Speaking for Ourselves

as well as her child peers and their parents. But Mara soon grows into artism and indeed flourishes as a percussionist, a dancer, and a composer. One of Mara's compositions for the group, a dramatic adaptation of Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham that she titles Purple Eggs and Ham, becomes an artism crowd favorite. A rehearsal performance of the piece may be seen at the companion website. Mara herself stars in the production as Mara I Am, the alter ego to Seuss's beloved Sam I Am character. The piece receives a rousing standing ovation when Artism performs it as the closing number of our concert for the opening general session of the 2013 Society for Disability Studies Conference in Orlando, Florida. Mara wows the crowd, not just in the concert itself, but also in an open question and answer session with the audience immediately following the show. She takes on one question after another, addressing each with insight, wit, and wisdom well beyond her years. By evening's end, Mara has addressed a range of topics encompassing everything from the distinction between autism acceptance and autism awareness to the special challenges of living with Asperger's in a society short on accommodations and long on judgment. Her contributions make a strong impression on the audience and on me as well. Writing with Mara. Six weeks have passed since the Artism Ensemble concert in Orlando. It is August in Tallahassee. We are slogging through the dog days of summer, relentless heat, unbearable humidity, daily thunderstorms, life as usual in the steamy south. I am trying to write a book, this book. The problem is that I can't figure out where or how to begin. My thoughts drift to memories, in particular to memories of Mara at the post-concert Q&A in Orlando. There should be a chapter in the book about Mara, I think to myself. Then it hits me. I don't want to write about Mara. I want to write with her. And immediately I know what I have to do. I pick up the phone and dial the Chesar's number. Leah answers. We chat a bit before getting to the main purpose of my call. I tell her about the book I'm starting to write, my plan for a chapter focusing on Mara, and my just hatched idea to collaborate directly with Mara in writing it. I'm pretty sure she'd be into it, Leah tells me, but let me check with her. She does, reporting back to me minutes later that Mara definitely wants to do this. We all meet up at my office an hour or so later. Mara has never been here before. She looks around at the stacks of books and videos and CDs, the endless piles of papers and folders, the Balinese masks and puppets, the computer and sound equipment, the piano and the many drums and other percussion instruments. She seems nervous at first, but her apprehension melts away the moment she feasts her eyes on a nice black office chair next to my desk. She plops herself down on the chair and gives it a good kickstart. Whee! Mara exclaims with glee as she tucks up her knees and whirls about in the chair, over and over and over again. The downcast eyes light up and open wide. The frown becomes a radiant smile and her laughter fills the room. I love spinny chairs, she shrieks. Spinny chair, everyone loves the spinny chair. She spins and spins, round and round, and she continues spinning as she quickly modulates from her playful tone to a more serious one. So, what do you want, she asks me. I'm a bit thrown off by the question. Want, I say, pondering, searching for just the right way to put it. Oh, what do I want? Well, I just want to talk to you about autism and Asperger's and stuff like that, I venture, not sure how that's going to go over. Mara continues to spin. You know, I continue, you had such wonderful things to say about all that stuff during the question and answer session after our Orlando concert with autism, and since then I've been reading this book written by autistic people. It's called Loud Hands, Autistic People Speaking. And what you were saying is really in line with what they're saying. So now I'm trying to write about music and autism and all that, and I think it would be great if you could write with me, because you have such amazing insights, and I think having you share those would make the things I'm working on way better than...