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SEEING THE SUN

BY PAUL KLEIN

All my life I prayed for a miracle: to have a voice. My thoughts were mine alone, and that is the loneliest thing on earth. The first day I met Judy was like the first day I saw the sun. Within minutes I was talking to her on the laminate. I could talk! My world opened up, like a flower unfolding. Now all those thoughts that were trapped inside are bubbling out, like a soda can that’s been shaken. What is more precious than talking? What is more precious than friends? What is more precious than sharing who we are with each other?

9/19/2024 0 Comments

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We are the most social people on earth, I believe. We love being with friends more than people understand. If I could, I would be here at M2H every day so I could be with my friends. All my life I dreamed of the day I could have friends of my own. It’s ironic, painfully and tragically so, that people believe the opposite of us. Judy often comments that we really don’t fit the definition of autistic because we understand others’ thoughts and feelings, and I agree. While I have almost zero control over my body, I am perfectly aware that what it’s doing is weird or inappropriate. People struggle to understand that simple fact.

So now I have a new prayer. That the world sees we nonspeakers as only that.