Cool too.
I think, I've been doing this work for a long time.
And I think, it's an interesting learning journey
to have started out.
And I came into the work as a poet
and having a background as a touring singer songwriter.
But I hadn't studied autism.
I wasn't an autism support professional or whatever.
And I think that I must admit that I
was guilty of having some of the preconceptions that were quite
prevalent at that time about autistic people
being isolated, or not social, or not whatever.
Just it's in their own mind.
And I think probably the--
I mean, I've learned so much from working
with at this point, hundreds of spellers over the years.
But the way that these folks relate to their community,
you guys are such good friends to one another.
And one of the commonest topics that comes up in the songs
is the feeling of connection and of friendship.
It's just totally disproved the idea
that there's any sense of, yeah, not being able to empathize.
These are the most empathetic people in the whole world.
Here's another song about friends.
This is by Niko.
And got some-- this was a fun music direction on this one.
(SINGING) They, they, they, they understand me
They, they, they listen with no questions
They, they, they find peace with no end
Nothing's more important than my friends
I, I, I see it when they struggle
I, I, I feel their pain
I, I, I want their hearts to mend
Nothing's more important than my friends.
We, we, we are out to change minds
We, we, we are out to change hearts
We, we, we are about to ascend
And nothing's more important than my friends
Nothing's more important than my friends.
[APPLAUSE]
So nice.