I am so full of specific memories from Motormorphosis that I wish I could share, but that would fill a book! So I will just share more photos here. I am so happy I got to see some of my social media friends and to meet new friends who are also sharing great content online. Plus of course all those friends who are not on social media but who I know from online activities and groups. I am so appreciating how connected we can all be via the internet.
I wish Instagram allowed more than ten photos per post. It is hard to choose from so many snapshots of this fantastic event.
To be honest, I am struggling a bit with dysregulation today. I am not sure why, but fatigue and so many ideas and feelings to process is certainly part of it. So I will rest now. Hope you all are keeping well!
Wow! I am just home from Motormorphosis, and I am swirling with feelings and ideas and new cherished memories. This was such a fantastic experience, even more than the previous years I have attended. I can’t do justice to it here.
I am so feeling like a real leader in this community. I am so moved by all of you who came up to say hi. It meant so much to hear that you appreciate my efforts. It was a bit strange to feel so famous in person; there were definitely more of you coming up to me than last year. But I love meeting you all and feeling a connection beyond the screen.
I also got to bond more with some practitioners who I have known in various capacities but had never really hung out with before. They are so good at treating me like an equal, and I loved feeling like I really belonged whenever we spent time together. I am closer to them in age than I am to most of the spellers present, and it was cool to hang out like an adult.
And of course, I am aglow from spending time with so many spellers! Wow! I am so proud and thrilled to be part of such a thriving and brilliant and warm community. From old friends to new faces, I was overjoyed to be among my peers. I am wishing I could have chatted with all of them!
I learned a lot from the conference presentations and panels, and was honored to be part of the panel on love and dating as well as the Nonspeaking Leadership Council’s presentation on gatekeeping. It was special to be mentioned in the keynote by Dr. Barry Prizant as he referenced his interview of me for his Uniquely Human podcast. I loved seeing my peers shine in their presentations, and the social events were so much fun. I even managed to do some workouts in the hotel gym!
Tara and I love this conference so much. I am so grateful I was able to attend. And I love traveling with her. We had such a good time!
Thank you I-ASC and thank you to all who said hi! I will share more ideas and impressions from Motormorphosis in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more photos tomorrow. I am still glowing from it all!
So here is the next episode of All Our Brave Hearts! It is a week late but still great. We are changing to every other week because we are just too busy. This is a Question and Answer episode. Send us your questions for future episodes!
We go to Motormorphosis tomorrow. I am so excited! Are you going? Please say hi if you see me there! It is such a great time of connection.
I hope you all are having a good week! I am so struggling to spell today, so I will rest.
I had the most relaxing few days! Tara was out of town, so it was a good opportunity to just rest. I was so rundown, so I really needed it. We have been so busy and I was feeling overwhelmed.
I only had one meeting and one appointment. My mom supported me in those, and helped me set up some interesting documentaries to watch. That was all I wanted to do. It was perfect!
My appointment was at my favorite barbershop. I wanted to look sharp for Motormorphosis next week. I am so excited for it! I have found a barber who is awesome and who respects my communication. He always makes me look so dapper. I enjoy feeling like one of the guys at the shop. It is so good for my self-esteem.
My mom took me and was able to be my CRP so I could tell my barber what I wanted. As always, I love how it turned out! Getting a stylish haircut is something still new to me. I am so grateful that I can communicate about “trivial” things like this now. It is not as important as communicating about my life goals or advocacy, but it is still important to be able to make my own decisions about my appearance.
So I am feeling relaxed and handsome. A great way to feel! What makes you feel good like this?
I am so excited to share Episode 11 of All Our Brave Hearts! This is a special one to me. I am so grateful for my siblings. They are grateful for me too! So I am so happy we had the chance for me and Tara to chat about sibling ties in this episode.
This is also a reminder that we are in Episode 5 of the Underestimated TV series, about spellers and siblings. Check it out! And the rest of the series, too. https://www.underestimated.tv/
I am so loving doing this podcast. Thank you for your positive feedback! We are so glad you are listening and enjoying.
I am so full of fun updates to share with you! First: we hosted our first speller party at home! Some of Tara’s clients came over for a watch party for Neurolyrical Café, I-ASC’s online open mic night. Three of them presented their poems, and it was so nice to cheer them on. We all loved hanging out together!
Tara is an amazing practitioner. I love seeing her with her clients. The families were singing her praises, which she deserves. She is special.
I am so thrilled to have these friends in my life now. It is a dream to host a party for my speller friends! I plan to host more and hope more of my friends can join.
Second: I got to see friends again at Waves4All on Sunday. It was so much fun to surf with other spellers! I got to watch and cheer on friends, and even stood up a bit myself thanks to my surf mentors. I loved enjoying the ocean with friends!
I hope you all are finding moments of joy like this!
Well, sometimes things take longer than planned. Such is the case with the podcast. We are a few weeks behind with this episode, but finally it is up! Things got so busy in June. We recorded this on June 13! But editing and typing a transcript take time. Thank you for your patience.
The goal-setting class we mention, that I announced here last month, is going great. I am excited to adapt it to be a standalone course available anytime online. Stay tuned!
This is a big need in our community. I feel proud that I am helping to meet it. Learn more about my journey to goal setting in this episode.
Well, summer is in full swing and I am so busy! But I want to say hi to you. I am so appreciating all of you.
Also, I want to promote the new docuseries, Underestimated TV, by the creators of the Spellers documentary. The episode that I feature in was just released on Sunday. It is about siblings, and I personally think I have the best ones around! This is Episode 5, but every episode has important lessons to share: https://www.underestimated.tv/
I haven’t watched yet, because I am a bit shy to see myself on screen like that. But I had fun filming it. I hope that it inspires other families!
Time to get ready for a speller party that we are hosting last-minute. I will share more about it soon!
I am loving the long days of June! Summer is so special and almost magical. Can you believe it is over halfway through June?
I am trying some new things lately. That is why my posts have been more scarce, and All Our Brave Hearts is a week behind schedule. Time management is always a challenge.
So one new thing is short story writing. I love writing poetry and essays, but fiction is new to me. I am taking a short story course through a connection to Unrestricted Interest, an organization that mentors neurodivergent writers. I struggled at first to tap into my imagination, but then I realized that I could work through my issues and ideas from real life through my fiction. Now I am having so much fun exploring this new style of writing!
Another thing is aerobic dance workouts. I need to lose fat for my health, which is tough given my compulsions around food. We are working on healthy eating practices, but I want to exercise more. I also secretly have always wanted to dance. I thought it would be too much for my apraxia, but my OT and also a great music therapist have both helped show me that my body can do a lot more than I realized. So I asked my sisters, who were both amazing dancers growing up, to help me find dance workouts online. We have been doing one for the past week, and I am so proud of my progress in coordination and speed. They are great coaches!
I am so grateful I can access these new interests now. It is part of an autonomous life. None of this would be possible without communication.
Another episode of All Our Brave Hearts is up! We discuss an idea related to the previous episode on worth: What if I and other spellers were not so intelligent? It is not bragging to say that many of us are incredibly smart. That is just a fact. Many of us are achieving great things and that should be celebrated. We are defying the ignorant assumptions of society and especially close-minded special education teachers. That is important to recognize.
At the same time, we need to be aware of the question: What if we weren’t so smart? Would that change how we are seen? Would that make our access to communication less compelling? Would our stories be so appreciated?
It is an important idea to consider. How to celebrate our achievements without slipping into an iteration of ableism? We share a gorgeous poem on the idea by my talented speller friend Trevor Green.
Thank you for listening and/or reading (link here)!
Danny With Words 