When I began this project I was hoping to touch a few hearts, spread a few new perspectives, and get myself writing. I was uncertain if anyone would be reading my posts aside from my friends and family, and I was fine with this. I was willing to jump off into the blogosphere and send my thoughts and reflections and wonderings out into cyberspace.

Something is happening though…

A little blog is sprouting like this year’s reluctant spring… and it is greening up and growing roots and slowly spreading.

A few weeks back Craig was talking with a woman about her son who also happens to have autism and he mentioned my blog, and she was able to put the pieces together and said: “OMG you are H’s dad – I read that blog! Thirty Days of Autism!”

That is exciting as I see this project as a vehicle to work to spread understanding for those with social cognitive or neurological differences. Understandably, I am on the prowl for topics, but Thirty Days of Autism has me noticing the little things as I move through my days and I am appreciating the richness of my world. At these times I am reminded of another frosty February morning thought: Look down once in a while and notice where you are – it is not enough to look forward and back.  I am working out my relationship with the stretchiness of time, and I am more mindful of living in the moment and stepping with care… and appreciating all the little wonderfuls.

I accept that my writing may be unconventional and perhaps even awkward at times. I have a tendency to combine the unexpected. I love metaphor and irony and juxtaposition. I am pragmatic: if I can’t find the word I want, I have an impulsive tendency to create a new one, and I love the dash and dot, dot, dot…

My language may be somewhat unconventional, but for me there is an authenticity and a naturalness to my writing. This is the language I have in my ear when I hear my thoughts. And sometimes too – the relationship is rather circular – sometimes I  don’t know what I think until I hear what I say or read what I have written. The voice and the sensibility are linked to me: author and text intertwined, process and production enmeshed. My writing is a sometimes-unexpected combination of quirky and conventional, deep and light-hearted, irreverent and formal, cheeky and moving, hesitant and reckless. There is both the Yin and the Yang here, as I scribe my journey… and that is me on the page.

Thank you to those of you who are reading this blog, re-posting this blog to fb and Twitter, printing this blog to share with a parent, teacher, family member, or co-worker, and/or emailing it to people you think might be interested. My goal is to increase understanding for those with social cognitive differences, and I cannot do it alone!

Thankfully – I have you!

As I reflect this evening on my journey into the world of blogging, I have a few butterflies making their presence known. Tomorrow I am to be interviewed by Michelle Eliot the segment producer for The Parent Project with CBC Radio’s On the Coast. Oh my… this is a big opportunity to promote social understanding!

And so again I find myself taking new steps… and next steps… and hoping to make a difference for H, and others like him, and for a future we all share…

Here is the link to the CBC Radio Podcast (Aired July 5, 2011): http://www.cbc.ca/onthecoast/episodes/2011/07/05/the-parent-project-1/

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30 Days of Autism is a project designed to fight stigma, promote civil rights, and increase understanding and acceptance for those who process and experience the world differently.

© Leah Kelley, Thirty Days of Autism, (2011)