Today I have just one request. Please don't tell me I'm normal.
今天,我只有一個請求: 請不要告訴我,我很正常。
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.
現在,我想介紹我的弟弟們。 Remi 今年 22 歲, 他個子很高,也非常帥, 他不能說話,但他能傳達喜樂, 就算是最佳的辯才也無法做到。 Remi 知道什麼是愛, 他無條件地分享它,不顧一切地分享它。 他不貪婪,他無視膚色, 他不關心宗教差異,還有,聽聽這: 他從未說過謊。 當他唱我們童年的歌, 唱著我甚至無法憶起的語句, 他使我想起一件事: 我們對心靈所知甚少, 而這未知的領域是多麼美好。
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.
Samuel 今年 16 歲,他個子很高,也非常帥, 他有絕佳的記憶力, 儘管他選擇性地記憶。 他不記得他是否偷過我的巧克力棒, 但他記得我 iPod 裡每一首歌發行的年份, 他記得我們在他 4 歲時的談話內容, 記得蜷在我臂彎裡看第一集的天線寶寶, 也記得 Lady Gaga 的生日。
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.
這些聽起來難以置信吧? 但大多數人不同意。 事實上,因為他們的心靈 與社會所定義的正常格格不入, 所以他們往往被忽略與誤解。
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.
但,那使我心志強大的是, 就算如此, 就算他們不被看成正常人, 這只能代表說: 他們是出眾的 - - 自閉症與出眾的。
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.
有些人可能不太熟悉「自閉症」這詞, 自閉症是複雜的大腦失調,影響患者社會溝通、 學習、以及偶爾影響技能的一種疾病。 它在每個人身上以不同的方式呈現, 因此,這就是為什麼 Remi 和 Sam 是如此不同。 全世界,每隔 20 分鐘,會有一個新的人 被診斷為自閉症患者。而且,儘管它是 世上增加速度最快的發育障礙, 目前醫學界尚未發現這個疾病的原因或治癒療程。
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.
我記不起自己第一次面對自閉症的時刻, 然而,我卻無法記得自己哪一天沒經歷它。 在我只有三歲時,我弟弟來到這世上, 當時我很興奮地 得知有一個新的生命在我面前。 而後,幾個月過去了, 我意識到他是不同的。 他經常尖叫, 他不想像其他嬰兒一樣玩耍, 事實上,他似乎也 不怎麼對我感興趣。 Remi 居住、統領他自己的世界,用他自己的規則; 他在最小的事物中發掘樂趣, 比如在房裡排列車子、 盯著洗衣機、 和吃下任何出現在他面前的東西。 隨著他長大,他變得更不同了, 差異變得更加明顯。 在壞脾氣、沮喪、 和無止境的好動之外, 他有獨特的特質: 一個純脆、天真的個性。他是一個對世界 毫無偏見的男孩,一個永遠不會說謊的人。 這很出眾。
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.
我不能否認的是,在我家 曾經有過艱難的時刻, 在那些時刻,我曾希望他們就只是和我一樣。 但我改變了想法,他們教會了我 成為一個個體、溝通、與愛。 我意識到了這些東西是 我不想從俗改變的。 所謂的正常忽視了差異帶給我們的美麗, 我們之間之所以不同,並不代表我們其中某人是錯的, 而是意味著,有一種不同的正確存在著。 如果我只有一個想法可以告訴 Remi、 Sam、 和你們, 那就是,你不須要是正常的。 你可以做非比尋常的人。 因為無論自閉症與否, 我們擁有的差異是: 我們有天賦!我們每個人都有天賦、 和完全的誠實; 追求正常最終犧牲了自身的潛質。 追求偉大、 進步、和改變的時機 在我們嘗試扮演其他人時便已消失殆盡。
Please -- don't tell me I'm normal. Thank you. (Applause) (Applause)
請別告訴我,我很正常。 謝謝。(掌聲) (掌聲)