but in my head, I've got

我還沒有告訴很多人一件事，

thousands of secret worlds all going on

在我的腦海中，

all at the same time.

會有成千上萬的秘密詞語，

I am also autistic.

在同一時間湧出。

People tend to diagnose autism

我是一名自閉症患者。

with really specific check-box descriptions,

人們一般在診斷自閉症時，

but in reality, it's a whole variation as to what we're like.

都會有很詳細的描述。

For instance, my little brother,

但是現實是，每個自閉症患者 都會有完全不同的情況。

he's very severely autistic.

舉個例子，我的弟弟，

He's nonverbal. He can't talk at all.

他是一名嚴重的自閉症患者。

But I love to talk.

他不能使用語言，他不能說話。

People often associate autism

但是我卻喜歡說話。

with liking maths and science and nothing else,

人們經常把自閉症

but I know so many autistic people

和只喜歡數學、科學聯想在一起。

who love being creative.

但是我知道很多自閉症患者，

But that is a stereotype,

他們都喜歡創新。

and the stereotypes of things

但那只是刻板印象，

are often, if not always, wrong.

而所謂的刻板印象

For instance, a lot of people

大多時候都是錯誤的。

think autism and think "Rain Man" immediately.

舉個例子，很多人

That's the common belief,

聽到自閉症時， 會立刻聯想到電影《雨人》。

that every single autistic person is Dustin Hoffman,

大家都認為

and that's not true.

每一個自閉症患者都是 電影裡的「達斯汀·霍夫曼」，

But that's not just with autistic people, either.

但這不是真的。

I've seen it with LGBTQ people,

而且也不是只對自閉症患者，

with women, with POC people.

對 LGBTQ（男、女同性戀、雙性戀、 跨性別和對性別有疑問）也這樣，

People are so afraid of variety

對女人、有色人種也有刻板印象。

that they try to fit everything into a tiny little box

人們很害怕不同類型的人，

with really specific labels.

所以只想把任何東西 放在一個「小盒子」裡，

This is something that actually

再把這個小盒子上貼上特定的標籤。

happened to me in real life:

這其實是現實中

I googled "autistic people are ..."

發生在我身上的

and it comes up with suggestions

我谷歌了一下：「自閉症患者是...」

as to what you're going to type.

然後出現了很多建議

I googled "autistic people are ..."

猜測你接下來要打什麼字。

and the top result was "demons."

我查了查，

That is the first thing that people think

第一條出現的是「惡魔」，

when they think autism.

那是人們每當想起自閉症患者，

They know.

第一個想到的事。

(Laughter)

他們知道。

One of the things I can do because I'm autistic —

（笑聲）

it's an ability rather than a disability —

身為自閉者，我可以做的其中一件事，

is I've got a very, very vivid imagination.

因為自閉是能力而非殘疾，

Let me explain it to you a bit.

我有很生動的想像力，

It's like I'm walking in two worlds most of the time.

讓我來解釋一下。

There's the real world, the world that we all share,

就像我經常走在兩個世界

and there's the world in my mind,

一個是真正的世界，我們共享的世界。

and the world in my mind is often so much more real

還有一個就是我腦海中的世界，

than the real world.

而我腦海中的世界比真正的世界

Like, it's very easy for me to let my mind loose

要更加現實。

because I don't try and fit myself into a tiny little box.

就像，我很容易就能放鬆我的大腦，

That's one of the best things about being autistic.

因為我從來不把 我自己逼到那個小盒子裡。

You don't have the urge to do that.

那是身為自閉症患者最好的一件事。

You find what you want to do,

你不需要敦促自己這麼做。

you find a way to do it, and you get on with it.

你會找到你想做的，

If I was trying to fit myself into a box,

然後找到一個方法去實現它。

I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't have achieved

如果我把自己逼到那個「盒子」裡，

half the things that I have now.

我就不會在這裡，我也不會成就

There are problems, though.

我現在擁有的一半。

There are problems with being autistic,

但是還是有很多問題。

and there are problems with having too much imagination.

身為自閉症患者所產生的問題。

School can be a problem in general,

有很多人的想像力過度豐富了。

but having also to explain to a teacher

學校雖然也是一個問題，

on a daily basis

但是自閉症患者要每天

that their lesson is inexplicably dull

跟老師解釋，

and you are secretly taking refuge

他們的課堂是莫名的無聊，

in a world inside your head in which you are not in that lesson,

他們的注意力一般不在課堂

that adds to your list of problems.

而在自己的世界裡秘密避難，

(Laughter)

也成為了一個大問題。

Also, when my imagination takes hold,

（笑聲）

my body takes on a life of its own.

還有，當我的想像力控制住了我，

When something very exciting happens in my inner world,

我的身體變得無法控制。

I've just got to run.

當一些很激動人心的事情 發生我在的內部世界時，

I've got to rock backwards and forwards,

我就開始跑，

or sometimes scream.

我就前後不停地晃，

This gives me so much energy,

或者甚至尖叫，

and I've got to have an outlet for all that energy.

這樣可以給我很大的力量。

But I've done that ever since I was a child,

但我也需要一個地方去釋放那些能量。

ever since I was a tiny little girl.

我從小就這樣，

And my parents thought it was cute, so they didn't bring it up,

從我是個小女孩開始。

but when I got into school,

我的父母認為這樣很可愛， 所以他們什麼也沒說。

they didn't really agree that it was cute.

但是當我上學之後，

It can be that people don't want to be friends

他們不認為這樣是可愛。

with the girl that starts screaming in an algebra lesson.

他們不想和一個在代數課上

And this doesn't normally happen in this day and age,

突然尖叫的女孩做朋友。

but it can be that people don't want to be friends with the autistic girl.

但是現在都不經常發生了，

It can be that people don't want to associate

但是還會有人不想 和一個自閉症女孩做朋友，

with anyone who won't or can't fit themselves

不想和一個不能把自己裝進

into a box that's labeled normal.

那個貼著「正常」標籤小盒子裡的人

But that's fine with me,

做朋友。

because it sorts the wheat from the chaff,

但是對我來說都沒關係，

and I can find which people are genuine and true

因為物以類聚嘛，

and I can pick these people as my friends.

所以我能找到那些對我真誠的人，

But if you think about it, what is normal?

然後和那些人交朋友。

What does it mean?

但是當你想一想，什麼是正常？

Imagine if that was the best compliment you ever received.

正常的意思是什麼？

"Wow, you are really normal."

想像一下，如果你收到最好的表揚是：

(Laughter)

「哇，你真的很正常。」

But compliments are,

（笑聲）

"you are extraordinary"

但是真正的表揚是

or "you step outside the box."

「你真的很非凡」，

It's "you're amazing."

或者「你突破了常規」，

So if people want to be these things,

「你真的很驚人」。

why are so many people striving to be normal?

所以如果人們想成為這樣的人，

Why are people pouring their brilliant individual light into a mold?

為什麼他們還在努力成為正常的人？

People are so afraid of variety that they try and force everyone,

為什麼人們要把自己的 個人才華倒入一個模具中？

even people who don't want to or can't, to become normal.

人們很害怕各種不同的人， 所以他們嘗試逼迫一些

There are camps for LGBTQ people

不能或不想成為正常人的人去變正常。

or autistic people to try and make them this "normal,"

有很多 LGBTQ 的人或者自閉症患者

and that's terrifying that people would do that in this day and age.

都嘗試把自己變正常。

All in all, I wouldn't trade my autism and my imagination for the world.

而這才是讓人害怕的。

Because I am autistic,

總之，我不會和任何人 交易我的想像力和自閉症。

I've presented documentaries to the BBC,

正是因為我的自閉症，

I'm in the midst of writing a book,

我出現在英國廣播電視台的紀錄片裡，

I'm doing this — this is fantastic —

我也正在寫一本書。

and one of the best things that I've achieved,

我在做這些很奇妙的事情，

that I consider to have achieved,

然而這中間最好的一件事，

is I've found ways of communicating

就是當我想到我成就了什麼，

with my little brother and sister,

就是我找到了可以和我弟弟妹妹

who as I've said are nonverbal. They can't speak.

溝通的方法。

And people would often write off someone who's nonverbal,

而就像我剛才說的， 他們沒有說話的能力。

but that's silly, because my little brother and sister

但是很多人都放棄了 那些沒有語言溝通能力的人。

are the best siblings that you could ever hope for.

這樣很愚蠢， 因為我的弟弟和妹妹

They're just the best, and I love them so much

是你能想到最棒的兄弟姊妹。

and I care about them more than anything else.

他們是最棒的， 我也很愛他們，

I'm going to leave you with one question:

我世界上最在乎的就是他們。

If we can't get inside the person's minds,

我要給你們留下一個問題：

no matter if they're autistic or not,

如果你無法了解到一個人在想什麼，

instead of punishing anything that strays from normal,

無論是不是自閉症患者，

why not celebrate uniqueness

不要懲罰一切不正常的東西，

and cheer every time someone unleashes their imagination?

何不慶祝他們的獨一無二？

Thank you.

何不為他們每一次綻放想像力而歡呼？

(Applause)

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