Nonprofits & Activism
What it’s really like to have autism | Ethan Lisi
Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. “Autism is not a disease; it’s just another way of thinking,” says Ethan Lisi. Offering a glimpse into the way he experiences the world, Lisi breaks down misleading stereotypes about autism, shares insights into common behaviors like stimming and…
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LionTheHeart
April 29, 2020 at 10:28 pm
I believe autism is a gift!
Scribbli Chheery
April 29, 2020 at 10:29 pm
“Autism isn’t a disease, it’s just another way of thinking”
Then why do schools, doctors, police, employers, pretty much all of society treats it like a disease? 😠
Punishu
April 30, 2020 at 12:57 am
Scribbli Chheery it’s not a disease because it can’t be cured. It’s a disorder that a person lives with for the whole life. Just another type of brain that can never be changed
Autism is a spectrum. It variates from a person that adapted to society to a person that can’t live by themselves because of mental retardation. Is the second person means a problem? Sometimes they are like Nadya from Ukraine that drew horsеs. There is no information about her at the english side of Internet but she was a phenomenon. But sometimes they are not like Nadya ¯_(ツ)_/¯
There is the high functioning autism when a person !!!has no mental retardation!!! and can be adapted with their “another way of thinking” and any problems like hypersensitivity to sounds.
Society sees a problem in autistic people and it’s the biggest problem
Bianca van Heusden
April 29, 2020 at 10:29 pm
Wow was watching videos about autism and then this shows up in my notifications. Was needed thank you 🤍
Scribbli Chheery
April 29, 2020 at 10:30 pm
Society teaches kids it’s ok to be different, punishes them for being different, and complains when the “different” kids end up worse off than the “same” kids.
Target 3
April 29, 2020 at 10:30 pm
Call it.. Vaccine damage.
Manuel Guzman
April 29, 2020 at 10:38 pm
Thank you. I have an autistic son and hearing this TED talk felt like I’m listening to my son from the future describe himself.
Emily Cunningham
April 29, 2020 at 10:49 pm
One thing that’s important about Autism is stimming . It’s a direct way to regulate our handling of emotions, thoughts, and sensations. Focusing on one strong stimulus, and one we can choose to feel, helps give us some foundation to stabilize the rest of our processing, to keep our nervous system from overloading at the hands of sheer volume of a single stream of stimulus information or rapidly accumulating chaos caused by many disorganized, non rhythmic, and unrelated spontaneous stimulus. Stimming is basically to me what anti-crash protection is to a computer. It keeps my neurons acting smoothly, and helps prevent me from overloading. The fact that Allistics would shame this is pure ignorance and bigotry. They’re often disgusted that we exist and ashamed to be associated with us. They don’t know what it’s like to experience so much stimulus that it begins to feel like your nerves and brain are in a blender. Where stimulus is a swirling, chaotic tornado around you, and the pain is physical, emotional, and mental. It’s like when too much information is being passed through all the little tiny circuits in a computer, as you tense up to try to fight or flee an enemy that’s hard to do either with. If you can neither disable nor flee the stimulus, your nerves eventually can’t take the strain of this maxed out atypical fight or flight mode, and you shut down. Some of us are incapacitated a little, others have to go home for the day, others completely fall unconscious, still others have seizures. Recovery time is also a trouble. Some only need a few hours, others days, and some of us, weeks. Our brains sometimes just have to get ourselves to a calm space and relax as our neurons recover and get back in the swing of things, other times, in severe stress, some Autistics have to stay somewhere safe and calm to “boot up” a little at a time, as the worst affected parts of our brains reactivate themselves a few neural pathways and systems at a time. Honestly, a sensory escape bunker would be nice to have at social gatherings. Or at least less social anxiety in ourselves and more accommodation and tolerance from the Allistics. After all, stimming is vital, otherwise our brains feel under threat and need to defend themselves. I don’t know how it works, but I think our brains are designed to protect their own neurons from being permanently fried by stimming , fight or flight based meltdown(which may also be a counteracting rejection of neuron information), and shutdown. This is likely a defense mechanism, since we’re wired to take in so much information in the first place. It’s painful, however, and what makes it worse is the level of stigma you face afterwards. Worst of all is if you get written off as being a bad kid for it, or if you’re an adult, involuntarily committed or arrested for disturbing the peace.
lbednaz
April 29, 2020 at 11:00 pm
As a special education/early childhood teacher since the days of segregation, when I insisted on having an integrated classroom of children, I have personally debated the issue of how much a child needed to “conform to the norm” and how much behavior should be accepted as long as not disruptive to the learning environment. All children have different strengths, weaknesses and learning styles. Children in my classroom might be laying on the floor under a table working independently, standing up during a circle group activity, wearing earplugs/buds playing music or blocking sound, etc. This hasn’t always been completely approved by some principals, but most parents are OK because they see the positive effects! THERE IS NO NORMAL! NORMAL IS BORING. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT! Faster the world accepts this, the better the world will be!
GameWithAdam
April 29, 2020 at 11:03 pm
Extremes or nothing. Very true.
Abdul Amiera
April 29, 2020 at 11:13 pm
awesome talk.
Goobian
April 29, 2020 at 11:19 pm
I am a female with autism. I am a very nice person, very thoughtful and sensitive. But I have had to learn empathy in some forms. I used to be a flirt, not understanding why it was so inappropriate. i suffered consquences, and feel guilty thinking about saying things like that again.
People would act uncomfortable, but not say anything. I couldn’t read their body language, so I didn’t know. Then, they would yell at me and say how inappropriate it was. When I would say I didn’t know, they would act like I was playing dumb and act even more mad. But fortunately I can read people now and that problem is resolved.
I am grateful for people that understand me. I always want to grow and learn. Sometimes the hard way is the only way to learn things.
Elizabeth Vidales
April 29, 2020 at 11:27 pm
Love his hair. I really liked this Ted Talk.
Joosh Kabab
April 29, 2020 at 11:32 pm
3:40 hmmmm… nope, can’t think of one
Sigh Kronmiller
April 29, 2020 at 11:41 pm
I found out that I was autistic at the age of 50. At least now I know why I got beat up so much in high school!
RebeccaW
April 29, 2020 at 11:41 pm
❤️ I have 2 sons born with autism, and I learn so much from them every day. They have never been “less,” just “different,” and all our different point of views matter, and are important.
Teri Scallon
April 29, 2020 at 11:48 pm
Thank you Ethan!
Fuvity
April 29, 2020 at 11:59 pm
huge presentation, excelent delivery
Lili Berry
April 30, 2020 at 12:16 am
A powerful presentation!
Joe DeJohn
April 30, 2020 at 12:28 am
You seem normal.
Som Thing
April 30, 2020 at 12:33 am
Very brave of you Ethan! It must have been difficult for you to be in a small room with so many people, so close to you, clapping loudly. But you did it and you did it really really well! Congratulations and thank you!
MaiMai SuiSyn
April 30, 2020 at 12:41 am
One if my sons is autistic.
He is the mist loving and caring boy i ever have.
And at times, i need to response to his repeated questions and story books that i need to read to him uncountable times, sing a song non-stop for half an hour repeatedly.
He sees beauty in a very small thing. At the same time very creative.
Autistic people are special human being with gifts and special hearts!! 💕💕💕
ML Novak
April 30, 2020 at 12:44 am
My son’s name Ethan, he has Asperger’s and also has long hair! This young man reminds me of him.
ApplicantQuisling
April 30, 2020 at 12:45 am
While I don’t have any issues about him saying it’s not a disease, within the talk he’s implying that he’s not “normal”, seeing how he refers normal people as “normal”. Thus, the analogy he gave about PS4 and Xbox doesn’t quite make sense to me. Going off the things mentioned above, it would be more like comparing e.g. USB cables: Everyone is using USB Type C as a standard, but you’re an “obscure cable” that doesn’t fit in with the modern computer (society).
RestHeres ThePresent
April 30, 2020 at 1:03 am
Being human is spectral
anonymousfu jane
April 30, 2020 at 1:12 am
Brave young man for sure!!:)
EveRRest
April 30, 2020 at 2:01 pm
I mean ok it’s not a disease, but all the things he described seem to lead to a certain degree of suffering (inability to articulate emotions, difficulties with social gatherings etc…). Therefore I don’t see what’s wrong with trying to prevent autism, albeit once the condition is existent we should find societal solutions to deal with it. But the latter doesn’t oppose the former imo.
Sin bad
April 30, 2020 at 2:24 pm
1:09 some dirtbag farted.
جيهان الراضي
April 30, 2020 at 2:37 pm
🌷🌼🌻🌺💐🌸
study with me生産機
April 30, 2020 at 2:55 pm
I learned that autism is not disease but character. I should more reflect on my preconceived ideas. Thank you, Ethan!
Ithaca Comments
April 30, 2020 at 3:03 pm
I am an 70 old aspie. I carry earplugs with me because…sirens, loud music!
Ithaca Comments
April 30, 2020 at 3:06 pm
I discovered at age 68 that my children, in their 40s, have autistic traits…how did I not know when they were younger?
ReligioHominiLupus
April 30, 2020 at 8:24 pm
Below, you said you’re on the spectrum too. Your children’s traits were probably normal to you, which may be why you didn’t notice.
TallysGreatest Fan
April 30, 2020 at 3:32 pm
I wish more people would understand this. I wish I could be proud and open about it but I am so afraid of people believing all the bullshit that is said about us, and since I heard this stuff all my live again and again I actually started to believe it, and have to unlearn it.
justin fwibber
April 30, 2020 at 3:50 pm
“How do I know? Because I have autism.”
DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH, this was obvious. Look at that non-human creature.
Mrboobiesrider
April 30, 2020 at 3:55 pm
You might not want autism to be considered disease but it is. My brother has it and the way i see it is that he is in a big time disadvantage.
Anna Does Art
April 30, 2020 at 4:03 pm
Every time I watch one of these talks, I wish the psychiatrists that used to treat me, watched them too. Autism is not a disease, but the people trying to “cure” it, makes it into one. I was never allowed to keep the autism diagnosis that was dangled in front of me, the moment the medical staff noticed, I am above average intelligent. So now I’m just supposed to be normal, whatever that means, or I’ll be diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, if I show my emotions to the wrong doctors. Just like he described.
Beardyvlogger
April 30, 2020 at 4:34 pm
This was awesome and very informative.
Pdf and Audio Books books
April 30, 2020 at 4:55 pm
Hey friends.
I am selling audio books with PDF for 1 USD each. Anyone wants to buy?
Joshua Isaac
April 30, 2020 at 5:30 pm
Im a music teacher, and one of my student is autistic. Sometimes, i dont really understand what in his mind. And then i realize that their imagination is so great, even greater then me. Which is amazing. Autism is a gift.
Wooden Hope
April 30, 2020 at 6:00 pm
2:28 I like how he starts explaining it.
2:40 If that didn’t change your mond about the fact that autism does not need a cure nothing will
4:17 This is definetely something ftom a kinder surprise
DaBlondDude
April 30, 2020 at 6:54 pm
One of the questions about autism (worldwide, if one considers statistics important) is the blurry lack of consensus on what qualifies autism … different places spreading the range of definitions/signs/symptoms all over the place means the number becomes somewhat unreliable.
ReligioHominiLupus
April 30, 2020 at 8:18 pm
Autism is on a spectrum and can range from very mild to severe. Symptoms can also vary and are sometimes pronounced, other times not (partly due to masking).
It can be a bit confusing, which is why assessment should be left to qualified professionals.
Hope this helps a bit.
DaBlondDude
April 30, 2020 at 11:03 pm
@ReligioHominiLupus ReligioHominiLupus sort of, a friend of mine was autistic so I read up on it a great deal and a lot of countries, even states, have their own definitions, which doesn’t make things very clear and certainly restricts help for those who need it. It’s sort of like PTSD in that respect; it wasn’t even diagnosed for a long time and therefore no treatments were available. Once it became ‘a thing’ changes started getting implemented but the blurry lines (especially at first) complicated things.
The simple fact that many still consider autism as a disease underlines a lack of clarity and understanding. The anti-vaccine movement claiming vaccines cause autism comes to mind. Research is still ongoing but a clearer consensus allowing better clarification and identification can go a long way towards optimizing social understanding and options for autistic people all over, including for professionals, I think.
M G
April 30, 2020 at 7:13 pm
aww he’s so adorable!! Society has to come to terms with difference without demonizing others!
FSuccessful F
April 30, 2020 at 8:05 pm
What is islam?
Wilhelmus Hoffmann
April 30, 2020 at 8:06 pm
Most people think different than I do, so what
FSuccessful F
April 30, 2020 at 8:09 pm
Automatic and proud….
First Key
April 30, 2020 at 8:24 pm
❤🎵
TameLlama vA
April 30, 2020 at 9:18 pm
More people need to see this.
جيهان الراضي
April 30, 2020 at 9:19 pm
OMG
Sincerely H
April 30, 2020 at 9:21 pm
9:15 I’ve thought the same too 🙂 – gonna check this book out (neuro tribe by Steve Silberman in case anyone was wondering)
Dima wakharajatkhsr
May 1, 2020 at 12:34 am
why those people aren’t in a home lockdown?
Louise OZ
May 1, 2020 at 12:36 am
THANK YOU ETHAN..YOU SAID EXACTLY WHAT IS TRUE.
YOUR MIND IS ONLY HARD FOR NURO TYPICALS TOO UNDERDTAND..LET YOUR HEART & MIND REJOICE..🕺🤸♂️
Aparna Shankar
May 1, 2020 at 2:08 am
I have this condition called Asperger’s and this video really moved me.
jacqueline schael
May 1, 2020 at 2:12 am
This young man is definitely very high in the spectrum. He can express his ideas pretty well, probably attends college and has a relatively decent social live. Not my son. Besides having empathy and somehow able to withstand loud noises or bright lights, he is socially awkward and cannot define or express his thoughts adequately. And most of his peers in his program are like that too. In brief, this young guy does not represent the highest number of the autistic population. But I have to give it to him that he gave a fine presentation.
Donkey
May 1, 2020 at 10:34 am
jacqueline schael very well stated. I’m on the spectrum and agree. He made a few semantic and logic errors, yet I understand exactly where he is coming from. People have treated me horribly, yet I persist.
Joseph Zugoola
May 1, 2020 at 2:13 am
*I thought this was just going to be a meme compilation!*
Maryth R
May 1, 2020 at 2:17 am
My grandma (whom I love so much) used to tell me that if I were to change the things I eat everyday then I could be fixed.
I love her, she meant it with her best intentions at heart.
Spartan Aryan
May 1, 2020 at 2:43 am
For a second I thought that he was the Opeth singer
Nelia Harrison
May 1, 2020 at 3:00 am
I have autism
Donkey
May 1, 2020 at 10:00 am
🥰
Shane Steckelberg
May 1, 2020 at 3:25 am
Thank you Ethan. I have a daughter that is “low functioning” per society and is in a special home today. Yet, she has exceptionally amazing skills and memory. She is so smart in many ways, but it is such a struggle to get her acclimated in the community.
Muppetjedi Sparklefeet
May 1, 2020 at 5:51 am
Thank you! We’re aren’t diseased, just different 🙂
Sarah Abramova
May 1, 2020 at 6:28 am
This is the same speech
Somphoth Siratsamy
May 1, 2020 at 8:06 am
Perception, presumption, assumption, conspiring, the functionalism is an individual characteristic. It’s what makes us who we are, intelligence variates, so does characteristics & etc.. to be socialcentric is being stereotype, for it is an incrowd advantage, for example majority & minority, but the difference is using it as dominance, unlike ethnocentrism, which is natural, for the mean time in process of evolution in thus lovely environmental pressure. To the fittist
Jonathan Sanchez
May 1, 2020 at 8:59 am
God bless this guy! My son is autistic and this guy is so brave to do this and speak out about autism from his personal view
Iskandar Benharroud
May 1, 2020 at 11:19 am
There’s always reasons for being autistic in this society, we may have different diseases, different religions, different colors skin, but we all belongs to one human race.
hendrix4151
May 1, 2020 at 11:23 am
I dont want to be on facebook i like giving attention to others but hate being the subject of attention. I dont want to be famous.
Detroit FettyGhost
May 1, 2020 at 12:09 pm
Great TEDTALK bro! Thank you for your time and information!
Detroit FettyGhost
May 1, 2020 at 12:11 pm
I agree that autism is just part of the human spectrum❤️
Ca Bo
May 1, 2020 at 12:48 pm
I believe that autism is caused by neurotoxins introduced at infancy/early childhood. Not a disease, but a brain injury affecting the gut flora/micro biome. Every person is affected differently by these neurotoxins hence the spectrum as well as other mental and physical injuries.
It’s predicted that in 10 to 20yrs from now that 1 out of every two people will be autistic.
Autism will be the new “normal”, which I find extremely sad for those who suffer great mental and physical pains.
You can thank your corrupt government and big pharma for this.
Melissa Loos
May 1, 2020 at 12:52 pm
The moment I started to realize *why* I am different and struggle to get along with most people really helped me to accept it as it is, understand myself and others, and helped me understood where all the stress is coming from and so helped to understand what I need to change in order to get along better.
Thanks for talking, Ethan!
Alex Gale
May 1, 2020 at 2:05 pm
Thank you Ethan. I have a lot of problems when my mask falls because of HMRC. Too many times has my ASD been revealed and then I’m fired because “they don’t have time to train me”. That was the latest one…… there’s a whole continent of them and I’m not going through them.
Robin 't Jong
May 1, 2020 at 4:58 pm
I too have autism and I’m sick of these sugarcoating wimps. The stereotypical symptoms in the beginning are very realistic. Just not every autistic person has all of them or equally strong but look at it this way: If a person has 2 or less of these symptoms, they don’t have autism… because these just are the symptoms. Learn to live with it and learn to overcome it as good as possible, but stop denying accurate symptoms because “I don’t like the way they sound, whe whe”.
Eddard Stark
May 1, 2020 at 6:05 pm
I would have liked to see russian subs. Will they be added later?
Heather Knight
May 1, 2020 at 6:10 pm
Gorgeous talk. Thanks so much.
Jacob Cornish
May 1, 2020 at 6:37 pm
Rodney Mullen is someone who completely changed how I see people with autism. Amazing the person he is.
BookRiding
May 1, 2020 at 8:22 pm
Personally, I think autism is just another type of personality. As you say, another type of thinking and processing emotions. Everyone has challenges, we all have to deal with. We should simply not care if a person has autism or not, we should only care about her role in society and hopefully he or she is happy.
Cheshire Cat
May 1, 2020 at 10:51 pm
I feel like crying at the end of the video. You are no different. You are one of us. ❤💌
Sensory Sensitive Adult
May 2, 2020 at 12:12 am
This was a great summation of what life is like for me as well. It’s interesting the ways we’re similar even though every one on the spectrum is totally different from each other.
Prod. 3t
May 2, 2020 at 3:20 am
<3
ITouchTheSky 8GladysWorld8
May 2, 2020 at 8:52 am
Thank you so much for talking of this argument and sharing your personal story. I know a lot of autistic people and they are so wonderful persons. Lovely watching and listening to you here in the top of Trentino Italy mountain.
Christa Thomas
May 2, 2020 at 4:17 pm
Thank you for this! This was an amazing talk and much needed. People often judge and it makes me sad. I have a 4 yr old son who is autistic and non verbal and I find myself constantly explaining why he isn’t communicating or why he is making noises or movements that may seem odd to others. It helped me understand things from my son view since he can’t express himself. Thank you for being brave and making people aware of autism!
Peter The Pelican
May 2, 2020 at 8:06 pm
This dude is cool
dreaminginnoother
May 2, 2020 at 9:12 pm
autism rates are through the roof from what they were 50 years ago. It’s vaccines.
E Anne Maffett
May 2, 2020 at 10:06 pm
Thank you, Ethan. I get you.
Autism or Asperger’s, it’s just another wonderful perspective woven into the tapestry we call our diversity.
Quy Quâyđe
May 3, 2020 at 12:03 am
it’s not easy to say that. autism is just a status, all of them will get it in another side of life. thankful for this video, it help me empathy with all the people we met.