Houston: An Opportunity for Connection

The opportunity to present our potentially more northern in personality style than picturesque sports bar oriented – Larry possibly wants to move there because of lots of good barbeque available – Houston came last week, possibly at the most spiritual time of year, at the BBYO (Jewish Community Organization & Jewish Youth Leadership Network) conference where there existed more youthful energy of being positive about inclusion than anywhere else that I have been lately.

Neither autistic perseverations on giving the important sentence ending period key a workout that I did or our speech impaired attempts to open up interactions of opportunity for connection prevented the partying-in-all-corners-of-the-hotel teens from listening to our words and asking us interesting questions like “Larry, What was your favorite country to visit?” Looking closely on our every typed word they paid more attention than to their text messages lighting up their cell phones like perky toys on Christmas day.

It is known that inclusion is not a place but an orientation towards making people with disabilities feel like they belong at barbeques or any event or situation where people of all political or social persuasions gather to make small talk, learn big ideas, or celebrate loudly birthdays and holidays. I would like to pitch out, like a teacher presenting a lesson on kicking out less people of differences accepting attitudes, the idea that learning to include is a lesson in making looking and acting differently like choosing pizza toppings. Larry loves pepperoni, Pascal and Harvey love vegetables, and Tracy loves both yet we movie stars can still all eat pizza together.

Happy New Year to all of our potentially healthier eating than Larry fans.