How autism freed me to be myself | Rosie King

Translator: Élida Tato Reviewer: Xusto Rodriguez

I haven't told many people this,

Non lle contei isto a moita xente

but in my head, I've got

pero na miña cabeza teño

thousands of secret worlds all going on

centos de mundos secretos

all at the same time.

todos ó mesmo tempo.

I am also autistic.

Tamén son autista.

People tend to diagnose autism

A xente tende a diagnosticar autismo

with really specific check-box descriptions,

como un exame tipo test con respostas moi específicas.

but in reality, it's a whole variation as to what we're like.

En realidade, hai moitas variacións.

For instance, my little brother,

Por exemplo, o meu irmán

he's very severely autistic.

ten autismo severo.

He's nonverbal. He can't talk at all.

Non pode falar en absoluto,

But I love to talk.

Pero a min encántame falar.

People often associate autism

A xente soe asociar autismo

with liking maths and science and nothing else,

con que che gusten as mates e as ciencias e xa,

but I know so many autistic people

pero coñezo moitos autistas

who love being creative.

que gozan sendo creativos.

But that is a stereotype,

Iso é un estereotipo,

and the stereotypes of things

e coma todos os estereotipos

are often, if not always, wrong.

case sempre ou sempre son mentira.

For instance, a lot of people

Por exemplo, moita xente pensa

think autism and think "Rain Man" immediately.

en autismo e venlle Rain Man á cabeza.

That's the common belief,

É unha crenza común

that every single autistic person is Dustin Hoffman,

que tódolos autistas son Dustin Hoffman,

and that's not true.

e iso non é verdade.

But that's not just with autistic people, either.

Isto non pasa só cos autistas.

I've seen it with LGBTQ people,

Pasa tamén co colectivo LGBTQ,

with women, with POC people.

coas mulleres, xente de cor.

People are so afraid of variety

Á xente dálle tanto medo a variedade

that they try to fit everything into a tiny little box

que tentan meter a todo o mundo no mesmo saco

with really specific labels.

cunhas etiquetas moi específicas.

This is something that actually

Isto é algo que de feito

happened to me in real life:

pasoume a min na vida real:

I googled "autistic people are ..."

Busquei "os autistas son..." en Google

and it comes up with suggestions

e apareceron certas suxestións

as to what you're going to type.

tras o que acababa de escribir.

I googled "autistic people are ..."

Busquei "os autistas son..." e

and the top result was "demons."

o primeiro resultado era "demos".

That is the first thing that people think

Iso é o primeiro que a xente pensa

when they think autism.

cando pensa en autismo.

They know.

Sábeno.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

One of the things I can do because I'm autistic —

Unha das cousas que podo facer porque son autista

it's an ability rather than a disability —

—é mais unha capacidade que unha discapacidade—

is I've got a very, very vivid imagination.

é ter unha imaxinación moi intensa.

Let me explain it to you a bit.

Deixádeme explicarvos.

It's like I'm walking in two worlds most of the time.

É coma se camiñase en dous mundos ó mesmo tempo.

There's the real world, the world that we all share,

No mundo real, no que todos vivimos

and there's the world in my mind,

e noutro mundo na miña mente,

and the world in my mind is often so much more real

e este na miña mente ás veces é moito mais real

than the real world.

que o mundo real.

Like, it's very easy for me to let my mind loose

É moi doado para min deixar voar a miña mente

because I don't try and fit myself into a tiny little box.

porque non intento meterme nunha caixiña pequena.

That's one of the best things about being autistic.

Esta é unha das mellores cousas de ser autista.

You don't have the urge to do that.

Non temos a necesidade de encaixar.

You find what you want to do,

Encontras o que queres facer,

you find a way to do it, and you get on with it.

encontras a maneira, e falo.

If I was trying to fit myself into a box,

Se intentase meterme no saco,

I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't have achieved

non estaría aquí, non daría conseguido

half the things that I have now.

a metade das cousas que teño.

There are problems, though.

Hai problemas, claro.

There are problems with being autistic,

Existen problemas cando es autista,

and there are problems with having too much imagination.

e problemas cando tes imaxinación de máis.

School can be a problem in general,

A escola pode ser un problema, en xeral,

but having also to explain to a teacher

e ter que explicarlle ao mestre

on a daily basis

tódolos días

that their lesson is inexplicably dull

que a súa clase é aburrida

and you are secretly taking refuge

e estás buscando refuxio en segredo

in a world inside your head in which you are not in that lesson,

nun teu mundo interior no que non estás nesa clase,

that adds to your list of problems.

engádelle outro problema á túa lista.

(Laughter)

(Risa)

Also, when my imagination takes hold,

E cando a imaxinación se apodera de min,

my body takes on a life of its own.

o meu corpo cobra unha nova vida.

When something very exciting happens in my inner world,

Cando algo do meu mundo interior é moi emocionante

I've just got to run.

preciso correr.

I've got to rock backwards and forwards,

Teño que moverme dun lado a outro

or sometimes scream.

ou mesmo berrar.

This gives me so much energy,

Isto dáme moita enerxía,

and I've got to have an outlet for all that energy.

e preciso unha saída a toda esta enerxía.

But I've done that ever since I was a child,

Sempre fixen isto dende cativa,

ever since I was a tiny little girl.

dende que era unha neniña.

And my parents thought it was cute, so they didn't bring it up,

Meus pais pensaron que era bonito así que non falaban do conto,

but when I got into school,

pero cando entrei na escola

they didn't really agree that it was cute.

xa non pensaron que era tan bonito.

It can be that people don't want to be friends

Podo ser desas persoas que a xente non quere como amiga,

with the girl that starts screaming in an algebra lesson.

a nena que berra na clase de álxebra.

And this doesn't normally happen in this day and age,

E isto normalmente non pasa nestes tempos,

but it can be that people don't want to be friends with the autistic girl.

pero hai xente que non quere ser amiga da nena autista.

It can be that people don't want to associate

Hai xente que non quere tratar

with anyone who won't or can't fit themselves

con ninguén que non poida

into a box that's labeled normal.

estar no saco do "normal".

But that's fine with me,

Pero paréceme ben,

because it sorts the wheat from the chaff,

porque isto separa o gran da palla,

and I can find which people are genuine and true

e podo encontrar xente auténtica e pura

and I can pick these people as my friends.

da que facerme amiga.

But if you think about it, what is normal?

Pero se o pensas, que é normal?

What does it mean?

Que significa?

Imagine if that was the best compliment you ever received.

Imaxina que ese fose o mellor piropo que che digan.

"Wow, you are really normal."

"Vaia, es moi normal."

(Laughter)

(Risas)

But compliments are,

Pero piropos son,

"you are extraordinary"

"es extraordinario"

or "you step outside the box."

ou "es do que non hai",

It's "you're amazing."

"es marabilloso"

So if people want to be these things,

Se a xente quere ser estas cousas,

why are so many people striving to be normal?

por que hai tanta xente que morre por ser normal?

Why are people pouring their brilliant individual light into a mold?

Por que se desfán da súa propia luz para poder encaixar nun molde?

People are so afraid of variety that they try and force everyone,

Á xente ponlle tanto medo a variedade que intentan e obrigan a todos,

even people who don't want to or can't, to become normal.

incluso á xente que non quere ou non pode, a ser normal.

There are camps for LGBTQ people

Hai campamentos para persoas LGBTQ

or autistic people to try and make them this "normal,"

e para persoas autistas. Para facelos "normais".

and that's terrifying that people would do that in this day and age.

E que isto exista nesta época é polo menos aterrador.

All in all, I wouldn't trade my autism and my imagination for the world.

A pesar disto, non cambiaría o meu autismo nin a miña imaxinación por nada.

Because I am autistic,

Grazas a ser autista

I've presented documentaries to the BBC,

presentei documentais na BBC,

I'm in the midst of writing a book,

estou a escribir un libro,

I'm doing this — this is fantastic —

e a facer isto, o que é fantástico.

and one of the best things that I've achieved,

E unha das mellores cousas

that I consider to have achieved,

que dei conseguido

is I've found ways of communicating

foi encontrar maneiras de comunicarme

with my little brother and sister,

cos meus irmanciños (el e ela)

who as I've said are nonverbal. They can't speak.

que non poden falar.

And people would often write off someone who's nonverbal,

Con frecuencia a xente anula aqueles que non poden falar,

but that's silly, because my little brother and sister

o cal é unha parvada porque os meus irmáns

are the best siblings that you could ever hope for.

son os mellores irmáns que alguén podería desexar.

They're just the best, and I love them so much

Son os mellores e quérolles moito.

and I care about them more than anything else.

Impórtanme máis que nada no mundo.

I'm going to leave you with one question:

Vouvos deixar cunha pregunta:

If we can't get inside the person's minds,

Se non podemos entrar na mente da xente,

no matter if they're autistic or not,

autista ou non,

instead of punishing anything that strays from normal,

en vez castigar o que sae fóra do normal,

why not celebrate uniqueness

por que non celebramos a singularidade

and cheer every time someone unleashes their imagination?

e nos apoiamos cada vez que alguén dea rédea solta á súa imaxinación?

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)