my experience from my heart
My Truth
and I know you are doing the same,
but I like that your words have me considering and questioning this
I hope that we can stay connected because your words make my world bigger…
and that is a good thing…
And together our words make all the world bigger
as we walk together
to build understanding
on this path
Leah Kelley, 2012
_________________________________________________________
30 Days of Autism is a project designed to promote social understanding and offer a glimpse into the perspectives of those whose lives are touched by Autism.
© Leah Kelley, Thirty Days of Autism, (2012)
This is beautiful Leah….
Thank you
I love this. So beautiful and so well written.
You are always so supportive!! Thank you for your support and your beautiful perspective! Words like yours – they shape us all… and I appreciate that!
Beautiful words, Leah! I know what you mean.
Thank you Vicki
You and I are so often on the same page – so to speak. Or at least most certainly in the same book!!
so glad to know you and call you my friend!
Buckets of awesome there, lady!
Thank you Caryn…. You are a sweetheart and I am fortunate to count you as one of my friends!
You have so much talent…Beautiful…Well Done!!!
Aw… Dani
Thank you so much! What a lovely compliment… I must reveal however – that my family never NEVER gets the kind of baking that yours does. Hey, when are you inviting me over for coffee??? Hugs!!
You are welcome to visit anytime. I would love to bake for any of my friends.
Leah, every time I read this poem (which is pretty much every time it appears in my Twitter timeline) it reads like a personal letter to me.
It encourages me on my new blogging journey and indeed on my personal journey through the social maze.
I see and feel how you strain to understand and empathize with life from an Autism perspective and I wonder…..
Intellectually I have a fairly good grasp of the NT mind/world, as you clearly do of the Autistic mind/world.
But you probably have a far better emotional/intuitive understanding of the Autistic mind and world than I will ever have of the NT mind and world.
You are treading a path that I have, to date, only vaguely imagined.
You are on Holy ground Leah, connecting people separated by their neurological perspectives.
For this I am truly grateful.
Thank you Leah
I am uncertain how to respond to this beautiful comment.
I really cannot explain how much your words have moved me and encouraged me as well. Thank you! To have such supportive words is a powerful force!!
Together… we WILL make the world more appreciative and accommodating for those who experience the world differently. A huge thank you to you… because you, and others like you, who are sharing your experience, will create an easier path for our children.
Your insights are important, needed, and very much appreciated.
I encourage others to check out your wonderful blog: http://postcardsfromtheedgeofthespectrum.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/aspergers-and-the-social-minefield/
Leah, you’re the most positive person I know. You make the planet smile and we can’t thank you enough for it.
Thank you! That means so much!
I have said something similar before – but I really am more because of the connections I am able to make with others like you. I am a better teacher, a better partner, and a better mom for my friendships with adults on the spectrum. ‘Listening to Autism’ is key to this… and together, we are shaking things up quite beautifully, aren’t we!!
Ah Leah … sometimes, my friend, I remember just how amazing you truly are! Because you are amazing!
((Katrina)) Thank you ♥ so much!!
Leah your amazing and that was just so beautiful thank you xx
Aw… thanks, Wendy. You are a sweetheart.