In memory of Liz Birt: The Angel's Cry

[Guest guest]

The Angel’s Cry…. I hardly knew her, Liz Birt, the "Angel-Advocate" of the autism community who has died. All that I know of her I read from the e-mails being passed around the internet. But it made me think…. What about all the others before her who she now sits among? Those with autism spectrum disorders who were killed by the thing they loved most – water. Drawn to the

water for perhaps the sensory feeling or pressure, but nevertheless, oblivions to its dangers. Those many children with autism who have died while perhaps enjoying the only reprieve from their autism. And those who I have read about over the years who have died in the corner of their bedrooms in a house fire, those who didn’t understand that fire was danger and that they must leave. What about those like little who haunts me still each time I put my child on the bus to go to school. “The Day Died” was an article I read years ago in the Schafer Autism Report about a boy who was made to lay face down in the back seat of the bus because he was acting up. The boy who a police officer later found dead on that bus…. What about those youth and adults with autism who have been maced, handcuffed, assaulted, - because they didn’t know how to react “appropriately”. And perhaps not dead, but what about those who for whatever circumstance, sit alone in a state school or institution, whose futures are as bland as the food they eat. Liz sits among them all. Among those in heaven, and among the spirit of those still alive. And though I didn’t know Liz – I picture that she must have been a modern day Moses. An average person who was anointed to be,

and do, things greater than perhaps she would have ever dreamed or thought possible. A simple servant unknowingly born to lead a generation to the promised land of truth, that she herself would never see. And though I didn’t know Liz, I can say that she most certainly must have marched to the beat of a different drummer. All those who challenge the lies in Washington and demand truth from Washington, - must. And it’s that drumbeat that I faintly hear in my mind after learning about who Liz was, what she did, and what in the autism community that is now lost. I hear the faint drumbeats of many leaders like her, all over the nation. I hear the faint drumbeats of parents who follow those many leaders in the autism community. And I think that like what God said about Abraham’s descendants being as numerous as the stars in the sky – that our numbers; the numbers of those whose lives are touched by autism, past and present, are that numerous as well. And I imagine all those stars….all those lives touched by autism, past and present, marching to Washington. I imagine autism – united. I imagine that for one day, for one cause, we all march to the beat of the same drummer. The power of truth. The power of awareness. The power that proper research and funding will bring. I

imagine a day where our collective drumbeat as we march can be called, “The Angel’s Cry”. And I imagine that cry, that drumbeat, being louder than the cry of what Liz’s life meant, and louder than the cry of all the lives lost to autism or because of autism. And when they see us there and ask what is “The Angel’s Cry” – we will tell them about Liz. We will tell them our stories. We will show them the numbers on paper and in person. We will tell them that “The Angel’s Cry” is about Liz and what her work was about. We will tell them that it’s for Hunter in Houston and all those like him who have drowned in a pool or a lake because of Autism. We will tell them that it’s for all the ’s whose parents could not care for them in their own home because of the outbursts that were not controllable anymore. We will tell them that it’s for all the ’s whose chance at independence depend on funding and treatments and services. We will tell them that

it’s for all those young adults who have been maced and handcuffed and assaulted because they didn’t understand what was going on. We will tell them that it’s for all those who are alive yet all alone in institutions. We will tell them that it’s for the grandchildren most of us will never have because of autism. So the question is, will we, like the Israelites, continue to see, feel, and taste the promised land of truth, funding, research, and services, - or will we, like the Israelites, not have faith. Not believe it can happen, not make it happen, – and continue to wander aimlessly in the

desert for 40 more years? Or will we each take that chance, make that sacrifice, and march to the beat of the memory of Liz and what she stood for, along with all those in heaven with her; and descend upon Washington in 2007 with a force louder than the Angel’s cry? Make no mistake, Liz is still marching…. We must now be her feet. ALL of us. Written by M. Guppy - MGuppy@... - M. Guppy - "Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared." Listowner & Facilitator of: Autism Treatment/ and TexasAutismSupport/