Blog #299: Reflections on 2022

On this Christmas Eve 2022, I now sit here and look back on the year that was 2022. This year was the first full one for “Going the Distance” since being founded in 2021 and that there have been both highs and lows that came along with it.

Like many movements, “Going the Distance” and, I, the man who founded it had to overcome obstacles and adapt to an ever-changing environment that grows and changes every day.

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But while there were plenty of highs, there were also plenty of lows and while I won’t go into Festivus territory, I will say that some of these lows either didn’t have to happen or they were lows that were completely out of my control.

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For one thing, in April of this year, I lost someone whom I considered a brother in the community, David Sharif. Losing David at the age of 24 was both a shock and a disbelief knowing that he had so much to prove and his time was only just beginning. I became angry with the higher power for allowing this to happen in the first place. I could only think of what could have been had he still be alive? We definitely would have met in person and together, we could have conquered areas that we both wanted to conquer.

David and I had a lot in common and that’s how I want to keep building friendships and partnerships in the community. It’s just too bad that it had to end this way, especially during this year’s Autism Acceptance/Awareness Month.

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Next, my parents’ house suffered a water pipe burst in February while we were down in Sanibel Island, FL. It was definitely anxiety provoking to hear that something happened to your house and for a good part of this year, we had to focus a majority of our time cleaning up the mess and looking to see how things could be made better in terms of preventing another pipe burst from happening again. For ten months, we labored, negotiated and oversaw the repairs that were done.

However, as bad as it all was, it could have been a lot worse, and I am thankful that it wasn’t like that. We were lucky despite all that had transpired.

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Third, speaking of Sanibel, another low point of this year was the destruction to Sanibel caused by Hurricane Ian back in September. Seeing the island and all of Fort Myers for that matter being beat up like that was tormenting and made me feel powerless to do anything. Even now, at the time of this blog being posted, the island is still in recovery from the storm, and one wonders if it will ever be the same again fully.

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Finally, my biggest professional grievance of 2022 came during Autism Tree’s Neuroscience Conference last month. Something that I still beat myself up over was not being able to hand out signed copies to the conference sponsors. Was it a communication breakdown? Likely. Did I order enough copies? Maybe not.

Either way, I don’t want to EVER let down anyone who attends or partakes in an event I am a part of. In the end though, this was a learning experience that I am taking into 2023. As a result, I have come up with a new system that I am putting in at future events depending on what the event is and how it operates.

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However, for all the low points, there were quite a few high points. Some of these were high points that came to define and help mold “Going the Distance” into what it is.

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First off, my biggest high point of 2022 was becoming a member of the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism as a Flutie Fellow. For those of you who don’t know, a Flutie Fellow is someone who is supported by the Flutie Foundation into pursuing career goals and desires. This includes being able to attend conferences and trainings with backing by the organization.

So far, being a Flutie fellow has been one of the biggest life changes for me. I have introduced a keynote speaker for a Massachusetts APSE Conference in October up in Worcester, MA as well as delivered Jersey Mike’s Sandwiches through their partnership with Jersey Mike’s.

For 2023, my goal is to continue growing with the Flutie Foundation because the best way to continue sharing my story and ideas with all of you is to do it with the help and support of a great organization.

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My second high point in 2022 was joining the Board of Directors for the Unicorn Children’s Foundation after spending over 6 months as a member of their Junior Board. While I will admit that the meetings are not always easy at times, they demonstrate the importance of running a business or organization which includes making sacrifices that we otherwise wouldn’t want to make.

I will say that this is a learning process as I am taking what I learn from this board and putting it into “Going the Distance.”

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My third high point was that I introduced a new service to my event activities: book signings. Beginning in July of 2022, I started doing book signings of “This is Autism” by Jessica Leichtweisz and Aidan Allman-Cooper and this new service in addition to speaking is something I look forward to doing in 2023 and beyond.

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Finally, a quick note that this will be the first of a two part finale blog for 2022. Stay tuned as for Christmas Day, I share with you what I plan to do for 2023 which includes doing something that I have never done before.

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Catch you all later and I hope Santa is good to you!!

#Diversity #Disability #Neurodiversity #Equality #SpecialEducation #JobCoaching #Autism #Education #Employment #MentalHealth #Inclusion #YearinReview