Faith Jegede: What I've learned from my autistic brothers | TED

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Claudia Ríos García Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

Hoxe teño unha única petición.

Today I have just one request.

Please don't tell me I'm normal.

Por favor, non me digades que son normal.

Now I'd like to introduce you to my brothers.

Gustaríame presentarvos os meus irmáns.

Remi is 22,

Remi ten 22 anos.

tall and very handsome.

É alto e moi guapo.

He's speechless, but he communicates joy

Non fala, pero transmite alegría

in a way that some of the best orators cannot.

mellor ca algúns dos máis destacados oradores.

Remi knows what love is.

Remi sabe o que é o amor.

Compárteo incondicionalmente pase o que pase.

He shares it unconditionally and he shares it regardless.

He's not greedy. He doesn't see skin color.

Non é avaricioso. Non lle importa a cor da pel.

He doesn't care about religious differences, and get this:

Non lle importan as diferenzas relixiosas e, fixádevos nisto:

He has never told a lie.

nunca dixo unha mentira.

When he sings songs from our childhood,

Cando canta cancións da nosa infancia,

intentando pronunciar palabras das que nin eu podería lembrarme,

attempting words that not even I could remember,

he reminds me of one thing:

recórdame unha cousa:

how little we know about the mind, and how wonderful

o pouco que sabemos sobre a mente e o marabilloso

the unknown must be.

que debe ser o descoñecido.

Samuel is 16. He's tall. He's very handsome.

Samuel ten 16 anos.

É alto. É moi guapo.

He has the most impeccable memory.

Ten unha memoria impecable.

He has a selective one, though.

He doesn't remember if he stole my chocolate bar,

Non se lembra de se me colleu o meu chocolate

but he remembers the year of release for every song on my iPod,

pero acórdase do ano en que saíu cada canción do meu iPod,

conversations we had when he was four,

conversacións que tivemos cando el tiña 4 anos,

weeing on my arm on the first ever episode of Teletubbies,

facer pis polo meu brazo durante o primeiro capítulo dos Teletubbies

and Lady Gaga's birthday.

e o día do aniversario de Lady Gaga.

Don't they sound incredible?

Non vos parece incrible?

But most people don't agree.

A pesar disto, a maioría da xente non está de acordo.

And in fact, because their minds don't fit

E, de feito, como as súas mentes non se axustan

into society's version of normal,

ao concepto de normalidade da sociedade,

they're often bypassed and misunderstood.

a miúdo son ignorados e incomprendidos.

But what lifted my heart and strengthened my soul

Pero o que me animou e fortaleceu a miña alma

was that even though this was the case,

foi que, mesmo se esta era a situación,

although they were not seen as ordinary,

aínda que non os considerasen ordinarios

this could only mean one thing:

só podía significar unha cousa:

that they were extraordinary --

que eran extraordinarios.

autistic and extraordinary.

Autistas e extraordinarios.

Now, for you who may be less familiar with the term "autism,"

Ben, para aqueles menos familiarizados co termo "autismo",

it's a complex brain disorder that affects social communication,

é un complexo trastorno cerebral que afecta á comunicación social,

learning and sometimes physical skills.

á aprendizaxe e, ás veces, ás habilidades físicas.

It manifests in each individual differently,

Maniféstase de maneira diferente en cada individuo

hence why Remi is so different from Sam.

de aí que Remi sexa tan diferente a Sam.

And across the world, every 20 minutes, one new person

En todo o mundo, cada 20 minutos,

diagnostícase un novo caso de autismo,

is diagnosed with autism, and although it's one of

the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the world,

e aínda que é un dos trastornos do desenvolvemento

que máis rápido aumenta no mundo, non hai causa nin cura coñecidas.

there is no known cause or cure.

And I cannot remember the first moment I encountered autism,

Non me acordo do meu primeiro encontro co autismo,

but I cannot recall a day without it.

pero non recordo vivir un só día sen el.

I was just three years old when my brother came along,

Tiña só tres anos cando o meu irmán chegou ao mundo

and I was so excited that

e estaba moi emocionada de ter un novo ser na miña vida.

I had a new being in my life.

And after a few months went by,

Cando pasaron uns cantos meses

deime conta de que el era diferente.

I realized that he was different.

He screamed a lot.

Berraba moito.

He didn't want to play like the other babies did,

Non quería xogar coma os outros bebés e,

and in fact, he didn't seem

de feito, non parecía interesarse por min nin o máis mínimo.

very interested in me whatsoever.

Remi lived and reigned in his own world, with his own rules,

Remi vivía e reinaba no seu propio mundo,

coas súas propias regras,

and he found pleasure in the smallest things,

e encontraba o pracer nas cousas máis pequenas,

like lining up cars around the room

como poñer os coches en ringleira

ao redor do cuarto,

and staring at the washing machine

mirar fixamente a lavadora

and eating anything that came in between.

e comer calquera cousa que houbera polo medio.

And as he grew older, he grew more different,

Conforme medraba, volvíase máis diferente

e as diferenzas facíanse máis evidentes.

and the differences became more obvious.

Yet beyond the tantrums and the frustration

Pero máis alá das rabechas, da frustración

e da hiperactividade inacabable,

and the never-ending hyperactivity

había algo realmente único:

was something really unique:

a pure and innocent nature, a boy who saw the world

unha natureza pura e inocente,

un neno que vía o mundo sen prexuízos,

without prejudice, a human who had never lied.

un ser humano que nunca mentira.

Extraordinary.

Extraordinario.

Non podo negar que houbo algúns momentos

Now, I cannot deny that there have been

some challenging moments in my family,

difíciles na miña familia,

moments where I've wished that they were just like me.

momentos nos que desexei que eles

fosen exactamente coma min.

But I cast my mind back to the things that they've taught me

Pero miro cara a atrás as cousas que me ensinaron

about individuality and communication and love,

sobre a individualidade, a comunicación e o amor,

and I realize that these are things that

e doume conta de que son cousas

I wouldn't want to change with normality.

que non querería cambiar pola normalidade.

Normality overlooks the beauty that differences give us,

A normalidade pasa por alto a beleza que nos achegan as diferenzas

and the fact that we are different doesn't mean that one of us is wrong.

e o feito de ser diferentes non significa

que alguén estea equivocado.

It just means that there's a different kind of right.

Só significa que hai unha visión diferente do que é correcto.

And if I could communicate just one thing to Remi

Se puidese transmitirlle unha soa cousa a Remi,

and to Sam

e a Sam,

and to you,

e a vós,

it would be that you don't have to be normal.

sería que non tedes que ser normais.

You can be extraordinary.

Podedes ser extraordinarios.

Because autistic or not,

Porque, autistas ou non,

the differences that we have --

as diferenzas que temos... son un don!

We've got a gift! Everyone's got a gift inside of us,

Cada un de nós ten un don no seu interior

and in all honesty, the pursuit of normality

e, sinceramente, a busca da normalidade é

is the ultimate sacrifice of potential.

o último sacrificio do potencial.

The chance for greatness, for progress and for change

A oportunidade para a grandeza, o progreso e o cambio

dies the moment we try to be like someone else.

morre no momento no que tratamos de ser coma os demais.

Please -- don't tell me I'm normal.

Por favor, non me digades que son normal.

Thank you. (Applause)

Grazas. (Aplausos)

(Aplausos)

(Applause)