Dear Friends,
My goodness, I am so touched by how many have liked and commented on and messaged about and shared my last post on Instagram and Facebook! Over 650 on Instagram. And now over 2000 followers on Instagram and 1500+ on Facebook. Wow. I am so amazed that you care about what I have to say. After decades without communication, and also being ignored by educators and society in general, this is an unfathomable shift for me.
I am so wonderfully surprised by the kind and interested welcome I have had since starting to share about my journey on social media. I know that social media can be a place of conflict and trolling and awful rhetoric, and that nuance and authenticity are often ignored. My sisters advised me of this when I was deciding how to best share my story. And I know it is entirely possible that skeptics of my communication method might one day crash this party. But I am mentally prepared for that and other challenges.
What I hadn’t fully anticipated was the magnitude of positive feedback! I know my reach is modest compared to major influencers, but I am so amazed that even a fraction of you are following me. I feel a sense of responsibility to represent my peers, and to also foster a sense of empathy and mindfulness and thoughtful awareness toward the diversity of nonspeaker experiences. And of course the story I can best tell is mine alone. So I hope you can learn from it while also keeping an open mind to how other nonspeakers might differ from what I share.
I also want to apologize that I cannot reply or otherwise interact with you to the extent I want to. It is a shame that my energy levels and slow communication limit what I can do. I hope you know that Tara shows me your comments and messages and that I love them! I wish I could reply to every single one.
Thank you so so so much for being with me! It is such an absolutely amazing feeling.
Your Friend,
Danny
Danny With Words 