ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alix Generous - Advocate
Alix Generous is a college student and biology researcher with Asperger syndrome. She stresses the importance of building accepting environments for all kinds of minds.

Why you should listen

Alix Generous has Asperger syndrome, but was misdiagnosed for years. A student and researcher who is passionate about molecular biology and neuroscience, she encourages people like her to share their intelligence and insights. She is a co-owner of the startup AutismSees, which develops technology tools to help all kinds of people give presentations.

At 19, Generous won first place in a nationwide competition for her work in quorum sensing and coral reefs. Her paper titled "Environmental Threats on the Symbiotic Relationship of Coral Reefs and Quorum Sensing," was published in Consilience. In November 2013, she was a youth delegate for the UN Convention of Climate Change (COP19), where she negotiated technology transfers and issues of medical importance. She has assisted neuroscience researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina, Tufts University School of Medicine, and the University of Vermont.

More profile about the speaker
Alix Generous | Speaker | TED.com
TEDWomen 2015

Alix Generous: How I learned to communicate my inner life with Asperger's

Alix Generous: Como aprendín a comunicar a miña vida interior con Asperger

Filmed:
1,883,472 views

Alix Generous é unha muller nova cunha morea de ideas --galardoada en ciencia, axudou a desenvolver novas tecnoloxías e ten un gran sentido do humor (xa o veredes). E ten Asperger, un tipo de trastorno do espectro autista que pode afectar as habilidades sociais básicas necesarias para a comunicación, por iso traballou arduamente durante anos para aprender a compartir os seus pensamentos co mundo. Nesta divertida conversa persoal, comparte a súa historia --e a súa visión sobre as ferramentas que axudarán a que outras persoas comuniquen as súas grandes ideas.
- Advocate
Alix Generous is a college student and biology researcher with Asperger syndrome. She stresses the importance of building accepting environments for all kinds of minds. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

Hoxe quérovos falar sobre os soños.
00:12
Today, I want to talk to you about dreams.
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Toda a miña vida fun unha soñadora lúcida
00:15
I have been a lucid dreamer my whole life,
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00:18
and it's cooler than in the movies.
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e é moito máis guai que nas películas.
00:20
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
Máis aló de voar, cuspir lume pola boca,
00:22
Beyond flying, breathing fire,
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00:25
and making hot men
spontaneously appear ...
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e facer que se aparezan homes atractivos
00:28
(Laughter)
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00:30
I can do things like read and write music.
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Podo facer cousas como ler
e escribir música.
Como dato curioso, escribín
a miña carta persoal para a universidade
00:33
Fun fact is that I wrote
my personal statement to college
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00:36
in a dream.
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nun soño.
00:38
And I did accepted. So, yeah.
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E fun admitida. Aí o deixo.
00:41
I am a very visual thinker.
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Son unha pensadora moi visual.
00:44
I think in pictures, not words.
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Penso en imaxes, non en palabras.
00:47
To me, words are more like
instincts and language.
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Para min, as palabras son unha mestura
de instintos e linguaxe.
Hai moita xente coma min,
00:51
There are many people like me;
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Nikola Tesla, por exemplo,
00:53
Nikola Tesla, for example,
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00:56
who could visualize, design,
test, and troubleshoot everything --
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podía visualizar, deseñar,
comprobar e solucionar todo
—todos os inventos—
na súa mente de xeito preciso.
01:01
all of his inventions --
in his mind, accurately.
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01:06
Language is kind of exclusive
to our species, anyway.
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Aínda así, a linguaxe
é algo exclusivo da nosa especie.
01:09
I am a bit more primitive,
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Eu son algo máis primitiva,
01:12
like a beta version of Google Translate.
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como a versión beta do Google Translate.
(Risas)
01:14
(Laughter)
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01:18
My brain has the ability
to hyper-focus on things that interest me.
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O meu cerebro ten a habilidade
de centrarse nas cousas que me interesan.
01:23
For example, once
I had an affair with calculus
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Por exemplo, unha vez,
tiven un amorío co cálculo
01:25
that lasted longer
than some celebrity marriages.
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que durou máis que algún matrimonio
deses dos famosos.
(Risas)
01:28
(Laughter)
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01:32
There are some other
unusual things about me.
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Teño algunha outra peculiaridade.
01:36
You may have noticed
that I don't have much inflection
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Notariades que non modulo moito a voz.
01:39
in my voice.
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01:40
That's why people
often confuse me with a GPS.
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É por iso que moita xente
me confunde cun GPS.
01:43
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
01:48
This can make basic communication
a challenge, unless you need directions.
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Isto volve a conversa nun inferno,
agás que precises indicacións.
01:52
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
01:56
Thank you.
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Grazas.
01:57
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
02:02
A few years ago, when I started
doing presentations,
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Hai xa un tempo, cando comecei
nisto das charlas,
fun sacar fotos por primeira vez.
02:05
I went to get head shots done
for the first time.
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02:09
The photographer told me to look flirty.
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A fotógrafa díxome
que me puxese provocativa.
02:12
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
02:14
And I had no idea
what she was talking about.
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Eu non tiña nin idea do que estaba a falar
(Risas)
02:17
(Laughter)
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02:18
She said, "Do that thing,
you know, with your eyes,
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Díxome: "Fai iso,
xa sabes, cos ollos,
coma cando ligas cos homes."
02:21
when you're flirting with guys."
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"O que?", pregunteille.
02:23
"What thing?" I asked.
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02:25
"You know, squint."
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"Xa sabes, entorna os ollos."
E de verdade que o intentei.
02:27
And so I tried, really.
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02:29
It looked something like this.
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Asemellábase algo a isto.
(Risas)
02:31
(Laughter)
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02:33
I looked like I was searching for Waldo.
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Parecía que buscaba a Wally.
02:36
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
02:40
There's a reason for this,
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Existe un motivo para isto,
02:42
as there is a reason that Waldo is hiding.
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do mesmo xeito que
hai un motivo polo que Wally se agocha.
02:44
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
02:52
I have Asperger's,
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Teño Asperger, un tipo de autismo
de alta funcionalidade
02:54
a high-functioning form of autism
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02:56
that impairs the basic social skills
one is expected to display.
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que limita as habilidades sociais básicas
que se esperan de nós.
03:02
It's made life difficult in many ways,
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Isto dificultou a miña vida
de moitas maneiras,
03:05
and growing up,
I struggled to fit in socially.
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e segundo fun medrando,
custábame máis encaixar.
Os meus amigos facían bromas
que non era capaz de entender.
03:09
My friends would tell jokes,
but I didn't understand them.
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03:14
My personal heroes were George Carlin
and Stephen Colbert --
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Os meus heroes eran George Carlin
e Stephen Colbert --
03:19
and they taught me humor.
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e eles ensináronme o sentido do humor.
03:22
My personality switched
from being shy and awkward
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A miña personalidade
pasou de vergoñenta e torpe
03:26
to being defiant and cursing out a storm.
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a ser desafiante e xurar coma carreteiro.
Non fai falla engadir
que non tiña moitos amigos.
03:30
Needless to say,
I did not have many friends.
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03:33
I was also hypersensitive to texture.
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Era hipersensible ás texturas.
03:36
The feel of water on my skin
was like pins and needles,
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Sentir auga na miña pel
era coma se me cravasen agullas.
Así é que durante anos
negueime a bañarme.
03:40
and so for years, I refused to shower.
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03:43
I can assure you that my hygiene routine
is up to standards now, though.
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De todos xeitos, asegúrolles que
a miña hixiene persoal é adecuada agora.
03:47
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
03:50
I had to do a lot to get here,
and my parents --
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Custoume moito chegar ata aquí,
e aos meus pais.
03:54
things kind of got out of control
when I was sexually assaulted by a peer,
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A cousa descontrolouse cando
fun agredida sexualmente por un colega,
03:59
and on top of everything,
it made a difficult situation worse.
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e unha situación xa difícil
empeorou.
04:05
And I had to travel 2,000 miles
across the country to get treatment,
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Viaxei 3000 quilómetros atravesando o país
para recibir tratamento
04:10
but within days of them prescribing
a new medication,
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pero ao pouco de me receitaren
unha nova menciña,
a miña vida volveuse
un episodio de The Walkind Dead.
04:14
my life turned into an episode
of the Walking Dead.
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04:18
I became paranoid,
and began to hallucinate
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Volvinme paranoica e comecei a ver
04:21
that rotting corpses
were coming towards me.
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corpos putrefactos que viñan cara a min.
04:24
My family finally rescued me,
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Ao final, a miña familia rescatoume,
04:27
but by that time, I had lost 19 pounds
in those three weeks,
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pero para entón, xa perdera
9 quilos en 3 semanas,
04:32
as well as developing severe anemia,
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padecía anemia grave
04:34
and was on the verge of suicide.
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e estaba preto de me suicidar.
04:38
I transferred to a new treatment center
that understood my aversions,
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Cambieime a un novo centro de tratamento
que comprendía as miñas aversións,
o meu trauma e a miña ansiedade social
04:42
my trauma, and my social anxiety,
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e que sabían como tratalas,
finalmente recibín a axuda que precisaba.
04:46
and they knew how to treat it,
and I got the help I finally needed.
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E despois de 18 meses de duro traballo
04:50
And after 18 months of hard work,
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comecei a facer cousas incribles.
04:52
I went on to do incredible things.
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04:56
One of the things with Asperger's
is that oftentimes,
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Unha das cousas cos Asperger é que a miúdo
son persoas cunha vida interior
moi complexa,
05:00
these people have
a very complex inner life,
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e falo por experiencia propia,
eu teño unha personalidade moi exuberante,
05:02
and I know for myself,
I have a very colorful personality,
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05:05
rich ideas, and just a lot
going on in my mind.
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teño unha morea de ideas,
e moito máis dentro da miña cabeza.
Pero hai unha diferenza
entre onde todo isto ocorre
05:08
But there's a gap
between where that stands,
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05:12
and how I communicate it
with the rest of the world.
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e a forma na que eu o comunico ao mundo.
05:15
And this can make
basic communication a challenge.
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Isto dificulta ata a comunicación
máis simple.
Non moitos lugares quererían contratarme
coa miña falta de habilidades sociais,
05:20
Not many places would hire me,
due to my lack of social skills,
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05:23
which is why I applied to Waffle House.
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por iso pedín o posto
en Waffle House.
(Risas)
05:25
(Laughter)
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05:32
Waffle House is an exceptional
24-hour diner --
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Waffle House é un restaurante excepcional
aberto as 24 horas
05:35
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
05:37
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
05:41
thank you --
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Grazas --
05:42
where you can order your hash browns
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onde podes pedir patacas fritidas
05:44
the many ways that someone
would dispose of a human corpse ...
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de tantas maneiras como
un se pode desfacer dun corpo
05:47
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
05:49
Sliced, diced, peppered, chunked,
topped, capped, and covered.
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En liscos, en dados, sazonadas, en cachos,
recubertas, rebozadas e bañadas.
(Risas)
05:54
(Laughter)
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05:56
As social norms would have it,
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Como dita a norma,
un só debe ir a Waffle House
a horas intempestivas.
05:57
you should only go to Waffle House
at an ungodly hour in the night.
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06:01
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
06:02
So one time, at 2 am, I was chatting
with a waitress, and I asked her,
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Unha vez, ás 2 da mañá, estaba falando
cunha camareira e pregunteille,
"Que é o máis ridículo
que che pasou neste traballo?"
06:07
"What's the most ridiculous thing
that's happened to you on the job?"
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06:10
And she told me that one time,
a man walked in completely naked.
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E díxome que unha vez un home
entrou completamente espido.
06:14
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
06:15
I said, "Great! Sign me up
for the graveyard shift!"
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e respondín, "Xenial!
Apúntame na quenda de noite"
06:18
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
06:20
Needless to say,
Waffle House did not hire me.
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Non fai falla dicir que Waffle House
non me contratou.
06:25
So in terms of having Asperger's,
it can be viewed as a disadvantage,
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E é porque padecer Asperger
pode verse coma unha desvantaxe
e ás veces é un encordio
06:30
and sometimes it is
a real pain in the butt,
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pero tamén é todo o contrario.
06:32
but it's also the opposite.
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06:34
It's a gift, and it allows me
to think innovatively.
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É un don que me permite
pensar de xeito innovador.
06:38
At 19, I won a research competition
for my research on coral reefs,
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Aos 19, gañei un concurso de investigación
cun traballo sobre os arrecifes de coral
e acabei falando
06:45
and I ended up speaking
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no Convenio da ONU
sobre Diversidade Biolóxica,
06:47
at the UN Convention
of Biological Diversity,
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06:49
presenting this research.
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presentando a miña investigación.
06:50
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
06:52
Thank you.
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Grazas.
(Aplausos)
06:53
(Applause)
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06:58
And at 22, I'm getting ready
to graduate college,
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E con 22 anos, estou a piques
de me graduar na universidade
07:02
and I am a co-founder of a biotech
company called AutismSees.
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e son cofundadora
dunha empresa chamada AutismSees.
07:08
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
07:09
Thank you.
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Grazas.
(Aplausos)
07:10
(Applause)
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Pero pensade no pasei
para chegar ata aquí:
07:13
But consider what I had to do to get here:
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07:16
25 therapists, 11 misdiagnoses,
and years of pain and trauma.
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25 terapeutas, 11 diagnósticos erróneos,
e anos de dor e trauma.
07:22
I spent a lot of time thinking
if there's a better way,
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Pasei moito tempo pensando se habería
algunha solución mellor,
07:25
and I think there is:
autism-assistive technology.
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e eu creo que a hai:
tecnoloxía de axuda para o autismo.
07:30
This technology
could play an integral role
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Esta tecnoloxía podería xogar
un papel central
07:32
in helping people
with autistic spectrum disorder,
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axudando a xente
con trastornos do espectro autista,
07:35
or ASD.
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ou TEA.
07:38
The app Podium, released
by my company, AutismSees,
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A aplicación Podium, creada
pola miña compañía, AutismSees,
07:43
has the ability to independently assess
and help develop communication skills.
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ten a capacidade
de avaliar de forma independente
e axudar a desenvolver
competencias comunicativas.
07:49
In addition to this, it tracks
eye contact through camera
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Ademais, controla o contacto visual
cunha cámara
07:53
and simulates a public-speaking
and job-interview experience.
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simulando un discurso
e unha entrevista de traballo.
08:00
And so maybe one day,
Waffle House will hire me,
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Pode que incluso Waffle House
acabe por me contratar
08:03
after practicing on it some more.
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despois dunhas cantas prácticas.
(Risas)
08:05
(Laughter)
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08:09
And one of the great things
is that I've used Podium
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Unha das cousas positivas
é que empreguei Podium
para axudarme no día de hoxe,
e foi unha grande axuda.
08:14
to help me prepare for today,
and it's been a great help.
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Pero é máis ca iso.
08:19
But it's more than that.
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Queda moito por facer.
08:21
There's more that can be done.
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08:24
For people with ASD --
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Para a xente con síndrome de Asperger
—especúlase que o padecen
moitos científicos innovadores,
08:27
it has been speculated
that many innovative scientists,
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08:31
researchers, artists,
and engineers have it;
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investigadores, artistas,
e enxeñeiros;
08:36
like, for example, Emily Dickinson,
Jane Austen, Isaac Newton, and Bill Gates
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por exemplo, Emily Dickinson,
Jane Austen, Isaac Newton ou Bill Gates
08:42
are some examples.
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son algúns exemplos.
08:44
But the problem that's encountered
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Pero o problema co que nos atopamos
08:46
is that these brilliant ideas
often can't be shared
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é que esas brillantes ideas
a miúdo non se poden compartir
08:49
if there are communication roadblocks.
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se hai problemas de comunicación.
08:53
And so, many people with autism
are being overlooked every day,
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A moitas persoas con autismo
ignóranas todos os días,
e aprovéitanse delas.
08:57
and they're being taken advantage of.
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09:01
So my dream for people with autism
is to change that,
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Por iso, o meu soño
para a xente con autismo é cambiar iso,
09:08
to remove the roadblocks
that prevent them from succeeding.
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eliminar os impedimentos
que lles dificultan triunfar.
09:11
One of the reasons I love lucid dreaming
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Un dos motivos
polos que adoro soñar esperta
09:14
is because it allows me to be free,
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é porque me permite ser libre
sen xulgar as consecuencias
sociais ou físicas.
09:17
without judgment of social
and physical consequences.
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09:21
When I'm flying over scenes
that I create in my mind,
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Mentres me recreo nas situacións
que eu creo na miña mente,
estou en paz.
09:24
I am at peace.
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09:27
I am free from judgment,
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Non podo ser xulgada,
entón podo facer
o que queira, sabedes?
09:29
and so I can do whatever I want, you know?
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Estou saíndo con Brad Pitt e
a Angelina tanto lle ten.
09:31
I'm making out with Brad Pitt,
and Angelina is totally cool with it.
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(Risas)
09:36
(Laughter)
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09:39
But the goal of autism-assistive
technology is bigger than that,
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Pero o obxectivo da tecnoloxía de apoio
para o autismo vai máis alá,
e é máis importante.
09:43
and more important.
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09:45
My goal is to shift people's perspective
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O meu obxectivo é cambiar
o punto de vista da xente
09:49
of autism and people
with higher-functioning Asperger's
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sobre o autismo e sobre a xente
con Asperger de alta funcionalidade
09:54
because there is a lot they can do.
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para amosar que hai moitas cousas
que poden facer.
09:58
I mean, look at
Temple Grandin, for example.
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Quero dicir, pensade
en Temple Grandin, por exemplo.
10:02
And by doing so, we allow people
to share their talents with this world
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E facendo isto, permitimos que a xente
comparta o seu talento co mundo
e que o mundo avance.
10:07
and move this world forward.
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10:09
In addition, we give them the courage
to pursue their dreams
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Ademais, dámoslles o valor
para perseguir os seus soños
10:12
in the real world, in real time.
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no mundo real, en tempo real.
10:15
Thank you.
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Grazas.
(Aplausos)
10:16
(Applause)
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10:19
Thank you.
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Grazas.
(Aplausos)
10:21
(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alix Generous - Advocate
Alix Generous is a college student and biology researcher with Asperger syndrome. She stresses the importance of building accepting environments for all kinds of minds.

Why you should listen

Alix Generous has Asperger syndrome, but was misdiagnosed for years. A student and researcher who is passionate about molecular biology and neuroscience, she encourages people like her to share their intelligence and insights. She is a co-owner of the startup AutismSees, which develops technology tools to help all kinds of people give presentations.

At 19, Generous won first place in a nationwide competition for her work in quorum sensing and coral reefs. Her paper titled "Environmental Threats on the Symbiotic Relationship of Coral Reefs and Quorum Sensing," was published in Consilience. In November 2013, she was a youth delegate for the UN Convention of Climate Change (COP19), where she negotiated technology transfers and issues of medical importance. She has assisted neuroscience researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina, Tufts University School of Medicine, and the University of Vermont.

More profile about the speaker
Alix Generous | Speaker | TED.com