Maybe it’s just because I’m pregnant and emotional, but this blog post made me cry. A lot. Because the author of A Diary of a Mom captured perfectly how the parents of an autistic child feel when something, anything, is able to reach that child, to help him or her, to make his or her life easier, more “normal.”
We’ve seen first-hand the possibilities the iPad has for children with autism, and if that had been the only contribution Steve Jobs had made to our world, (it wasn’t, for what it’s worth…we’re iEverything here), it would have been more than enough.
If you want to read her beautiful, honest, pre-iPad love letter, please click through to keep reading.
“The world lost a great visionary last night.
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And the autism community lost a hero.
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I heard one of the talking heads on television last night say, ‘Well, in some ways he wasn’t the best CEO. He wasn’t really so good at interacting with people.’ I couldn’t help it; I laughed. Firstly, of course, because I live in Autismland – a place in which not being ‘so good at interacting with people’ is kinda the norm.
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But secondly, I laughed because the idea is pretty preposterous, isn’t it? That Steve Jobs wasn’t so good at interacting with people? Really?
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How many people do we typically interact with in a day? A month? A year? A lifetime?
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Steve Jobs interacted in some way with Every. Last. One. Of. Us. And in so doing, he changed the face of … well, everything. But that’s just the beginning. What his tools did, do and will continue to do for people with autism? Language, connection, escape, freedom, access. I don’t know where to begin.
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I wrote the following in January of 2010. I called it ‘An Unlikely Love Letter’. It was addressed to the man who gave my family freedom. If I’d written it more recently, it would have included a whole additional universe of education, interaction, communication, independence and ACCESS for individuals with autism – the iPad.
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Steve once said, ‘I want to put a ding in the universe.’ I hope as he closed his eyes last night, he left us knowing that he did. He sure as hell did.”
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