"Gabriel Hardisty-Miller changed the way people think about disability and defied the usual preconceptions and expectations of a non-verbal person with autism":
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/s...sty-miller

"NAS pays tribute to Gabriel Hardisty-Miller":
http://www.autism.org.uk/news-and-events...iller.aspx

Gabriel was among the organisers of the PigPen Summer Bash, in London:
http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthre...?tid=19738

Thanks Ken

This is beautiful

                 Gabriel
NO

He didn’t need speech to make others listen
Didn’t need a catwalk for outstanding style
He didn’t need a stage, a mic or the spotlight
A corner exhibitionist, this Lord of Misrule
Would pull your focus in a Three Ring Circus

If there were only two answers
What would your one question be?
Closed questions often reveal more about the asker
Gabriel knowingly held a mirror up to your humanity
Some can’t bear to see themselves

- NO

- YES

He would bring the best out in you
When I performed for Gabriel it mattered
Because he had chosen me
Because he was always listening
I knew I would be truly heard
I knew I was among friends at Pig Pen
I knew I was in a safe and loving space

I knew Gabriel the club promoter
You knew him too
Or Gabriel the political campaigner?
Aspiring model? Role model?
Comic book hero? Real life hero?

He is The Godfather, The Motorcycle Diaries
The poetry of Ginsberg and Walt Whitman
The music of United Vibrations, Kayaka
And every performer he put on stage at Pig Pen
The scent of crushed lavender, jasmine oil
The tenderness he evoked in his P.A.s
His stepmother’s relentless struggle
To provide support and not just care
Snizzing up for autism
He is a star
A poster boy for the National Autistic Society
Magnet for the most marvellous people
Resting his head on your girlfriend's shoulder
Resting after a big night out with the lads
Resting after a seizure
Resting after a tireless battle
He is resting
He is resting in peace

Gabriel died, a young man, 25 years old

With strength, with courage, with dry eyes

With laughter still echoing in his ears
With prayers still in the air

With respect, with dignity, with friends
With a family beyond blood
With a legacy, a quarter century, beyond belief

And with love

- YES

WITH LOVE



By Dean Atta

This post was last modified: 09-15-2012 08:54 PM by heterodox.