A 37 year old man named Tas Blizzard died this week when his car lost control on a slippery road and went into a dam. It’s always so sad when one of the shiny, sparkly, good people of the world dies young, or tragically, and Tas was one of those people.

I worked with Tas Blizzard several times as a consultant to help out with some of his autistic clients in his work with Behavioural Intervention and Support Team (Social Services). He was intrigued by my ‘autism as a fruit salad’ model and wanted me to help him learn to use it. As such he was the primary inspiration for the book The Jumbled Jigsaw. He asked me, ‘but is this written down anywhere Donna?’, and told me ‘what we need is a book to identify those pieces of fruit salad in each individual with autism to better shape the services and approaches for each individual”. That came to fruition as The Jumbled Jigsaw (published since by Jessica Kingsley Publishers) and today helps people with autism world wide. His compassion for people with special needs and sense of egalitarianism among them was striking.
I remember us sitting in the GF/CF cafe there in Geelong and when he learned I was also a singer-songwriter, he told me he was in a band (The Meanies).  We had mused about his feeling of social connection to people with autism and I said “you’re a Gadoodleborger”.  “What’s a Gadoodleborger”, he’d asked.  I explained it was a sort of translator between worlds, a bridgekeeper, someone who naturally embraces diversity.  “Yeah”, he agreed, “so I’m a Gadoodleborger”.  And he was.   He was an exuberant, giving, vibrant, warm soul and in his 37 years he has certainly given much to the world and enjoyed the world around him with heartiness and compassion.

Shine on Tas.

from Donna Williams

http://www.donnawilliams.net