While in Abbotsford in April, we were lucky to be able to attend a Social for non-speaking spellers and their families. It was flukey... we found out about it earlier that week, the timing was perfect, and the meeting place was a few blocks from my sister’s house.
We showed up first, meeting the beautiful and energetic Natalie... and also the youngest speller (and only girl!). Her parents are working hard to get the letterboards into the school; with amazing support from their Speech & Language Pathologist (SLP).
Soon, Damon, Christian, Benji, and Nicholas arrived with their families, along with Angela Knight our friend and S2C practitioner from Surrey.
Damon is a beautiful force. He was our hope and inspiration when we first met him in July of 2022. He showed us the way. He was part of a collaboration of non-speaking letterboard authors published in the book “Leaders Around Me” (Autobiographies of Autistics who type, point, and spell to communicate). He brought Luke a copy and signed it for him. Damon is articulate and creative (he paints!!), rides a bike, ice skates, and plays baseball with his friend Christian.
Damon’s parents are down-to-earth people and we enjoyed chatting about our properties (they also have recreational property in interior BC), and I loved hearing how Damon can ride a quad there. Hope for Luke! It’s great to see these young guys who have paved the road for Luke; as Luke now shines the light for others. Quite an ally-ship!
The other new friend was Nicholas. Nicholas and his parents were in Vancouver from Toronto, on their way to meet Meghann, a Spelling 2 Communicate (S2C) communication regulation partner (CRP) in Bellingham. Meghann had recently relocated to Bellingham from Virginia (where she originally worked under the renowned Elizabeth Vosseller). She was Nicholas' first practitioner. One of the coolest things about Nicholas is—once “open/fluent” with Meghann—he immediately insisted on writing a children’s book about Detective Nick! With help from his parents, and a Fiver artist, he was able to produce two beautiful books. He brought them as gifts to all the other non-speakers at the social. At one point, sitting with everyone, he spelled "I am loving this!"
Interestingly enough, Nicholas’ dad, Andrew, provided the tech / virtual letterboard that the University of Calgary team used for their HoloLens research study. It was so great to meet him and learn about how he helped on the project. So fascinating.
What an amazing group of people. What a great couple of hours of kinship and kindness. Our people.
On the couch: Benji in black (left), Nicholas in royal blue, Damon with the cap on and brown sweatshirt, Luke, and Christian (back right). Natalie is in pink! Angela is front right in the light grey shirt.
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