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　　演说题目： What I’ve learned from my autistic brothers

　　演说者：Faith Jegede Cole

　　演讲稿

　　Today I have just one request. Please don’t tell me I’m normal.

　　今天我只要求一件事，不要说我是正常人。

　　Now I’d like to introduce you to my brothers. Remi is 22, tall and very handsome. He’s speechless, but he communicates joy in a way that some of the best orators cannot. Remi knows what love is. He shares it unconditionally and he shares it regardless.

　　我想介绍给你们认识我的两个兄弟Remi今年22岁，又高又帅，他不讲话，但能传达欢乐，用他特有的方式，最好的演讲家也望尘莫及。Remi知道什么是爱，他无条件无保留地分享他的那份爱。

　　He’s not greedy. He doesn’t see skin color. He doesn’t care about religious differences, and get this: He has never told a lie. When he sings songs from our childhood, attempting words that not even I could remember, he reminds me of one thing: how little we know about the mind, and how wonderful the unknown must be.

　　他不贪心，也不在乎别人是什么肤色，他无所谓宗教信仰的差异，还有：他从来没说过谎，当他唱起我们儿时的歌谣唱出就连我都忘记了的歌词，他提醒了我，我们对精神知之甚少，而未知的事物是如此迷人。

　　Samuel is 16. He’s tall. He’s very handsome. He has the most impeccable memory. He has a selective one, though. He doesn’t remember if he stole my chocolate bar, but he remembers the year of release for every song on my iPod, conversations we had when he was four, weeing on my arm on the first ever episode of Teletubbies, and Lady Gaga’s birthday.

　　Samuel今年16岁，也是又高又帅。他有着超凡的记忆力，但这记忆力是有选择性的，他不记得偷了我的巧克力棒，但记得我iPod里面每首歌的发行年份，他四岁时我们的谈话，看天线宝宝第一集时尿在我手臂上的囧事，还有Lady Gaga的生日。

　　Don’t they sound incredible? But most people don’t agree. And in fact, because their minds don’t fit into society’s version of normal, they’re often bypassed and misunderstood.

　　听起来很神奇吧?但很多人不这么认为。事实是，就因为他们的思维不符合社会对正常人的定义，他们经常被孤立、被误解。

　　But what lifted my heart and strengthened my soul was that even though this was the case, although they were not seen as ordinary, this could only mean one thing: that they were extraordinary — autistic and extraordinary.

　　但让我坚定信念的是，即使现实如此，就算他们不被当作正常人看，这也只说明了一件事，他们是非凡的。虽然患有自闭症，但非凡无比。

　　Now, for you who may be less familiar with the term “autism,” it’s a complex brain disorder that affects social communication, learning and sometimes physical skills. It manifests in each individual differently,hence why Remi is so different from Sam.

　　你们中的一些人可能还不太了解“孤独症”这个术语。它是由复杂的大脑功能紊乱而导致的社交障碍、学习障碍，有时伴有运动功能障碍。每一个病例的情况都是特殊的，所以Remi与Sam的情况也是不同的。

　　And across the world, every 20 minutes, one new person is diagnosed with autism, and although it’s one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the world, there is no known cause or cure.

　　在全世界，每20分钟，就有一个新的’孤独症确诊病例，虽然这是全球增长最快的疾病之一 ，但是我们尚不清楚它的致病原因和治疗方法。

　　And I cannot remember the first moment I encountered autism, but I cannot recall a day without it. I was just three years old when my brother came along, and I was so excited that I had a new being in my life.And after a few months went by, I realized that he was different. He screamed a lot. He didn’t want to play like the other babies did, and in fact, he didn’t seem very interested in me whatsoever.

　　我记不起第一次知道“孤独症”这个词的情形，我也记不起有哪一天我是对“孤独症”一无所知的。我三岁的时候，弟弟出生了，我非常兴奋，我有了新的家人。而就在几个月之后，我意识到他与众不同。他经常尖叫，他不愿意像其他婴儿那样玩儿。实际上，他好像对我一点儿也不感兴趣。

　　Remi lived and reigned in his own world, with his own rules, and he found pleasure in the smallest things, like lining up cars around the room and staring at the washing machine and eating anything that came in between.And as he grew older, he grew more different, and the differences became more obvious. Yet beyond the tantrums and the frustration and the never-ending hyperactivity was something really unique: a pure and innocent nature, a boy who saw the world without prejudice, a human who had never lied. Extraordinary.

　　Remi沉浸在他自己的世界里，应用他自己制定的法则。他从细微的事物中寻找乐趣比如绕着屋子排列他的玩具车、盯着洗衣机把他和洗衣机之间的所有东西都吃下去。当他长大了，他变得更加独特，这些特别的地方更加明显，除了经常性的发脾气、沮丧和永无休止的多动，还有一点特别之处，就是他纯真无邪的天性，不带偏见地看世界，他是个从不撒谎的人，太不简单了。

　　Now, I cannot deny that there have been some challenging moments in my family, moments where I’ve wished that they were just like me. But I cast my mind back to the things that they’ve taught me about individuality and communication and love, and I realize that these are things that I wouldn’t want to change with normality.

　　我无法否认家里的确有过艰难的时候，我多想他们跟我一样，但我转而又想到他们教我的那些事，关于个性、交流和爱。我意识到这些东西，我可不愿意用“正常”去换。

　　Normality overlooks the beauty that differences give us, and the fact that we are different doesn’t mean that one of us is wrong. It just means that there’s a different kind of right.

　　“正常”忽视了差异带来的美。人与人的差异不代表其中一方是错的，只是说明“对”有不同种类。

　　And if I could communicate just one thing to Remi and to Sam and to you, it would be that you don’t have to be normal. You can be extraordinary. Because autistic or not, the differences that we have — We’ve got a gift! Everyone’s got a gift inside of us, and in all honesty, the pursuit of normality is the ultimate sacrifice of potential. The chance for greatness, for progress and for change dies the moment we try to be like someone else.

　　我只想说一句话，对Remi、对Sam、对你们你们不必一定是“正常”的，你可以是非凡的，无论是否是孤独症。我们之间的差异——我们每个人都有各自的天赋。老实说，追求“正常” 也就是完全抹杀了潜能、卓越、进步和改变的可能性，在我们想与他人变得一样的努力中消亡。

　　Please — don’t tell me I’m normal. Thank you. (Applause) (Applause)

　　请不要说我“正常” 谢谢。(掌声)(掌声)