Today I have just one request. Please don't tell me I'm normal.
Danas imam samo jednu molbu. Molim vas, nemojte mi reći da sam normalna.
Now I'd like to introduce you to my brothers. Remi is 22, tall and very handsome. He's speechless, but he communicates joy in a way that some of the best orators cannot. Remi knows what love is. He shares it unconditionally and he shares it regardless. He's not greedy. He doesn't see skin color. He doesn't care about religious differences, and get this: He has never told a lie. When he sings songs from our childhood, attempting words that not even I could remember, he reminds me of one thing: how little we know about the mind, and how wonderful the unknown must be.
Sad bih volela da vas upoznam sa svojom braćom. Remi ima 22 godine, visok je i zgodan. Ne ume da govori, ali prenosi radost na takav način, na koji ni najbolji govornici ne znaju. Remi zna šta je ljubav. On je deli bezuslovno i bez obzira. Nije pohlepan. On ne prepoznaje boju kože. On ne mari za razlike u religijama, a vidite ovo: nikad nije lagao. Kada peva pesme iz našeg detinjstva, pokušavajući sa rečima kojih se ni ja ne sećam, podseća me na jednu stvar: kako malo znamo o svesti i mora da je divno ono što je nepoznato.
Samuel is 16. He's tall. He's very handsome. He has the most impeccable memory. He has a selective one, though. He doesn't remember if he stole my chocolate bar, but he remembers the year of release for every song on my iPod, conversations we had when he was four, weeing on my arm on the first ever episode of Teletubbies, and Lady Gaga's birthday.
Semjuel ima 16 godina. Visok je. Zgodan je. Poseduje besprekornu memoriju. I to selektivnu. Ne seća se da je ukrao moju čokoladu, ali se seća kada je izdata svaka pesma koja je na mom iPodu, seća se razgovora koje smo vodili sa 4 godine, on malecni u mojoj ruci, gledajući prvu epizodu Teletabisa i rođendan Lejdi Gage.
Don't they sound incredible? But most people don't agree. And in fact, because their minds don't fit into society's version of normal, they're often bypassed and misunderstood.
Zar nisu neverovatni? Većina ljudi ne misli tako. U stvari, zato što se njihova svest ne uklapa u društveno prihvatljiv oblik normalnog, njih često zaobilaze i ne shvataju.
But what lifted my heart and strengthened my soul was that even though this was the case, although they were not seen as ordinary, this could only mean one thing: that they were extraordinary -- autistic and extraordinary.
Ono što mi je uzdiglo srce i ojačalo dušu bez obzira na činjenice, mada nisu izgledali obično, ovo je moglo značiti samo jednu stvar: da su oni izuzetni -- autistični i izuzetni.
Now, for you who may be less familiar with the term "autism," it's a complex brain disorder that affects social communication, learning and sometimes physical skills. It manifests in each individual differently, hence why Remi is so different from Sam. And across the world, every 20 minutes, one new person is diagnosed with autism, and although it's one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the world, there is no known cause or cure.
Za one kojima je termin "autizam" manje poznat, to je složeni poremećaj mozga, koji utiče na sporazumevanje, učenje i ponekad na fizičke veštine. Kod svake osobe se drugačije manifestuje, zato je Remi toliko različit od Sema. U celom svetu, svakih 20 minuta se dijagnostikuje jedan slučaj autizma i mada je to jedan od poremećaja u razvoju koji se najbrže razvija, uzrok i lek su nepoznati.
And I cannot remember the first moment I encountered autism, but I cannot recall a day without it. I was just three years old when my brother came along, and I was so excited that I had a new being in my life. And after a few months went by, I realized that he was different. He screamed a lot. He didn't want to play like the other babies did, and in fact, he didn't seem very interested in me whatsoever. Remi lived and reigned in his own world, with his own rules, and he found pleasure in the smallest things, like lining up cars around the room and staring at the washing machine and eating anything that came in between. And as he grew older, he grew more different, and the differences became more obvious. Yet beyond the tantrums and the frustration and the never-ending hyperactivity was something really unique: a pure and innocent nature, a boy who saw the world without prejudice, a human who had never lied. Extraordinary.
Ne sećam se prvog momenta kada sam se susrela sa autizmom, ali ne sećam se ni jednog dana bez njega. Imala sam samo tri godine kad mi se rodio brat i bila sam veoma uzbuđena što imam jedno novo biće u mom životu. Posle nekoliko meseci shvatila sam da je drugačiji. Mnogo je vrištao. Nije hteo da se igra kao druge bebe, u stvari, činilo se da nije zainteresovan ni za šta. Remi je živeo i vladao u svom svetu, po svojim pravilima i nalazio je zadovoljstvo i u najmanjim stvarima, kao što je ređanje autića po sobi i zurenje u veš mašinu i u jelu između. Kako je odrastao, sve se više razlikovao i razlike su postale sve očiglednije. Izvan nastupa besa i frustracije i beskrajne hiperaktivnosti on je bio zaista jedinstven: čiste i nevine naravi, dečak koji je video svet bez predrasuda, ljudsko biće koje nikad nije lagalo. Izuzetan.
Now, I cannot deny that there have been some challenging moments in my family, moments where I've wished that they were just like me. But I cast my mind back to the things that they've taught me about individuality and communication and love, and I realize that these are things that I wouldn't want to change with normality. Normality overlooks the beauty that differences give us, and the fact that we are different doesn't mean that one of us is wrong. It just means that there's a different kind of right. And if I could communicate just one thing to Remi and to Sam and to you, it would be that you don't have to be normal. You can be extraordinary. Because autistic or not, the differences that we have -- We've got a gift! Everyone's got a gift inside of us, and in all honesty, the pursuit of normality is the ultimate sacrifice of potential. The chance for greatness, for progress and for change dies the moment we try to be like someone else.
Ne mogu da poreknem da je bilo teških momenata u mojoj porodici, momenata kada sam poželela da su i oni kao ja. Vratila sam misli na stvari kojima su me učili o individualnosti, komunikaciji i ljubavi i shvatila sam da su ovo stvari koje ne bih zamenila sa normalnošću. Normalnost previđa lepotu koju nam pružaju razlike i činjenica da smo različiti ne znači da jedan od nas nije u pravu. Ovo samo znači da smo na različite načine u pravu. Kada bih mogla da saopštim samo jednu stvar Remiju i Semu i vama to je da ne morate biti prosečni. Možete biti izuzetni. Jer autistični ili ne, razlike koje imamo -- Imamo dar! Svako ima unutar sebe dara i iskreno, težnja za normalnošću je krajnje žrtvovanje potencijala. Šansa za veličanstvenost, napredak i promene umire onog trenutka kada pokušavamo da ličimo na nekog drugog.
Please -- don't tell me I'm normal. Thank you. (Applause) (Applause)
Molim vas, nemojte mi reći da sam prosečna. Hvala. (Aplauz) (Aplauz)