0:00:00.988,0:00:03.983 Today I have just one request. 0:00:03.983,0:00:07.373 Please don't tell me I'm normal. 0:00:07.373,0:00:11.749 Now I'd like to introduce you to my brothers. 0:00:11.749,0:00:14.015 Remi is 22, 0:00:14.015,0:00:16.979 tall and very handsome. 0:00:16.979,0:00:20.907 He's speechless, but he communicates joy 0:00:20.907,0:00:25.190 in a way that some of the best orators cannot. 0:00:25.190,0:00:27.833 Remi knows what love is. 0:00:27.833,0:00:32.215 He shares it unconditionally and he shares it regardless. 0:00:32.215,0:00:35.735 He's not greedy. He doesn't see skin color. 0:00:35.735,0:00:39.056 He doesn't care about religious differences, and get this: 0:00:39.056,0:00:42.311 He has never told a lie. 0:00:42.311,0:00:44.792 When he sings songs from our childhood, 0:00:44.792,0:00:47.655 attempting words that not even I could remember, 0:00:47.655,0:00:49.879 he reminds me of one thing: 0:00:49.879,0:00:52.432 how little we know about the mind, and how wonderful 0:00:52.432,0:00:56.007 the unknown must be. 0:00:56.007,0:01:01.744 Samuel is 16. He's tall. He's very handsome. 0:01:01.744,0:01:05.528 He has the most impeccable memory. 0:01:05.528,0:01:08.076 He has a selective one, though. 0:01:08.076,0:01:11.844 He doesn't remember if he stole my chocolate bar, 0:01:11.844,0:01:15.134 but he remembers the year of release for every song on my iPod, 0:01:15.134,0:01:17.533 conversations we had when he was four, 0:01:17.533,0:01:21.004 weeing on my arm on the first ever episode of Teletubbies, 0:01:21.004,0:01:24.412 and Lady Gaga's birthday. 0:01:24.412,0:01:27.149 Don't they sound incredible? 0:01:27.149,0:01:30.173 But most people don't agree. 0:01:30.173,0:01:32.909 And in fact, because their minds don't fit 0:01:32.909,0:01:35.645 into society's version of normal, 0:01:35.645,0:01:38.583 they're often bypassed and misunderstood. 0:01:38.583,0:01:42.349 But what lifted my heart and strengthened my soul 0:01:42.349,0:01:44.669 was that even though this was the case, 0:01:44.669,0:01:47.583 although they were not seen as ordinary, 0:01:47.583,0:01:50.095 this could only mean one thing: 0:01:50.095,0:01:53.470 that they were extraordinary -- 0:01:53.470,0:01:57.693 autistic and extraordinary. 0:01:57.693,0:02:02.144 Now, for you who may be less familiar with the term "autism," 0:02:02.144,0:02:06.046 it's a complex brain disorder that affects social communication, 0:02:06.046,0:02:09.734 learning and sometimes physical skills. 0:02:09.734,0:02:12.549 It manifests in each individual differently, 0:02:12.549,0:02:15.230 hence why Remi is so different from Sam. 0:02:15.230,0:02:17.864 And across the world, every 20 minutes, one new person 0:02:17.864,0:02:20.734 is diagnosed with autism, and although it's one of 0:02:20.734,0:02:23.877 the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the world, 0:02:23.877,0:02:27.053 there is no known cause or cure. 0:02:27.053,0:02:30.318 And I cannot remember the first moment I encountered autism, 0:02:30.318,0:02:33.397 but I cannot recall a day without it. 0:02:33.397,0:02:35.782 I was just three years old when my brother came along, 0:02:35.782,0:02:38.046 and I was so excited that 0:02:38.046,0:02:41.149 I had a new being in my life. 0:02:41.149,0:02:43.878 And after a few months went by, 0:02:43.878,0:02:46.263 I realized that he was different. 0:02:46.263,0:02:48.469 He screamed a lot. 0:02:48.469,0:02:51.556 He didn't want to play like the other babies did, 0:02:51.556,0:02:53.502 and in fact, he didn't seem 0:02:53.502,0:02:56.387 very interested in me whatsoever. 0:02:56.387,0:03:00.367 Remi lived and reigned in his own world, with his own rules, 0:03:00.367,0:03:02.573 and he found pleasure in the smallest things, 0:03:02.573,0:03:05.096 like lining up cars around the room 0:03:05.096,0:03:06.773 and staring at the washing machine 0:03:06.773,0:03:10.155 and eating anything that came in between. 0:03:10.155,0:03:13.900 And as he grew older, he grew more different, 0:03:13.900,0:03:16.583 and the differences became more obvious. 0:03:16.583,0:03:20.035 Yet beyond the tantrums and the frustration 0:03:20.035,0:03:22.804 and the never-ending hyperactivity 0:03:22.804,0:03:25.396 was something really unique: 0:03:25.396,0:03:29.364 a pure and innocent nature, a boy who saw the world 0:03:29.364,0:03:34.995 without prejudice, a human who had never lied. 0:03:34.995,0:03:38.076 Extraordinary. 0:03:38.076,0:03:39.863 Now, I cannot deny that there have been 0:03:39.863,0:03:42.595 some challenging moments in my family, 0:03:42.595,0:03:45.708 moments where I've wished that they were just like me. 0:03:45.708,0:03:48.492 But I cast my mind back to the things that they've taught me 0:03:48.492,0:03:52.332 about individuality and communication and love, 0:03:52.332,0:03:55.669 and I realize that these are things that 0:03:55.669,0:04:00.067 I wouldn't want to change with normality. 0:04:00.067,0:04:05.220 Normality overlooks the beauty that differences give us, 0:04:05.220,0:04:08.549 and the fact that we are different doesn't mean that one of us is wrong. 0:04:08.549,0:04:12.387 It just means that there's a different kind of right. 0:04:12.387,0:04:16.204 And if I could communicate just one thing to Remi 0:04:16.204,0:04:18.530 and to Sam 0:04:18.530,0:04:20.257 and to you, 0:04:20.257,0:04:24.053 it would be that you don't have to be normal. 0:04:24.053,0:04:28.036 You can be extraordinary. 0:04:28.036,0:04:30.117 Because autistic or not, 0:04:30.117,0:04:32.327 the differences that we have -- 0:04:32.327,0:04:36.695 We've got a gift! Everyone's got a gift inside of us, 0:04:36.695,0:04:40.159 and in all honesty, the pursuit of normality 0:04:40.159,0:04:43.156 is the ultimate sacrifice of potential. 0:04:43.156,0:04:47.496 The chance for greatness, for progress and for change 0:04:47.496,0:04:51.375 dies the moment we try to be like someone else. 0:04:51.375,0:04:54.607 Please -- don't tell me I'm normal. 0:04:54.607,0:04:57.080 Thank you. (Applause) 0:04:57.080,0:04:59.793 (Applause)