Carina Morillo: To understand autism, don't look away (with English subtitles) | TED

Translator: Ilze Garda Reviewer: Kristaps Kadiķis

"Look at me!"

„Paskaties uz mani!”

That phrase turned me into an eye-contact coach.

Ar šiem vārdiem es kļuvu par skatienu treneri.

I'm the mother of Ivan; he's 15 years old.

Es esmu piecpadsmitgadīgā Ivana mamma.

Ivan has autism,

Ivanam ir autisms, viņš nerunā

he doesn't speak,

and he communicates through an iPad,

un sazinās caur iPad,

where his whole universe of words exists in images.

kurā ir visa viņa pasaule ar vārdiem, kas pārvērsti attēlos.

He was diagnosed when he was two and a half.

Ivana diagnozi uzzinājām, kad viņam bija divarpus gadi,

I still remember that day painfully.

un vēl šodien atmiņas par šo mirkli man ļoti sāp.

My husband and I felt really lost;

Abi ar vīru jutāmies ļoti apjukuši.

we didn't know where to begin.

Nezinājām, ar ko sākt.

There was no internet,

Nebija interneta kā tagad,

you couldn't Google information,

informāciju nevarēja iegūglēt.

so we made those first steps

Tā nu šie pirmie soļi

out of sheer intuition.

bija tīras intuīcijas vadīti.

Ivan would not maintain eye contact,

Ivans neveidoja acu kontaktu,

he had lost the words that he did know,

bija zaudējis tos vārdus, ko zināja,

and he didn't respond to his name or to anything we asked him,

nereaģēja uz savu vārdu,

neatbildēja ne uz vienu jautājumu.

as if words were noise.

It kā vārdi būtu vien trokšņi.

The only way I could know

Vienīgais veids,

kā varēju saprast, kas ar viņu notiek,

what was going on with him,

what he felt,

ko viņš jūt,

was looking him in the eye.

bija, ieskatoties viņam acīs.

But that bridge was broken.

Taču šis tilts bija sabrucis.

How could I teach him about life?

Kā iemācīt Ivanam, kas ir dzīve?

When I did things he liked, he would look at me,

Kad darīju to, kas viņam patika,

viņš uz mani skatījās,

and we were connected.

un mēs bijām vienoti.

So I dedicated myself to working with him on those things,

Tā nu es turpināju kopā ar viņu darīt šīs lietas,

so we would have more and more eye-contact moments.

lai acu kontakta mums būtu arvien vairāk un vairāk.

We would spend hours and hours playing tag with his older sister, Alexia,

Mēs stundām ilgi spēlējām sunīšus

ar viņa vecāko māsu Aleksiju,

and when we said: "I caught you!"

un brīdī, kad saucām: „Es tevi noķēru!”

he would look around for us,

viņš meklēja mūsu skatienu,

and at that moment, I could feel he was alive.

un tajos brīžos es jutu, ka viņš dzīvo.

We also hold a record for hours spent in a swimming pool.

Mēs pavadījām arī rekordgaras stundas baseinā.

Ivan always had a passion for water.

Ivanam vienmēr ļoti paticis ūdens.

I remember when he was two and a half,

Atceros, kad viņam bija divarpus gadi,

on a rainy winter day,

kādā ļoti lietainā ziemas dienā,

I was taking him to an indoor pool,

es vedu viņu uz baseinu,

because even on rainy days we'd go swimming.

jo pat tādās dienās viņš negribēja baseina apmeklējumu izlaist.

We were on the highway, and I took the wrong exit.

Bijām uz šosejas,

un es aizbraucu nepareizi.

He burst into tears and cried inconsolably, nonstop,

Viņš sāk raudāt, nebija nomierināms,

raudas nerimās, līdz biju atpakaļ uz pareizā ceļa,

until I turned back.

Only then did he calm down.

tikai tad viņš nomierinājās.

How was it possible that a two and a half year old

Kā gan iespējams,

ka divarpus gadu vecumā viņš nereaģēja pat uz savu vārdu,

didn't respond to his own name,

yet in the middle of the rain and fog, where I couldn't see anything,

taču šajā lietū un miglā, kurā es neko nevarēju saskatīt,

he knew the exact route?

spēja precīzi atpazīt ceļu?

That's when I realized that Ivan had an exceptional visual memory,

Tad sapratu, ka Ivanam ir izcila redzes atmiņa

and that that would be my way in.

un ka tā man kļūs par ieejas durvīm.

So I started taking pictures of everything,

Tā es sāku visu fotogrāfēt

and teaching him what life was like,

un mācīt viņam par dzīvi šādi,

showing it to him, picture by picture.

parādot to bildi pa bildei.

Even now, it's the way Ivan communicates

Un tas joprojām ir veids, kā Ivans mums stāsta,

what he wants,

ko vēlas, kas viņam vajadzīgs

what he needs

and also what he feels.

un arī ko viņš jūt.

But it wasn't just Ivan's eye contact that mattered.

Taču tas nebija tikai Ivana skatiens.

Everyone else's did, too.

Tie bija arī visu pārējo skatieni.

How could I make people see not only his autism,

Kā panākt,

ka cilvēki ierauga ne tikai viņa autismu,

but see him the person

bet arī viņu pašu

and everything he can give;

un visu to, ko viņš var dot?

everything he can do;

Visu to, ko viņš spēj izdarīt?

the things he likes and doesn't like,

To, kas viņam patīk un kas ne,

just like any one of us?

gluži kā ikvienam no mums?

But for that, I also had to give of myself.

Taču, lai tas notiktu, arī man bija kaut kas jāizdara.

I had to have the strength to let him go,

Man bija jārod sevī spēks viņu atlaist,

which was extremely difficult.

un tas man nācās ārkārtīgi grūti.

Ivan was 11 years old,

Ivanam bija 11 gadu,

and he went for treatment in a neighborhood near our house.

un viņa terapeitiskās nodarbības notika netālu no mājas, blakus kvartālā.

One afternoon, while I was waiting for him,

Kādu vakaru, viņu gaidot, es iegāju augļu un dārzeņu veikalā,

I went into a greengrocer,

a typical neighborhood store with a little bit of everything.

tipiskā kvartāla veikaliņā, kurā var atrast mazliet no visa.

While doing the shopping,

Iepērkoties sāku runāt ar Hosē, veikala īpašnieku.

I started talking to Jose, the owner.

I told him about Ivan,

Pastāstīju viņam par Ivanam, viņa autismu

that he had autism,

and that I wanted him to learn to walk down the street by himself,

un to, ka vēlos, lai viņš iemācītos iet pa ielu viens pats,

without anyone holding his hand.

bez neviena, kas viņu vestu pie rokas.

So I decided to ask Jose if Thursdays around 2pm,

Un es saņēmos Hosē pajautāt,

vai ceturtdienās, divos pēcpusdienā,

Ivan could come and help him arrange the water bottles on the shelves,

Ivans varētu nākt un palīdzēt viņam sakārtot ūdens plauktus,

jo viņam ļoti patīk kārtot,

because he loved to organize things.

And as a reward, he could buy some chocolate cookies,

un par atlīdzību viņš varētu nopirkt šokolādes cepumus,

which were his favorite.

savus vismīļākos cepumus.

He said "yes" right away.

Hosē tūlīt pat atbildēja, ka jā.

So that's how it went for a year:

Un tā tas gāja veselu gadu –

Ivan would go to Jose's greengrocer,

Ivans devās uz Hosē veikaliņu,

help him arrange the shelves of water bottles

palīdzēja viņam sakārtot plauktos ūdens pudeles,

etiķetes perfekti pagrieztas

with the labels perfectly lined up on the same side,

ar milimetra precizitāti uz vienu pusi.

and he would leave happy with his chocolate cookies.

Un mājās Ivans devās laimīgs,

ar saviem šokolādes cepumiem.

Jose is not an expert in autism.

Hosē nav autisma eksperts.

There is no need to be an expert

Nebūt nav jābūt ekspertam,

nor do anything heroic to include someone.

ne arī jāveic kādi varoņdarbi, lai iekļautu otru cilvēku.

We just need to be there --

Mums vienkārši jābūt...

(Applause)

(Aplausi)

(Applause ends)

Really, no heroic deed --

Tieši tā, nekādu varoņdarbu.

we simply need to be close.

Mums vienkārši jābūt blakus.

And if we are afraid of something

Un, ja mūs kaut kas biedē

or we don't understand something,

vai kaut ko nesaprotam, ir jājautā;

we need to ask.

Let's be curious

jābūt zinātkāriem,

but never indifferent.

bet nekad ne vienaldzīgiem.

Let's have the courage to look each other in the eye,

Uzdrošināsimies ieskatīties viens otram acīs,

because by looking,

jo ar savu skatienu

we can open a whole world to someone else.

varam kādam citam atvērt veselu pasauli.

(Applause)

(Aplausi)

(Cheers)