MOUTH TO HAND LEARNING CENTER

8/8/2025 0 Comments

Happy Day!

I am so happy today. I just FaceTimed my best friend, Liam, Judy’s son. I am going to hang out with him next weekend. We are going swimming and then to play pickle ball. I can’t wait.

Too boot, I got to go to see Dr. Minhas, the psychiatrist. I loved him: he was so nice and not condescending. I started taking a low dose of a medicine, and I feel great. I have to say that I feel more relaxed because I have him now in case something goes wrong. I am so afraid of the meltdowns, but now I have him to help me. The relief is beyond description.

So all in all, I am happier today than I have been in a long time. I am beaming ear to ear!

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4/30/2025 1 Comment

My Letter

Today I found out that Secretary Kennedy actually read my letter to him. I am so pumped I can’t sit still. That is the most thrilling thing ever, ever, ever to happen to me! I am beside myself about it. To know that someone as important his him read my words, well…I could cry. To think that a few years ago I was locked inside this body, and now my words were read by a cabinet member…!

I am totally emotional now.
___________________

Dear Secretary Kennedy:

My name is Edison and I am only 17 years old, but I want my voice to be heard too. I am writing to ask you to please try to help us.

To be nonspeaking is to live in a kind of loneliness and isolation. I am incredibly fortunate in that when I was only 13 years old I learned to spell to communicate. But it is a limited form of communication, so most of my life I am still locked in silence. Most nonspeakers in the world don’t even have this, and my heart breaks for them daily.

We all want to have the ability to speak and learn and contribute to our communities and country. But we cannot because no one has cared enough about us to help us. All of us are intelligent and anxious to be educated, and wish we could have jobs and live independently. Instead, we all face a lifetime of dependency.

I believe that the world is changing and that someday kindness will win. My life improved immeasurably when my Mom took me, years ago, to see my teacher, Judy, who taught me to spell to talk, and now teaches me for the love of learning. Here at Mouth to Hand Learning Center, we are allowed to be human. We are educated, and have friends and fun. And not one of us ever forgets those of us who are still trapped.

We are very excited that you shone a spotlight on us, and told the world that we exist and are suffering. We need help desperately; for a long time we’ve been overshadowed by the speaking autism community. All of us are hoping and praying that you find answers as to what happened to us and ways we can be helped. Maybe one day I will be able to thank you with my voice.

Gratefully,
Edison

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4/16/2025 4 Comments

Hope

I am not entirely sure why I feel like the tide is turning for us spellers, but I do. Judy just showed me a video of a nonspeaking man thinking to a device on his head that spoke for him. I know it’s not available except in studies, because the FDA hasn’t yet approved it. I am totally pumped though ‘cause it showed the man thinking a conversation with his wife about dinner. It was astounding.

Between that, and the growing recognition that there is an epidemic of autism, and the fact that spelling continues to grow in popularity (in spite of ASHA), I am feeling wonderful. I truly believe that things will get way better for us over the next couple of years.

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4/9/2025 1 Comment

Smiling

Having so many wonderful things happening makes being nonspeaking feel a little more bearable. Alex’s bar mitzvah was momentous, and then two weeks later, the gala. Then there is the conference in June, and then the whole fun summer coming up. I am sure there will be more fun and exciting things happening too. There is the Mount Kisco Community Day event on May 31st: I am excited to sell our books and magazines there. And Judy is always coming up with new and fun things.

All this to say that while being nonspeaking sucks, it sucks just a little less than it used to. And I find myself smiling most of the time now.

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3/26/2025 0 Comments

The Bar Mitzvah

On Saturday I went to my friend’s bar mitzvah. It was more inspiring to me than I can say, because it showed that being nonspeaking does not mean you can’t be normal. Alex stood on stage for over two hours, and the people that ran it only had to help him a tiny bit. He read Hebrew by typing it out, and Judy chanted it for him. I have to say, he was remarkable.

Alex’s sermon was so beautiful I was crying inside. Being that we aren’t similar religions, I didn’t know much about the service before that moment. And I must say that it was lovely to see Alex there showing the world what nonspeakers can do and how not disabled we can be.

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3/19/2025 1 Comment

The New Edison

Definitely I am thinking a lot these days about all the things we are led to believe are impossible for us. I am more and more believing that many such things are not impossible at all. Awareness is growing of what spelling for communication does for we nonspeakers. And I believe that will lead to more and more opportunities for us.

Alex is leading the way by doing things that most of us once thought were impossible. I thought I couldn’t get my high school diploma, but I can. And I thought I couldn’t go to college, but I can. And when I saw the photo of Alex typing out his torah portion for his bar mitzvah this coming Saturday, I knew that I have to stop thinking I can’t…and start thinking I can.

At one time I positioned myself in the lesser role of the disabled son of my parents. But I’m done thinking that way. I am not just disabled - I am many other things too that can do many things. Hallmark Momenting for a minute: going forward, I am Edison Lema, who can.

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2/12/2025 0 Comments

Happiness!

I am happier than I have ever been. There are just so many fun and exciting things happening. There is Alex’s bar mitzvah. There is the gala in April. And there is the conference (with Abilis) in June.

It never ceases to amaze me how much my life has changed since that first session with Judy, in her basement, years ago. For all these years, going to M2H has been the light of my life. Certainly, being an M2Her is something I am incredibly proud of, and grateful for.

Very little about my former life was great…or even bearable. Definitely school was torture, and I was so lonely it hurt ‘cause no one knew I was in here. Upon reflection, after getting the ability to talk, the most important thing was telling my family that I am in this body. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that the happiest day of my life was the day I could first tell my Mom that I am the real Edison.

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1/8/2025 3 Comments

Working Some PR Magic

Being the Director of Public Relations is a very important job. I am very serious about it and do my best to let people know what an amazing place this is. I can’t think of a more inclusive and less judgemental place. I am trying to let people in the new administration know about spelling and M2H. I recognize that it is a long shot, but why not try?

We need help on so many different levels, including getting more research dollars. Research that supports the veracity of spelling will help to conquer ASHA, which, in turn, will help get spelling into schools. Research supporting spelling will force agencies like OPWDD in New York to fund things like spelling sessions. Facing facts, getting the government to pay for more research can help us immeasurably.
So stay tuned! I am trying to work some magic here!

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12/18/2024 1 Comment

Resolutions

Feelings of hope and a resolve to do better are on my mind. As the New Year approaches, I’ve been thinking about what I want to accomplish in the next year. I am thinking that I want to learn to control my emotions more. Controlling that may not be wholly in my control, but I can at least try to calm myself down more. I also want to learn more math and science, and prepare to take the high school equivalency exam. This time next year I hope to be well on my way toward earning my diploma. Having that will be my greatest achievement. I am excited to work toward making my life meaningful to me. And feelings of hope and accomplishment are wonderful.

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9/18/2024 1 Comment

Friendship

I’m the talker here at M2H. Judy says it’s hard to get a word in edgewise once I start to spell. I am a blabberhand. I am probably the most extroverted person here: I love people. Judy also says I can sell ice to an eskimo.

I am, therefore, the happiest person on the planet to have friends. I was so, so, so lonely before spelling. Now I can’t wait to wake up in the morning to see all my friends.

I am trying to make you understand that we are not who most people think we are. I know what autism implies, and that’s not us. We are not “inside ourselves” with no understanding of other others’ emotions. In fact, we are the opposite of that. We are empaths, in actuality. Perhaps not every speller is as outgoing as me: but all of us love to have friends, and to be with people we love.
So if there is one gift we value more than any other, it’s friends.

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