What I've learned from my autistic brothers
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0:01 - 0:04Today I have just one request.
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0:04 - 0:07Please don't tell me I'm normal.
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0:07 - 0:12Now I'd like to introduce you to my brothers.
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0:12 - 0:14Remi is 22,
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0:14 - 0:17tall and very handsome.
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0:17 - 0:21He's speechless, but he communicates joy
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0:21 - 0:25in a way that some of the best orators cannot.
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0:25 - 0:28Remi knows what love is.
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0:28 - 0:32He shares it unconditionally and he shares it regardless.
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0:32 - 0:36He's not greedy. He doesn't see skin color.
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0:36 - 0:39He doesn't care about religious differences, and get this:
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0:39 - 0:42He has never told a lie.
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0:42 - 0:45When he sings songs from our childhood,
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0:45 - 0:48attempting words that not even I could remember,
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0:48 - 0:50he reminds me of one thing:
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0:50 - 0:52how little we know about the mind, and how wonderful
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0:52 - 0:56the unknown must be.
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0:56 - 1:02Samuel is 16. He's tall. He's very handsome.
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1:02 - 1:06He has the most impeccable memory.
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1:06 - 1:08He has a selective one, though.
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1:08 - 1:12He doesn't remember if he stole my chocolate bar,
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1:12 - 1:15but he remembers the year of release for every song on my iPod,
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1:15 - 1:18conversations we had when he was four,
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1:18 - 1:21weeing on my arm on the first ever episode of Teletubbies,
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1:21 - 1:24and Lady Gaga's birthday.
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1:24 - 1:27Don't they sound incredible?
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1:27 - 1:30But most people don't agree.
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1:30 - 1:33And in fact, because their minds don't fit
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1:33 - 1:36into society's version of normal,
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1:36 - 1:39they're often bypassed and misunderstood.
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1:39 - 1:42But what lifted my heart and strengthened my soul
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1:42 - 1:45was that even though this was the case,
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1:45 - 1:48although they were not seen as ordinary,
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1:48 - 1:50this could only mean one thing:
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1:50 - 1:53that they were extraordinary --
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1:53 - 1:58autistic and extraordinary.
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1:58 - 2:02Now, for you who may be less familiar with the term "autism,"
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2:02 - 2:06it's a complex brain disorder that affects social communication,
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2:06 - 2:10learning and sometimes physical skills.
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2:10 - 2:13It manifests in each individual differently,
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2:13 - 2:15hence why Remi is so different from Sam.
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2:15 - 2:18And across the world, every 20 minutes, one new person
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2:18 - 2:21is diagnosed with autism, and although it's one of
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2:21 - 2:24the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the world,
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2:24 - 2:27there is no known cause or cure.
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2:27 - 2:30And I cannot remember the first moment I encountered autism,
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2:30 - 2:33but I cannot recall a day without it.
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2:33 - 2:36I was just three years old when my brother came along,
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2:36 - 2:38and I was so excited that
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2:38 - 2:41I had a new being in my life.
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2:41 - 2:44And after a few months went by,
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2:44 - 2:46I realized that he was different.
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2:46 - 2:48He screamed a lot.
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2:48 - 2:52He didn't want to play like the other babies did,
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2:52 - 2:54and in fact, he didn't seem
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2:54 - 2:56very interested in me whatsoever.
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2:56 - 3:00Remi lived and reigned in his own world, with his own rules,
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3:00 - 3:03and he found pleasure in the smallest things,
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3:03 - 3:05like lining up cars around the room
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3:05 - 3:07and staring at the washing machine
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3:07 - 3:10and eating anything that came in between.
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3:10 - 3:14And as he grew older, he grew more different,
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3:14 - 3:17and the differences became more obvious.
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3:17 - 3:20Yet beyond the tantrums and the frustration
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3:20 - 3:23and the never-ending hyperactivity
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3:23 - 3:25was something really unique:
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3:25 - 3:29a pure and innocent nature, a boy who saw the world
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3:29 - 3:35without prejudice, a human who had never lied.
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3:35 - 3:38Extraordinary.
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3:38 - 3:40Now, I cannot deny that there have been
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3:40 - 3:43some challenging moments in my family,
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3:43 - 3:46moments where I've wished that they were just like me.
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3:46 - 3:48But I cast my mind back to the things that they've taught me
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3:48 - 3:52about individuality and communication and love,
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3:52 - 3:56and I realize that these are things that
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3:56 - 4:00I wouldn't want to change with normality.
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4:00 - 4:05Normality overlooks the beauty that differences give us,
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4:05 - 4:09and the fact that we are different doesn't mean that one of us is wrong.
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4:09 - 4:12It just means that there's a different kind of right.
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4:12 - 4:16And if I could communicate just one thing to Remi
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4:16 - 4:19and to Sam
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4:19 - 4:20and to you,
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4:20 - 4:24it would be that you don't have to be normal.
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4:24 - 4:28You can be extraordinary.
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4:28 - 4:30Because autistic or not,
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4:30 - 4:32the differences that we have --
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4:32 - 4:37We've got a gift! Everyone's got a gift inside of us,
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4:37 - 4:40and in all honesty, the pursuit of normality
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4:40 - 4:43is the ultimate sacrifice of potential.
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4:43 - 4:47The chance for greatness, for progress and for change
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4:47 - 4:51dies the moment we try to be like someone else.
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4:51 - 4:55Please -- don't tell me I'm normal.
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4:55 - 4:57Thank you. (Applause)
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4:57 - 5:00(Applause)
- Title:
- What I've learned from my autistic brothers
- Speaker:
- Faith Jegede
- Description:
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Faith Jegede tells the moving and funny story of growing up with her two brothers, both autistic -- and both extraordinary. In this talk from the TED Talent Search, she reminds us to pursue a life beyond what is normal.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 05:20
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for What I've learned from my autistic brothers | ||
Thu-Huong Ha approved English subtitles for What I've learned from my autistic brothers | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for What I've learned from my autistic brothers | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for What I've learned from my autistic brothers | ||
Morton Bast accepted English subtitles for What I've learned from my autistic brothers | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for What I've learned from my autistic brothers | ||
Joseph Geni added a translation |