How autism freed me to be myself | Rosie King

翻译人员: Sunny Wang 校对人员: Pat Lee

I haven't told many people this,

我并没有跟很多人说过这个，

but in my head, I've got

但是在我的脑海中，

thousands of secret worlds all going on

有成千上万个神秘的世界在运转

all at the same time.

在同一时间涌出。

I am also autistic.

我同样是一名自闭症患者。

People tend to diagnose autism

人们在诊断自闭症时倾向

with really specific check-box descriptions,

都会有很详细的描述。

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

但是事实上，自闭症患者是非常多变的。

For instance, my little brother,

例如，我弟弟，

he's very severely autistic.

他是一个非常严重的自闭症患者。

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

他不讲话，完全不能跟人交谈。

But I love to talk.

但是我就喜欢交谈。

People often associate autism

人们通常将自闭症与

with liking maths and science and nothing else,

和只喜欢数学、科学联想在一起。

but I know so many autistic people

但是我知道很多自闭症患者

who love being creative.

喜欢创新。

But that is a stereotype,

但那只是一个很刻板的印象，

and the stereotypes of things

而所谓的刻板印象

are often, if not always, wrong.

大多时候都是错误的。

For instance, a lot of people

例如，很多人

提到自闭症，就会马上想到“雨人”

think autism and think "Rain Man" immediately.

That's the common belief,

这是一种普遍的观念，

that every single autistic person is Dustin Hoffman,

觉得每个自闭症患者都是达斯汀·霍夫曼

and that's not true.

但那却不是真的。

（笑声）

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

而这种现象不仅仅发生在自闭症患者身上。

I've seen it with LGBTQ people,

我在非异性恋者，

with women, with POC people.

妇女和有色人种中都发现了这种现象。

People are so afraid of variety

人们都害怕自己跟别人不一样，

that they try to fit everything into a tiny little box

所以他们试着让自己符合那些

有着明确特征标签的选项小方框

with really specific labels.

This is something that actually

这是一个

在我生活中发生过的事情：

happened to me in real life:

I googled "autistic people are ..."

我谷歌了“自闭症患者是…“

and it comes up with suggestions

然后出现了一些

可供选择的输入提示。

as to what you're going to type.

I googled "autistic people are ..."

我谷歌了“自闭症患者是…”

and the top result was "demons."

然后最上面的一个提示是 “魔鬼” 。

That is the first thing that people think

那就是当人们提到自闭症时

when they think autism.

首先想到的东西。

They know.

他们居然知道了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

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

我有一种能力，

正是因为我有自闭症——

it's an ability rather than a disability —

与其说这是一种障碍，不如说是一种能力——

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

就是我有非常非常生动的想象力。

Let me explain it to you a bit.

让我给你解释一下。

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

就像我很多的时间都游走在两个世界。

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

其中一个是真实的世界，

是我们所共有的世界，

and there's the world in my mind,

另一个是存在于我脑海中的世界，

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

而我脑海中的这个世界经常

than the real world.

要比真实的世界更真实。

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

就像我很容易让自己的心灵放松，

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

因为我不会尝试着让自己去适应那些小选项框。

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

这是成为自闭症患者的最大的好处之一。

You don't have the urge to do that.

你没有那样去做的欲望。

You find what you want to do,

你会找到你想做的事情，

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

找到做这件事的方法，然后就去做了。

If I was trying to fit myself into a box,

如果我试着让自己去适应一个小选项框的话，

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

我就不会在这里，我也不会

half the things that I have now.

取得今天一半的成就。

There are problems, though.

尽管会有一些问题，

There are problems with being autistic,

自闭症患者会有一些问题，

and there are problems with having too much imagination.

并且想象力太丰富也会引起一些问题。

School can be a problem in general,

从整体上说，上学是一个问题，

but having also to explain to a teacher

还有就是得跟老师解释--

on a daily basis

每天都如此--

that their lesson is inexplicably dull

他们的课程莫名其妙的无聊，

and you are secretly taking refuge

同时你却秘密地

在那个你脑海中的世界里避难，

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

而在这个世界里你并没有在这个课堂上，

that adds to your list of problems.

这就使你被列进了问题学生的名单。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Also, when my imagination takes hold,

同样地，当我的想象力在脑海中扎根时，

my body takes on a life of its own.

我的身体也就有了自己的生命。

When something very exciting happens in my inner world,

当一些激动人心的事情发生在我的内心世界时，

I've just got to run.

我会奔跑。

I've got to rock backwards and forwards,

我会前后摇晃身体，

or sometimes scream.

或者有时会尖叫。

This gives me so much energy,

这给我太多的能量，

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

所以我得找到一个方法去释放这些能量。

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

但是我从很小的时候就这样做了，

ever since I was a tiny little girl.

从我还是一个很小的小女孩的时候。

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

我父母觉得那样很可爱，所以就没说什么，

but when I got into school,

但是当我上学后，

they didn't really agree that it was cute.

他们就不再觉得这种行为可爱了。

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

可能是因为大家都不想跟一个

with the girl that starts screaming in an algebra lesson.

在数学课上突然尖叫的女孩做朋友。

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

这种事情现在已经不常发生了，

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

但是可能人们还是不想跟一个患有自闭症的女孩交朋友。

It can be that people don't want to associate

可能人们不想于

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

任何不想也不会把自己

into a box that's labeled normal.

贴上正常人标签的人交往。

But that's fine with me,

但那对我来说都没关系，

because it sorts the wheat from the chaff,

因为就像把小麦从谷壳中挑出来一样，

and I can find which people are genuine and true

这样我可以找到那些真诚和忠实的人

and I can pick these people as my friends.

然后挑出这些人做我的朋友。

But if you think about it, what is normal?

但是如果你细想一下，什么才算是正常？

What does it mean?

正常是什么意思？

Imagine if that was the best compliment you ever received.

想象一下如果这是你听到过得最好的称赞。

"Wow, you are really normal."

“哇，你真的很正常。”

（笑声）

(Laughter)

But compliments are,

但是通常称赞都是，

"you are extraordinary"

"你真是与众不同。"

or "you step outside the box."

或者是“你的想法很新颖。”

It's "you're amazing."

So if people want to be these things,

是“你真的让我大吃一惊。”

所以如果人们想要成为这样的人，

why are so many people striving to be normal?

为什么还有那么多的人挣扎着成为正常的人？

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

为什么人们要将他们闪耀的

个人光辉装进一个模具里去？

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

人们太害怕与众不同，

所以他们尝试并且强迫每一个人，

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

甚至那些不愿或不能正常的人，去变成正常人。

There are camps for LGBTQ people

有一些专门针对非异性恋者

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

或者自闭者患者开展的夏令营，

尝试着让他们变成所谓的“正常人”

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

这使这个时代里这样特别的人们感到恐惧。

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

总之，我不会这个世界 交易我的想像力和自闭症。

Because I am autistic,

因为我是一个自闭症患者，

I've presented documentaries to the BBC,

我曾向BBC提交过纪录片，

I'm in the midst of writing a book,

我现在正在写一本书，

I'm doing this — this is fantastic —

我正在做这个，

是很了不起的事情。

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

还有我做成的最美好的事情之一，

that I consider to have achieved,

一件我认为我已经做成了的事情，

is I've found ways of communicating

是我找到了

with my little brother and sister,

跟我的弟弟妹妹沟通的方法，

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

他们正如我说过的他们不讲话，

他们不能跟人交谈。

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

人们经常对那些不讲话的人

不报有任何希望，

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

但是这很愚蠢，因为我弟弟妹妹

are the best siblings that you could ever hope for.

是你会一直期望得到的的最好的兄弟姐妹。

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

他们是最棒的，我很爱他们，

and I care about them more than anything else.

我在乎他们超过任何事情。

I'm going to leave you with one question:

我接下来要给你们留下一个问题：

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

如果我们不能走进一个人的内心世界——

no matter if they're autistic or not,

不论他是不是自闭症患者——

instead of punishing anything that strays from normal,

如果不惩罚那些脱离常规的行为，

why not celebrate uniqueness

为什么不去为那些 “与众不同” 庆祝

and cheer every time someone unleashes their imagination?

为人们每一次的想象力的释放而欢呼呢？

Thank you.

谢谢。

（掌声）

(Applause)