So few people remember the simply joys and wonders of the early Autistic community, many of which we struggle to replicate today. I fear that now that Mel is gone, a vital link with that time has been severed.
We're better activists than we once were, but something precious was lost from when the autistic community was small and relatively inconsequential. I wish I knew how to find my way back to the sense of closeness and community that existed at that time.
And I lack the ability to communicate the wonder and joy of that time, the meaning of it, the playful creativity and whimsy of autistic culture when it was just coming together.
It had so many qualities I am unable to recapture or find elsewhere, or even embody within myself. Mel had the ability to articulate and embody it though.
It was something more than advocacy. And as necessary as advocacy is, something better.
You can follow @aneeman.
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