MOUTH TO HAND LEARNING CENTER

FINDING JOY

BY NICK BIAGGI

My name is Nick Biaggi and I find joy in almost everything. Finding joy is not easy when you are a nonspeaker, but just having this ability to talk makes everything ok. All my life I wished for the ability to let people know that I am in this body. To have that wish come true beyond makes me happy.

No one’s life is perfect and mine is far from it. But it’s much better now and I think I can choose to be happy in it.

10/8/2025 0 Comments

Just Nick

Sometimes being nonspeaking becomes unbearable. It always certainly sucks, but there are better and worse moments. And sometimes the bad are unbearable. Continual denial of typing’s legitimacy makes our worlds very small. That means that if we are not at home or at Mouth to Hand, things stink. Being at other programs is actually very depressing.

Happily my parents do listen to me, but not enough. I told them to just stop sending me to the other programs, but it hasn’t happened yet.

We come here and no one cares if we are disabled: everyone is treated as equals. And that makes you forget, for a little while, that you are nonspeaking. But then you are reminded in the worst way when you go to other places. I remind myself when I am there that M2H is waiting for me. It helps me cope.

I wish I could just come here and nowhere else. Then much of my life would be spent being not only disabled: I could just be Nick.

0 Comments

9/5/2025 1 Comment

Autonomy

All of us are finally at a point where we are voicing our opinions. That means that we can kind of take control of our lives if we are heard by our parents. And there’s the rub…

All our lives before spelling we couldn’t dictate our needs and wants. Thus, our parents had to decide everything; and that became habit. It’s hard to break old habits that have become deeply entrenched. But parents must change their way of thinking, even though change is hard.

I am tired of being forced into doing things. I am incredibly intelligent, and my dream is to find a way of using that intelligence. I want to go to college. I want to feel proud of myself. I want to be a person of achievement, who should be allowed autonomy. I don’t want to just be disabled, and spend my life in programs for the disabled.

I want to be who I would have been if autism hadn’t happened.

1 Comment

7/14/2025 0 Comments

Creative Writing

It absolutely allows me to accomplish things I couldn’t do alone. There was no way I would have been able to write a story by myself. Knowing that friends are with me in my creative writing class has made me a better writer already. Having other people to rely upon actually gives us the chance to take risks, and to never feel pressured or overwhelmed. I feel like that has let me enjoy writing fiction in a way I never have. Starting these groups was the greatest idea.

0 Comments

3/5/2025 0 Comments

March 05th, 2025

0 Comments

3/5/2025 0 Comments

Gala Fever

Gala fever is hitting M2H in a big way. It’s one month from today and the excitement is already palpable. It’s our night to be celebrated for who we really are. My twin brother is definitely celebrated by our family because he is a normal guy. Me, not so much…until now. Being seen is the most important thing on earth. Now I am seen. Not my disabled outside, but the real Nick. That’s the best feeling on earth.

0 Comments

11/21/2024 0 Comments

No Daycare for Me

At my poetry club a few weeks ago, I asked the others if they went to daycare. I just finished school and was slated to start daycare in January. The responses were particularly interesting. None of the guys had anything positive to say. Let me say that I got an earful, and my Dad was thoroughly scolded. We were totally a unified front.

The people we saw in the program were not like us. The rooms were filled with people of all ages, many of them speakers with cognitive impairments. I was horrified at the thought of spending the rest of my life there. There was no fun or learning there.

I am lucky. My Dad took his scolding like a man, and my parents changed the plan. What needs to happen is Judy create a day program for us. We need a place to go where we are seen for who we really are.

0 Comments

10/2/2024 0 Comments

Lucky

It’s Wednesday today - my favorite day. I get to come to M2H on Wednesdays. I believe this place is magical in that it’s where dreams come true. I dreamed about talking, and now I can. I dreamed about coming to a place where I had real friends. I dreamed about learning material that wasn’t fit for two year olds. I dreamed about being among friends, where disability is not meaningful. I dreamed about meeting a beautiful and intelligent girl, and in walked Laura.

I’m so in shock that so many dreams have come true. It seems miraculous to me. I believe I have been incredibly lucky. My disability sucks, there’s no doubt. But in a bad world, I have been fortunate.

0 Comments