On a warm summer Saturday night in a spacious church lounge in Abbotsford, the British Columbia contingent of the Speller’s Revolution gathered.
Luke spelled, “ISN’T IT GREAT TO BE WITH MY PEOPLE.”
It was a mixed crowd of parents, caregivers, practitioners, and all ages of spellers. I counted eight spellers in total… from five years old to late twenties (there are more in BC, these were just the ones that could make it). An amazing group of courage. The five-year-old was a newbie… yet to have his first lesson/session, and I was pleased to meet his beautiful mom. Luke had something to say/spell to the young guy, “I WISH I HAD SPELLING AT YOUR AGE.” So do I, Luke—so do I.
Our seasoned S2C practitioner, Angela Knight, was there (she was the host and coordinator). I was so happy to catch up with her and her life. She was such a huge part of our home with weekly zoom sessions for many, many months that always segued from a spelling lesson to real life chats and struggles. I don’t know if we’d be where we are today without Angela. She gave me the weekly accountability and support that kept me (and Luke) going, and she did so with an authenticity that is hard to find these days. I absolutely adore her.
There were also a couple of new practitioners-in-training, which made me well up a little. We need more practitioners, and to watch these beautiful people and feel their genuine passion, keeps the flame alive for all of us. If anyone reads this and wants to become a practitioner, just email us, and we will connect you to the training! It’s a highly viable and lucrative career, with no shortage of clients! There were a couple of other “seasoned” moms with their sons, too. So glad to have met these light bearers.
We were also blessed to have Madison in attendance. With her support, Luke could finally “chat” with “his people”. I’m going to single out Damon Kirsebom, as he was our inspiration and gave us hope long before Luke was “openly” spelling on the letterboard. Let me reminisce, and explain…
A couple of summers ago (August 2022) we first met Damon and his parents, as a prearranged visit at Angela’s home in Surrey. I was nervously excited, and when Damon was ready, he came in… sat down… and spelled on a keyboard that was connected to an iPad: text-to-talk technology. It was incredible. This was the first time I had witnessed in person the success of the communication program… the success we were praying for. We were blown away. Damon’s parents were very kind and supportive and we had a great conversation about our journeys.
I clearly remember Damon’s dad said, “Next year at this time Luke will be famous, too!” I didn’t really believe him, but Damon’s demonstration of the possibilities and potential for Luke gave me a tiny glimmer of hope.
I will also never forget Joel’s arms around me and he whispered in my ear, “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” It truly was. When they left, I lingered on the front porch as they got in their car. The eye-to-eye lengthy gaze Damon gave me is forever etched in my heart. I got the message loud and clear: He was in there, and so was Luke. Keep going....
I even kept the message of hope that Damon spelled letter-by-letter to our family:
We have since met Damon one more time, but Luke was still not “open”… at least not with me yet, so it was a quieter gathering. But this time they could actually have a conversation because Madison was there to support Luke’s spelling. Click on the links to watch the videos of them spelling.
Luke: DAMON, HOW ARE YOU?
Damon: I FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL AND I’M REALLY HAPPY ABOUT ALL THE HARD WORK I HAVE DONE.
Luke: I’M INCREDIBLY PROUD OF YOU.
Luke: DAMON, WE ARE UNITED IN CHANGING THE WORLD.
Damon: YES, WE’RE GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD WITH OUR BEAUTIFUL MESSAGES.
Damon’s mom couldn’t hold back the tears of joy for Luke. I am so grateful for them. As they’ve inspired us, we want to inspire others. This is how our grass roots group will continue to grow—one Speller at a time. And we will slowly become louder and louder, until we are heard, validated, funded, and honoured.
Aside from other Speller-to-Speller conversations (one with Nikhil about girls, which let to a conversation about the need for a Speller’s dating site, lol!), and chats with parents, the other main highlight was that Luke played Yahtzee with his new friend Christian. I wanted to see how this worked, as we’ve been trying to learn ways to include Luke more in family games. Madison demonstrated with a special Yahtzee letterboard how to facilitate the game. Watch the game unfold here. It does seem to be fairly easy to replicate at home!
For me, the two hours spent “in community” went too quickly, sigh.
We are proud to be part of an ever-growing movement in Canada, the US, and world-wide. As per the International Association for Spelling to Communicate (I-ASC) 2022 Annual Report, there are 268 registered practitioners + 94 new practitioners in 36 US States, 4 Canadian provinces, and internationally: South Africa, Ireland, France, New Zealand, Australia, Venezuela, Namibia, Dubai, Finland, Austrian, Latvia, and Brazil. These stats are from 2+ years ago… so I’m waiting for the newest Report to see the exponential increase in numbers! (These stats also do not include the numbers from two other agencies in the US—Spellers and RPM Halo-Soma.)
This spelling journey has been exciting, frustrating, and emotional (all the feels: guilt, joy, grief, hope, anger, love). Despite navigating all these feelings when they surface—through the guidance of a counselor—we feel called to speak out. There are millions of non-speakers in the world that deserve access to this program. They should have the right to form friendships, have viable careers, and have their voices heard.
We were given the miraculous gift of our non-speaking son’s voice. Please help us by sharing Luke’s “awakening” with others, and if you know a family with a non-speaking autistic child, please direct them to us or Luke’s website to learn more. It’s the right thing to do.
Know Better. Do Better.
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