My life with autism | Fabrizio Schahin Carita | TEDxJardins

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED conferences.

Fabrizio is a young man, who is diagnosed with the Autistic Spectrum Disorder. He loves working, traveling on his own, and participating in his drama group.

Fabrizio graduated from high school, studied gardening, and completed DJ and Art courses. He volunteers at an NGO related to gastronomy. He has been working since 2009.

Good Morning!

I'm 23 years old and I started working,

as my mother has just said,

after I finished high school.

Which I really wanted.

I wanted be like a normal person,

who is not autistic.

I don't like when people look at me weird

only because I'm different.

I wanted to introduce myself
like a normal person in society.

I like my two dogs,

they are my best friends,
and the only ones.

When I'm nervous because of work,

sometimes I get upset
with my bosses or my colleagues,

my two dogs calm me down.

They are my buddies,
I can't live without them,

and both of them like me as well.

(Laughter)

I took a DJ course which I liked a lot,

I was very interested,

because when I went to parties
with my siblings,

I liked to watch the DJ work.

I thought it was very interesting.

I took this course and learned about it.

Now I'm taking drama classes,
which I like a lot.

I love dancing and doing choreographies.

In drama classes I have friends
who are unique too,

because I don't have friends out of there.

I've taken other courses,

like gardening
and administrative assistant.

I like traveling by plane very much,

I like to take a bus and subway alone.

After I learned, I like
to take the bus on my own.

For me, I don't mind at all
taking the bus.

When I learned to take the bus
I was very happy

to go around the city on my own,
without my mother.

(Laughter)

My power of choice,

I earn money and I can save it.

My mother and brother
helped me to manage my money

and I can buy something, save it,
not spend so much.

If both of them hadn't taught me
not to spend money on anything

I wouldn't have any money.

I'm very happy with what
I learned with them.

I'm thankful to the NGO
that helped me to enter the job market.

Without their help,
I wouldn't have found a job

and I'd be looking for one until today.

I thank so much this NGO that helped me.

I like my job because they treat me well,

like a normal person,

They don't treat me differently.

Everything is equal,
because I don't like to be different.

I'm very happy working,
I can't stand not to work.

I don't see myself
without a job in the world.

I don't like to stay at home
doing nothing.

My life is only work!

(Laughter)

This is a photo of another lecture I did,

my mother invited me to do it.

I went to another NGO,
I enjoyed it so much

and people liked my lecture as well.

I talked about my professional life,

and what I thought about my job.

Here is my drama team
who are my big friends,

and they like me too.

As I've already said,
without them, I can't live.

They are awesome.

They're very funny.

I enjoy this group.

This is my life!

(Applause)