Open your mind to creativity | Riley Chagniot | TEDxYouth@SHC

Riley Chagniot knows how hard school can be with a learning disability. In her thoughtful talk, she looks at how ADD, attention deficit disorder, has challenged her, helped her, and how schools can become centers where all students flourish.

Riley Chagniot is a senior at Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep. She is a part of the softball team and on the Spirit Rally Board at SHC. She has found herself in comedy; she is trying to make individuals happier and uses her comedic skills to change the world. Diagnosed with ADD at age nine, Riley is not an "average" student. Her creativity, humor, and artistic abilities make her profoundly unique.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

I'm here to open your minds.

Can anyone guess what I have in common
with this drawing of an elephant?

Maybe the eyes, the ears, the posture?

The true message I'm trying to connect
with this drawing of an elephant

is a child with a learning disability.

Many people see the colors or patterns,

but from what I connect

is how a child with a learning disability
thinks or reacts to life.

Attention deficit disorder, or ADD,

which I was technically born with,

but at the age of nine,
I was fully diagnosed.

Now, the real topic at hand

is children in classes right now
with learning disabilities,

molded into the idea
of the "perfect student."

Now, my idea of perfect
is not having to attend class

or do homework.

But there's no such thing as perfect.

(Laughter)

One in seven Americans is noted to have
some type of learning disability.

Now, facts are facts,

but what I'm trying to talk about
is more than just stating facts,

it is supporting creativity.

Creativity such like art, cooking,
dance, theater, and so much more.

What I have noticed is

that kids with learning disabilities
have creativity oozing out of them.

Well, not like physically oozing,
but like mentally oozing.

We, as a society, should not try to fix
a child with a learning disability.

We, as a society, should try to support
a child with a learning disability.

It is scientifically proven that people
that allow their creative powers to flow

are, actually, happier in life.

Creativity wants to come out
of kids with learning disabilities,

but they have never had
the proper understanding or teaching

that allows them to grasp
who they really are.

Now, I might sell myself
a little bit here,

if that's alright with all of you guys.

So, may I please have a drum roll?

(Applause)

Now, this is what I truly got on my ACT.

A little old 19.

Now, in order to be "average," they say,
you have to have at least a 21 or higher.

So, I guess I'm not average.

Much like the elephant with its curves,
colors, and patterns,

I can't be labeled by one thing.

I've always told lies
about my score on my ACT,

but why be scared of the talent
that I know I have inside myself?

That elephant tells more about myself
than any grade or score can ever do.

I'm a senior that's been
through a lot of crap,

but next year, this elephant
is going to DePaul University.

(Applause)

Now, I know DePaul isn't Harvard,
but it's my Harvard,

because I know a score doesn't determine
my own success in life.

I determine my own success in life.

(Applause)

Times have changed in major ways.

We need to think outside the box
of education for children.

The younger generation needs to see
the classroom as a map over a jail cell.

Teachers should support and celebrate
children who learn differently,

support the mistakes,
encourage the failures.

That's the only way to truly learn.

Creativity is in our future.

Are you guys open to it?

Thank you very much.