“Year’s End”

It’s my last blog post of 2017. I sort of shied away all week because I felt I had nothing momentous to say. But then I snapped out of it:

For the days which ran together
For the goalposts that shimmered out of reach

For the half spoken thoughts
For the unspoken dreams

For the challenges not risen to
For the fears not faced down

For the drumbeat of others’ demands
For the battles waged to meet them

They were not for nothing

The past does not always prepare us for the present

But I am learning

To shed the burden of doubt
To forge a core of steel within me
To be soft when failure defeats me
To love the fragments in my hands
To build and build and build
To live in the house of the heart
To see that I deserve its shelter

May the coming year be for all of us in Autism Duniya. May our children reach out to the world with their senses. May they expand their palates. May they look us right in the eyes. May they never find the stash of Skittles. May they find more people to accept them. May their siblings grow up acknowledged. May our communities include us. And may our journey be rewarded with the infectious expressions of love and joy that are two of the most enduring gifts of autism.

Radha.