Dear Good, New Blog Readers,
I am here in Syracuse at the Institute for Communication and Inclusion, the door of communication for many people who type to communicate. I addressed an audience along with Tracy Thresher and Scott Brodie in a workshop about how typing has changed our lives.
I hope you enjoy it.
Mark
A fun thinker.
Mark Utter and Larry Bissonnette at the Summer Institute at Syracuse University’s
Institute on Communication and Inclusion.
I am Mark Utter from the great state of Vermont and I too am delighted to be back here in Syracuse with you again for another dose of typing love and forward moving communication. I am totally excited to be sharing the stage with my Green Mountain colleagues and our fabulous facilitators. I want to focus my time here today on what facilitated communication has done to my life. I think it so helps to describe my life.
In my movie I am in here which, incidentally, we have freshly printed copies of today here for sale, I address the audience with these words.
"I am Mark Utter. I was born with some neurological differences that make it hard for me to be a participant in a world of spoken words. When I was young I was moored in an inaccessible sea. I was forever wishing people would realize I was inside thinking and wanting them to know.
'I am in here!'
Luckily a man named Pascal arrived looking to find some sign of life in my lost boat. My heart leapt at this miracle."
It is true.
I spent many years of my life as an outsider and I did not want that so I kept sending out quiet requests for assistance. Pascal Cheng, of course, showed up and then my stellar work and communication partner, Emily Anderson. Emily and I have done some incredible work together and more is coming. I will end my talk with a report on that
Someone has more recently come into my life and that is my dear friend, mountain man Tracy Thresher. The power of my good friendship with Tracy is a new force of energy. Before this I relied heavily on the friendship, counsel and heavy handed manliness of my mentor Russ Bennett. How magical it now is to have a friend I share so much in common with. I love that we can connect and make astute comments to each other. We are from the same culture and yet we are no less manly than very loved George Clooney.
We talk about good wishes we have for housing that is conducive to the new men typing our thoughts has allowed us to become. I am heartened to learn there has been so much innovation in housing in Vermont for people like us. We want to ride that wave.
And now on to the big news.
I am proud to announce the formation of my company which is called Utter Communication Strategies. Its web site, www.utterenergy.org will promote our movie and current projects. It will also host my blog, Utterly Mark, and elaborate on my future endeavors. I hope you will log on and join our communication revolution.
Thank you all for being part of the life I have dreamed of for years.
We are all living in our motto of “Loving it all forward.”
Mark presented this speech at the Summer Institute at Syracuse University’s Institute on Communication and Inclusion on Monday July 28, 2014
For more information about Supported Typing and the ICI click here.