Glances of autism | Carina Morillo | TEDxRíodelaPlata
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0:17 - 0:19"Look at me!"
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0:21 - 0:25That expression turned me
into a sight catcher. -
0:27 - 0:30I am Ivan's mother, he is 15.
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0:31 - 0:33Ivan has autism, he doesn't speak,
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0:34 - 0:36and communicates through an iPad
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0:36 - 0:41where his whole universe of words
exists in images. -
0:42 - 0:46He was diagnosed
when he was two and a half -- -
0:48 - 0:53even today I remember that day painfully.
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0:54 - 0:56My husband and I felt really lost,
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0:58 - 1:00we didn't know where to start.
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1:01 - 1:03There was no Internet,
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1:03 - 1:06you couldn't google information,
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1:07 - 1:09so those first steps
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1:10 - 1:12were out of intuition.
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1:14 - 1:16Ivan would not maintain eye contact,
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1:17 - 1:19he had lost the words he said,
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1:21 - 1:22would not respond to his name,
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1:23 - 1:24or to anything we would ask him,
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1:25 - 1:28as if words were noise.
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1:30 - 1:34The only way I could know
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1:34 - 1:38what was going on, what he felt,
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1:39 - 1:40was looking him in the eye.
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1:42 - 1:44But that bridge was broken.
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1:47 - 1:50How could I teach him what life was like?
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1:52 - 1:56When I did things he liked,
he would look at me; -
1:56 - 1:57and we were together.
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1:58 - 2:01So I devoted to follow
him in those things, -
2:02 - 2:06in order to have more and more
gazing moments. -
2:08 - 2:11We would spend hours playing tag
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2:11 - 2:14with her older sister, Alexia,
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2:15 - 2:17and when saying: "I'll catch you!"
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2:19 - 2:20he would look around for us,
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2:21 - 2:26and, at that moment,
I could feel he was alive. -
2:29 - 2:34We also hold a record of hours
in the pool. -
2:35 - 2:39Ivan was always strongly
passionate for water. -
2:40 - 2:43I remember when he was two and a half
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2:44 - 2:47a rainy day of winter,
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2:47 - 2:50I was taking him to a covered pool
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2:50 - 2:52because we went there even in rainy days.
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2:54 - 2:56We were on the highway,
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2:56 - 2:58and I took the wrong exit.
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2:59 - 3:02He burst into tears,
inconsolably, non stop, -
3:02 - 3:04until I went back to track
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3:05 - 3:07and only then did he calm down.
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3:09 - 3:13How was it possible that being
a two and a half years old -
3:13 - 3:15and without responding to his name,
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3:15 - 3:20yet in the midst of a storm and mist,
where I couldn't see anything, -
3:20 - 3:24he could be capable
of perfectly recognizing the path? -
3:27 - 3:30That is when I realized that Ivan
had an exceptional visual memory -
3:31 - 3:35and that this would be my entry door;
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3:35 - 3:38so I started taking
pictures of everything. -
3:38 - 3:40And teach him what life was like,
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3:41 - 3:44showing it picture by picture.
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3:45 - 3:47Even now it still is
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3:47 - 3:53the way Ivan communicates
what he wants, what he needs, -
3:54 - 3:56and also what he feels.
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4:00 - 4:03But it was not the gaze of Ivan alone.
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4:04 - 4:07There was also the gaze of everyone else.
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4:08 - 4:12How to make people see
not only his autism, -
4:12 - 4:14but him,
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4:15 - 4:17and everything he can give?
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4:18 - 4:20With all he can do?
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4:21 - 4:24Along with what he likes and doesn't like,
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4:24 - 4:26like any of us?
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4:27 - 4:30But for that I also had to give of myself.
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4:31 - 4:34I had to dare to let him go,
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4:35 - 4:37and I was struggling.
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4:40 - 4:41Ivan was 11 years old,
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4:42 - 4:46and would go to treatment
in a neighborhood near home. -
4:47 - 4:51One afternoon,
while I was waiting for him, -
4:51 - 4:53I went into a greengrocer
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4:53 - 4:56the typical one with a bit of everything,
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4:57 - 4:58and while doing the shopping,
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4:58 - 5:02I started talking to Jose, the owner.
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5:03 - 5:07I told him that Ivan had autism,
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5:08 - 5:12and I wanted him to learn
to go around by himself, -
5:12 - 5:14without anyone holding his hand.
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5:15 - 5:17So I decided to ask him
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5:17 - 5:19if Thursdays around 2 pm,
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5:20 - 5:24Ivan could come and help him arrange
the water bottles of the shelves -
5:24 - 5:25because he loved to organize
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5:26 - 5:30and in return, he could
buy chocolate cookies, -
5:30 - 5:32his favorite ones.
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5:34 - 5:36He accepted right away.
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5:37 - 5:40So, for a year
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5:40 - 5:43Ivan would go to Jose's greengrocer,
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5:44 - 5:47helped him arrange
the bottles on the shelves, -
5:47 - 5:52with the labels perfectly
aligned to the same side -
5:52 - 5:56and he would get his chocolate cookies.
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6:02 - 6:05Jose is not an expert in autism.
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6:08 - 6:10There is no need to be an expert,
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6:12 - 6:16nor doing anything heroic
to include someone. -
6:18 - 6:21We just have to be there --
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6:21 - 6:23(Applause)
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6:39 - 6:41That's it, no heroic deed --
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6:43 - 6:46We simply have to be close.
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6:48 - 6:50And if we are afraid of something
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6:50 - 6:54or we don't understand, let's ask;
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6:55 - 6:57let's be curious,
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6:58 - 7:01but never indifferent.
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7:04 - 7:08Let's dare to look each other in the eye
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7:10 - 7:12because through our gaze,
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7:12 - 7:16we can open a whole world to someone else.
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7:17 - 7:19(Applause)
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7:20 - 7:22(Cheers)
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7:22 - 7:24(Applause)
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7:30 - 7:32Thank you so much, thank you!
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7:32 - 7:34(Applause)
- Title:
- Glances of autism | Carina Morillo | TEDxRíodelaPlata
- Description:
-
How important a gaze can be in human communication? What happens when a gaze is the only way of communication we can establish with others? Carina Morillo tells us how she could teach Ivan - her son with autism - about life, using the power of gazing. Carina has an eloquent blue blue gaze that tells, for instance, that she is mother of Iván, a 15 year-old with autism. In 2010 she created a foundation, Brincar for a happy autism; as a way to build links and inclusive spaces.
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Learn more at: http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- Spanish
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 07:55
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Miradas del autismo | Carina Morillo | TEDxRíodelaPlata | ||
Sebastian Betti approved English subtitles for Miradas del autismo | Carina Morillo | TEDxRíodelaPlata | ||
Sebastian Betti edited English subtitles for Miradas del autismo | Carina Morillo | TEDxRíodelaPlata | ||
Sebastian Betti edited English subtitles for Miradas del autismo | Carina Morillo | TEDxRíodelaPlata | ||
Gisela Giardino accepted English subtitles for Miradas del autismo | Carina Morillo | TEDxRíodelaPlata | ||
Gisela Giardino edited English subtitles for Miradas del autismo | Carina Morillo | TEDxRíodelaPlata | ||
Ilse S. Úziel edited English subtitles for Miradas del autismo | Carina Morillo | TEDxRíodelaPlata | ||
Ilse S. Úziel edited English subtitles for Miradas del autismo | Carina Morillo | TEDxRíodelaPlata |