<![CDATA[MOUTH TO HAND LEARNING CENTER

<![CDATA[MOUTH TO HAND LEARNING CENTER - Then and Now]]>Sat, 07 Mar 2026 06:26:34 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Becoming ME]]>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 23:08:06 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/then-and-now/becoming-meI have given it thought, and this year I am going on a self-improvement kick. I am interested in getting more educated. I have joined a biology class and now want to do math. I am really going to try to become more of what I should have been if autism hadn’t happened. I would have been a great student and I would have been popular. Having the opportunity to do both is what M2H is all about.

]]><![CDATA[New Year's Resolution]]>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 20:46:21 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/then-and-now/new-years-resolutionMy New Year’s resolution has to happen soon. It is to do things more often with Alex. It is self-improvement: letting myself have more experiences that are fun, with a friend, is a way to grow. I spent years and years doing nothing with friends. Definitely, I have to make up for lost time.

]]><![CDATA[Addiction]]>Thu, 14 Aug 2025 20:10:12 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/then-and-now/addictionI am loving creative writing. There is nothing funnier than writing together. I laugh the whole time. Definitely one of my favorite hours of the week. I am jealous that Alex gets to join a bunch of them.

So I am thinking that maybe I need to come here more. Two days a week is inadequate. Rocco gets to come here five days. (That’s why he’s the Mayor.) But everyone else doesn’t, and that isn’t fair. I am definitely vying for a minimum of three. I am particularly interested in joining more creative writing groups. I am kind of addicted.

]]><![CDATA[The Change in Schedule]]>Tue, 10 Jun 2025 19:46:03 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/then-and-now/the-change-in-scheduleStarting next week Judy’s schedule is changing. Most of her individual sessions are becoming creative writing classes. I am excited about it. I believe it will be fun to work on things together.

I always Hallmark Moment when I think about how happy I am to have friends now. (I always Hallmark Moment when I think about life before and after M2H.) Having friends is the greatest thing on earth. I get teary whenever I think about my old life. All of us are great with the changes.

I feel like we all need to remember that no one in the world is as committed to us as Judy.

]]><![CDATA[Hell Froze Over]]>Tue, 29 Apr 2025 19:10:50 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/then-and-now/hell-froze-overI am beside myself today. I am excited to learn that Secretary Kennedy actually read my letter. For someone like me to have a voice that can reach the US Cabinet is thrilling. Having a voice is empowering. Having the ability to say what I think is thrilling. Having a voice that is powerful enough to reach the highest levels of government is beyond words.Talking to a cabinet member is so totally out of the visions I had of my life it’s almost comical. It’s like saying, “Joss, you’ll make a trip to the moon.” I can’t see it happening.

But hey…Secretary Kennedy read my letter.

Definitely watch out for flying pigs.

]]><![CDATA[Dinner]]>Tue, 15 Apr 2025 20:20:12 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/then-and-now/dinnerI have decided that Judy is coming to dinner at my house. Alex too. I will cook. Mom can be my sous chef. I get excited thinking about it. I love most foods; so does Alex. But Judy is difficult, it turns out.

But we will figure it out.

I am welcoming them into my home as honored guests.

That is how I will bribe them into making sure that I get to go to Israel with them. Then I will be sure to have converted by then. I am not quite ready yet. But the Hebrew school classes that are soon starting here will prepare me.

]]><![CDATA[Alex's Bar Mitzvah]]>Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:50:50 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/then-and-now/alexs-bar-mitzvahOn Saturday I went to Alex’s bar mitzvah. It was the most wonderful day of my life. I am so Jewish at heart. I loved that service more than I can express. Everything about it was beautiful, from the singing to Alex reading Hebrew prayers and the Torah, to Judy chanting what he typed. The rabbis were amazing, and my part in the service was lovely. Seeing Alex up on the stage for two hours was happiness itself; he awed all of us. He didn’t need Judy to regulate himself. And the best part was Alex’s sermon.

He explained that when the Israelites were in the desert, Moses told them to build a tabernacle. The people gave so much that Moses had to tell them to stop. Alex compared that to Judy building M2H. All acts of love, generosity and kindness are acts of God. Any place that is built on those acts will be a place of God. As I sat there listening, Alex’s electronic voice speaking, all I could think was how true that was. I get tearier thinking about it: God was in that synagogue…and God is always at Mouth to Hand.

When the service was over, I was absolutely sad. I am so converting. My new name is Rachel Cutieberg. Being Jewish rocks.

]]><![CDATA[Awe]]>Tue, 18 Mar 2025 20:21:24 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/then-and-now/aweAwe is my favorite emotion. It means that my feelings of wonder totally work. I am mostly thinking about the way I get when nonspeakers do things that I thought were impossible. I am specifically thinking of Alex standing there reading the Torah. I had to look twice to make sure it was real. I am Hallmark Momenting: it was inspirational, to put it mildly. I can say that seeing it makes me realize that no one is handicapped so much that no dreams cannot be fulfilled. Alex’s bar mitzvah is proof of that. Having that belief makes it my goal too.

I am awed, and that is wonderful.

]]><![CDATA[New Clothes]]>Tue, 28 Jan 2025 22:33:23 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/then-and-now/new-clothesI am getting a sexy dress for Alex’s bar mitzvah. My Dad said no so I told him off. I am thirty-three for Pete’s sake. I will look sexy if I want.

Calling a spade a spade, I totally would be dressing myself differently if it were up to me. I am tired of sweatshirts. I am a new Joss, and this Joss has to have pretty clothes. I can’t really have the new one dressing like the old one. It really didn’t matter what the old Joss wore. But this Joss, who has friends, and is going to a bar mitzvah, and is going to work on going to college needs clothes to match the joy of her new life.

]]><![CDATA[Miracles]]>Tue, 21 Jan 2025 19:49:54 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/then-and-now/miraclesMaybe miracles can happen.

On Saturday I sat on a panel of nonspeakers at the M2H ribbon cutting ceremony. I am still riding the high. A year ago or so I couldn’t even talk. Now I am sitting on public panels, talking in front of dozens of people. I got to meet the mayor of Mount Kisco.

Can you believe this is the same Joss Cutie?

I am still in shock. Definitely, letting me talk on that panel was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. The whole event was great. I am living the dream these days.

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