Kaeli Hannan has resigned, effective May 31, 2012, to pursue other career opportunities. We want to thank Kaeli for her contributions to MNRI and we wish her success in her new endeavors. Kaeli will continue to function in the Conference Coordination position until May 31, 2012.

Brea Maday will take over the Conference Coordinator position, effective June 1, 2012, as well as retaining her current Core Specialist responsibilities. We welcome Brea to this new position and wish her success with her new assignments.

Please join us in wishing Kaeli and Brea great success in the future.

Svetlana Masgutova  & Pamela Curlee

Tomorrow I turn twenty

Another decade has gone

My struggle and fight continues

There is no truce, no white flag

The body rebels and the brain commands

And I await the result of war

Win brain, make this body work

This decade awaits a functional Jamil.

My name is Jamil. I was born into a world organized for neurotypical people. I am not one of them. The best word to describe me is an enigma. I am smart but I cannot function very well. I sometimes say things with my voice but mostly I type to communicate.

I am 19 yrs. old. I developed very differently from a regular child. My earliest memories involve painful sounds, touch and sights. I learned with real work that my sensory system is completely different from regular people. My perception of this world is very different from everybody else. I surmise this from the fact that I do not see others struggling like me. Their bodies are so well and fluid and mine is seized up. 

Over the years my parents have spent countless hours, tears and dollars over my predicament. I am a different person because of this. I am embarking on yet another journey on my quest for freedom. I have started the path shown by Dr. Masgutova to break the chains binding me to autism. So another chapter begins…