Dear Friends,

Whew! An amazing and thrilling and fantastic and wonderful and ecstatic experience Motormorphosis has been so far, and there still is one more day to go! My heart is so very full of love and joy. What an astoundingly inclusive and vibrant community we have here.

I can’t yet give a summary of it all, but I want to say I have absolutely felt so loved here. And so inspired by all my peers and our staunch allies. This is a family to me.

And I still can’t grasp that I am on two panels, and selling my own book and poems and stickers, and hanging out and chatting with dear friends, and learning about the amazing work and ideas of my peers from their own presentations. What an impressive community to be a part of! Me from four years ago would never have fathomed this. Me from ten or twenty years ago would never have dared to imagine even a portion of this. And I still feel like I am dreaming at times, and not just because of the jetlag!

I am also so moved by the feedback of those who have come up to me to say they value my voice and work. It means so much to me after decades of being overlooked and unheard. That I can reach people in a meaningful way with my words is a gift I cherish. And I love being able to tell my heroes here how much I admire them.

More photos and updates to come soon. For now, I will go be Tara’s moral support at the hotel gym and then enjoy a dip in the pool! By the way, our Spellers pool party was incredible yesterday! And wow, I hope we have many more!

Your Friend,

Danny

Dear Friends,

So, I am still getting calibrated after a tough span, but I am so thrilled to be heading to Motormorphosis tomorrow! I still need to pack, but I wanted to post here first. I am so hoping to meet many of you and to see familiar faces again too. We are so absolutely happy whenever we meet new people in person who follow my work, so please say hi!

Now, I am on two panels that Tara shared previously. And I will be sharing a vendor table with my good friend Gregory C Tino. I am excited to announce some new merch for sale, all to be revealed at Motormorphosis and then online after. But one item that I am so stoked about and can’t wait to share is this new sticker, designed by me and Tara. Isn’t it rad? Available in three sizes. Will be available at Motormorphosis and online next week.

Today was an awesome but exhausting day, so I am going to go pack and rest! Love you all!

Your Friend,

Danny

Hi Friends of Danny! Tara here.

After a couple of days of calm, Danny is once again having a bit of a tough time, this time with more active dysregulation and, again, very little sleep. It’s so hard to see him have to struggle for days and days. Our mom is, as ever, tirelessly (well, she is actually extremely tired, but you know what I mean!) trying to find ways to help him, and we know he’s constantly trying, too.

He was hoping to promote this himself, but has asked me to go ahead and share this in the meantime:

Danny is super excited to be going to I-ASC’s 7th Annual Motormorphosis Conference. Motormorphosis is the flagship conference on the nonspeaking community and all things relating to Spelling to Communicate. There will be presentations on the latest information in communication, motor, research, and advocacy. Motormorphosis will be held in Herndon, Virginia, July 21st – 23rd of 2023, and he invites you to join him and many other fantastic Spellers, practitioners, and allies in attending this wonderful conference!

Here is the link to register: https://i-asc.org/events/motormorphosis-conference/

We hope to see you there!

Dear Friends,

Well. I thought I was through a rough patch, but that was a false glimmer of hope. It was another several days of restless wandering and very little sleep. But now I have felt more grounded for a few days, so I will tempt fate and declare that I am feeling good again!

I feel like it has been months since I connected on here. The tough part of feeling so off is that my joys seem so distant. I missed sharing online regularly, as I feel such support and community here. So I am so glad I feel up for posting again!

I have been able to still do a lot. I have been teaching at a summer school class for Spellers, with Spellers Center San Diego, and I love it – but it was more triggering than I anticipated to be back on a public school campus. I am also in the Self-Advocates Speakers Bureau training by Disability Voices United, and I am so learning a lot. I have also been getting back in the ocean, and it is so amazing to enjoy it again! I am also getting ready for Motormorphosis… I have new merch and old that I will be selling alongside my good friend Gregory C. Tino at our table, and I will be on two panels.

I am so wanting to share so much, but I am still tired and will post more in coming days. Thank you all for your friendship!

Your Friend,

Danny

Dear Friends,

Well, I am through another “off” spell. It wasn’t awful in that I wasn’t outwardly dysregulated, but it was still tough. I was calmly restless, which is as strange as it sounds! I was so unable to stay seated or lying down. So sleep was almost impossible. I was also so compulsive, but in a sluggish way. It was several days of being a zombie.

I was still able to do a lot, but it felt like such a struggle. But finally last night, I was able to sleep! And wow did I sleep. Maybe twelve hours. And I woke up feeling like me again!

So I hope to post more in the near future. I am so learning more and more about myself and my body as I go through those tough times. It is a winding and rocky path, but the views are ever more beautiful.

Your Friend,

Danny

Dear Friends,

Wow it has been a while! I have been so overwhelmed with commitments and goals, and Tara has been hustling hard for her work plus all that she somehow manages to do, and I have been feeling out of it for a few days. I still am out of it, but wanted to say hi. I hope to resume more regular posting next week. For now, a panel on AAC users will be held on Friday June 30, with some amazing panelists and also me! Check it out if you are available and interested!

Learn about the panel here

Register here

Your Friend,

Danny

Dear Friends,

I have been pretty good and happy lately, but a bit tired! But I wanted to share this podcast interview with Diana for Beyond Awareness: Disability Awareness That Matters. She has a Speller brother who is also an “older” adult, and they live next door to each other in San Diego. So it was so special for me and Tara to chat with her!

Here is the link!

I felt like we made a good friend. I hope to hang out with her and her brother soon. I appreciate these chances to share my experiences and perspectives, and to meet new people!

Your Friend,

Danny

Dear Friends,

Today was the orientation for a new program that I am part of: Disability Voices United‘s Self-Advocate Speakers Bureau’s training! I am so excited to learn more about changing systems through public speaking. And I love that a diversity of disabled folks are included.

It made me think of those days in special education. That is where I first mixed with people with different disabilities, but it was in such a demoralizing and dehumanizing context. And now I am in this advocacy program with others who have been marginalized and who now are ready and supported to become powerful advocates. Such a contrast!

I am so excited to learn from this program! And to meet other folks from other disability communities!

Your Friend,

Danny

Dear Friends,

It has been far too gloomy and gray in San Diego lately. I am so ready for baking hot summer! But all the same, I have felt so hopeful in my heart. After the last round of dysregulation, I have come back more strong and resilient. And I am so excited for things to come! This includes Motormorphosis in late July, for which I will be on panels with Fidgets and Fries’ Tiffany Hammond, Nigh Functioning Autism’s TJ, and of course esteemed Spellers such as Gregory Tino. And I am of course excited to socialize in person with my people!

And I am finally working on my next passion project. This is an essay that I hope to publish somewhere with a broad audience. And I am going to be teaching part of Spellers Center summer school in Carlsbad. And I surfed for the first time in months last week. I am so feeling that the year is unfurling gloriously.

Of note: yesterday was the fifth anniversary of my dad dying. And though it was sad as always, I felt much more resilient this time. And I feel he is somehow proud of all I am doing. I would normally write a post about him to mark this anniversary, but I feel like keeping it more private this year. I just want to say how much I love that he would be proud.

And this is my rambling update for now. I hope you all are finding moments of sun, literal and figurative, and feeling pride in all that you work to do.

Your Friend,

Danny