ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carina Morillo - Autism advocate
Carina Morillo is an advocate for the social inclusion of people with autism.

Why you should listen

Carina Morillo is a founding member and president of Fundación Brincar, a non-profit organization in Argentina that has worked since 2010 for a better quality of life of people with autism and their families.

Morillo started Fundación Brincar -- inspired by her son Ivan, who is currently 16 years old and has autism -- because she strongly believes that although life with autism can be challenging, her family and others like it have the right to be happy. In spite of its high prevalence, most people still don't know what autism is about or how to help someone with autism. The foundation offers support services and training to families and professionals, community awareness programs and art and skills training for children, youth and adults on the autism spectrum. Brincar has trained more than 15,000 professionals and families, and it currently offers support services to more than 3,000 families throughout Argentina. The foundation's free virtual library monthly reaches 400,000 people per month throughout Latin America and Spain. Brincar is also founding member of the Argentina Network of Autism, and has become one of the leading autism references for both families, health professionals and teachers in Argentina and Latin America.

Morillo is actively working on the creation of an adult life platform for living with autism. Like many parents, her main concern is who will take care of her son during his adult life. Around one-third of people with autism remain nonverbal, and one-third have an intellectual disability, requiring 24/7 support throughout their life. Existing facilities and services in Argentina and Latin America are limited to school age, with no residence or occupation solutions for anyone older than 18.

Morillo has been awarded the 2016 US Ambassador in Argentina Entrepreneur Prize and the 2014 Argentine Solidarity Prize. In April 2017, Fundación Brincar was declared of Social Interest by the Congress of the City of Buenos Aires for its open community services. Morillo holds a BS in Business Administration degree of Babson College.

More profile about the speaker
Carina Morillo | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxRiodelaPlata

Carina Morillo: To understand autism, don't look away

Carina Morillo: Para entender el autismo, no quites la mirada

Filmed:
673,429 views

Carina Morillo no sabía casi nada sobre el autismo cuando su hijo Ivan fue diagnosticado, sólo que él no hablaba ni respondía a las palabras y que ella tenía que encontrar sus maneras de conectarse con él. Carina narra cómo aprendió a ayudar a su hijo a realizarse compartiendo con él la curiosidad.
- Autism advocate
Carina Morillo is an advocate for the social inclusion of people with autism. Full bio

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

"¡Mirame!"
00:13
"Look at me!"
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00:16
That phrasefrase turnedconvertido me
into an eye-contactcontacto visual coachentrenador.
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Con esa palabra me convertí
en entrenadora de miradas.
00:22
I'm the mothermadre of IvanIvan; he's 15 yearsaños oldantiguo.
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Soy la mamá de Ivan, de 15 años.
00:26
IvanIvan has autismautismo,
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Ivan tiene autismo, no habla,
00:28
he doesn't speakhablar,
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00:30
and he communicatescomunica throughmediante an iPadiPad,
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y se comunica a través de un iPad
00:32
where his wholetodo universeuniverso of wordspalabras
existsexiste in imagesimágenes.
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donde está todo su universo
de palabras en imágenes.
Recibimos su diagnóstico
cuando tenía dos años y medio
00:37
He was diagnoseddiagnosticado
when he was two and a halfmitad.
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00:43
I still rememberrecuerda that day painfullypenosamente.
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y todavía hoy, me acuerdo
de ese momento con mucho dolor.
00:49
My husbandmarido and I feltsintió really lostperdió;
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Con mi marido nos sentíamos muy perdidos.
00:53
we didn't know where to beginempezar.
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No sabíamos por dónde empezar.
No había Internet como ahora,
00:56
There was no internetInternet,
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no se podía googlear información,
00:59
you couldn'tno pudo GoogleGoogle informationinformación,
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01:02
so we madehecho those first stepspasos
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así que esos primeros pasos
fueron de pura intuición.
01:05
out of sheerescarpado intuitionintuición.
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01:09
IvanIvan would not maintainmantener eyeojo contactcontacto,
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Ivan no sostenía la mirada,
01:13
he had lostperdió the wordspalabras that he did know,
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había perdido las palabras que decía,
01:16
and he didn't respondresponder to his namenombre
or to anything we askedpreguntó him,
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no respondía a su nombre
ni a nada que le pidiéramos,
como si las palabras fueran ruidos.
01:21
as if wordspalabras were noiseruido.
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01:25
The only way I could know
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La única forma que yo tenía
de saber lo que a él le pasaba,
01:30
what was going on with him,
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lo que él sentía,
01:32
what he feltsintió,
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01:34
was looking him in the eyeojo.
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era mirándolo a los ojos.
Pero ese puente estaba roto.
01:37
But that bridgepuente was brokenroto.
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¿Cómo enseñarle la vida a Ivan?
01:42
How could I teachenseñar him about life?
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01:47
When I did things he likedgustó,
he would look at me,
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Cuando yo hacía cosas
que a él le gustaban,
allí sí, me miraba;
01:51
and we were connectedconectado.
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y estábamos juntos.
Así que me dediqué
a seguirlo en esas cosas,
01:53
So I dedicateddedicado myselfmí mismo
to workingtrabajando with him on those things,
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para que cada vez hubiera
más y más momentos de miradas.
01:57
so we would have more and more
eye-contactcontacto visual momentsmomentos.
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Nos pasábamos horas y horas
jugando a la mancha
02:03
We would spendgastar hourshoras and hourshoras playingjugando tagetiqueta
with his oldermayor sisterhermana, AlexiaAlexia,
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con su hermana mayor, Alexia,
y en esa ronda de: "¡Ay! ¡Que te atrapo!"
02:10
and when we said: "I caughtatrapado you!"
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02:14
he would look around for us,
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nos buscaba con la mirada,
y yo allí, en ese momento,
sentía que él estaba vivo.
02:16
and at that momentmomento,
I could feel he was aliveviva.
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También, tenemos récord
de horas en la pileta.
02:25
We alsoademás holdsostener a recordgrabar for hourshoras spentgastado
in a swimmingnadando poolpiscina.
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Ivan siempre tuvo una pasión
muy fuerte por el agua.
02:31
IvanIvan always had a passionpasión for wateragua.
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02:35
I rememberrecuerda when he was two and a halfmitad,
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Me acuerdo de que tenía dos años y medio,
y un día de invierno, de mucha lluvia,
02:39
on a rainylluvioso winterinvierno day,
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02:43
I was takingtomando him to an indoorinterior poolpiscina,
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lo estaba llevando a una pileta cubierta,
02:45
because even on rainylluvioso daysdías
we'dmie go swimmingnadando.
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porque ni siquiera esos días
dejábamos de ir.
Estábamos yendo por la autopista,
02:49
We were on the highwayautopista,
and I tooktomó the wrongincorrecto exitsalida.
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y me equivoqué de salida.
02:54
He burstráfaga into tearslágrimas and criedllorado
inconsolablyinconsolablemente, nonstopsin escalas,
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Y allí se largó a llorar,
desconsoladamente, sin parar,
hasta que retomé el camino
02:58
untilhasta I turnedconvertido back.
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y recién allí, se calmó.
03:00
Only then did he calmcalma down.
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¿Cómo era posible
03:03
How was it possibleposible
that a two and a halfmitad yearaño oldantiguo
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que con dos años y medio
no respondiera a su nombre,
03:07
didn't respondresponder to his ownpropio namenombre,
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pero en el medio de esa lluvia y neblina,
que yo no lograba ver nada,
03:09
yettodavía in the middlemedio of the rainlluvia and fogniebla,
where I couldn'tno pudo see anything,
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03:13
he knewsabía the exactexacto routeruta?
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él fuera capaz de reconocer
perfectamente el camino?
Allí me di cuenta de que Ivan tenía
una memoria visual excepcional,
03:21
That's when I realizeddio cuenta that IvanIvan
had an exceptionalexcepcional visualvisual memorymemoria,
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y que esa iba a ser mi puerta de entrada.
03:25
and that that would be my way in.
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Así que empecé a sacarle fotos a todo,
03:29
So I startedempezado takingtomando
picturesimágenes of everything,
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y enseñarle la vida así,
03:32
and teachingenseñando him what life was like,
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mostrándoselas ... foto a foto.
03:35
showingdemostración it to him, pictureimagen by pictureimagen.
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03:39
Even now, it's the way IvanIvan communicatescomunica
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Y todavía hoy sigue siendo la forma
en la que Ivan nos cuenta
03:44
what he wants,
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lo que él quiere, lo que él necesita,
03:46
what he needsnecesariamente
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y también, lo que él siente.
03:48
and alsoademás what he feelssiente.
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Pero no solo estaba en la mirada de Ivan.
03:54
But it wasn'tno fue just
Ivan'sIvan eyeojo contactcontacto that matteredimportado.
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También estaba en la mirada de los demás.
03:58
EveryoneTodo el mundo else'sde otra manera did, too.
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04:02
How could I make people see
not only his autismautismo,
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¿Cómo lograr
que no solamente miraran a su autismo,
pero que lo miraran a él,
04:06
but see him the personpersona
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04:09
and everything he can give;
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con todo lo que él puede dar?
04:12
everything he can do;
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¿Con todo lo que él es capaz de hacer?
04:15
the things he likesgustos and doesn't like,
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¿Con las cosas que le gustan, las que no,
04:18
just like any one of us?
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como a cualquiera de nosotros?
04:21
But for that, I alsoademás had
to give of myselfmí mismo.
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Pero para eso, yo también
tenía que poner de mi parte.
Yo me tenía que animar a soltarlo.
04:25
I had to have the strengthfuerza to let him go,
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Y me costaba muchísimo.
04:28
whichcual was extremelyextremadamente difficultdifícil.
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Ivan tenía 11 años,
04:33
IvanIvan was 11 yearsaños oldantiguo,
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04:35
and he wentfuimos for treatmenttratamiento
in a neighborhoodbarrio nearcerca our housecasa.
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y hacía su tratamiento muy cerca
de casa, en otro barrio.
04:40
One afternoontarde,
while I was waitingesperando for him,
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Y una tarde, mientras
hacía tiempo esperándolo,
04:44
I wentfuimos into a greengrocerverdulero,
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entré en una verdulería,
04:46
a typicaltípico neighborhoodbarrio storealmacenar
with a little bitpoco of everything.
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típica verdulería de barrio
que tiene un poco de todo.
Y entre compra y compra,
04:50
While doing the shoppingcompras,
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04:52
I startedempezado talkinghablando to JoseJose, the ownerpropietario.
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me puse a charlar con Jose, el dueño.
04:56
I told him about IvanIvan,
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Le conté de Ivan, que tenía autismo,
04:59
that he had autismautismo,
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y que yo quería que él aprendiera
a caminar solo por la calle,
05:01
and that I wanted him to learnaprender
to walkcaminar down the streetcalle by himselfél mismo,
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05:05
withoutsin anyonenadie holdingparticipación his handmano.
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sin que nadie le sostuviera la mano.
Y me animé a preguntarle
05:08
So I decideddecidido to askpedir JoseJose
if ThursdaysJueves around 2pmpm,
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si los jueves a las dos de la tarde,
Ivan podría venir a ayudarlo a ordenar
los estantes de botellas de agua
05:13
IvanIvan could come and help him arrangeorganizar
the wateragua bottlesbotellas on the shelvesestantería,
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porque a él le encantaba ordenar,
05:17
because he lovedamado to organizeorganizar things.
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05:19
And as a rewardrecompensa, he could buycomprar
some chocolatechocolate cookiesgalletas,
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y de premio, comprarse
unas galletitas de chocolate,
05:23
whichcual were his favoritefavorito.
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sus galletitas favoritas.
En seguida me dijo que sí.
05:27
He said "yes" right away.
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05:30
So that's how it wentfuimos for a yearaño:
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Y así fue como durante un año,
05:34
IvanIvan would go to Jose'sJosé greengrocerverdulero,
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Ivan llegaba a la verdulería de Jose,
05:37
help him arrangeorganizar the shelvesestantería
of wateragua bottlesbotellas
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lo ayudaba ordenar los estantes
de botellas de agua
que quedaban con las etiquetas
perfectamente enfiladas
05:40
with the labelsetiquetas perfectlyperfectamente
linedforrado up on the samemismo sidelado,
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milimétricamente para el mismo lado.
05:46
and he would leavesalir happycontento
with his chocolatechocolate cookiesgalletas.
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Y partía feliz
con sus galletitas de chocolate.
05:56
JoseJose is not an expertexperto in autismautismo.
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Jose no es experto en autismo.
06:01
There is no need to be an expertexperto
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No hace falta ser expertos en nada,
06:05
norni do anything heroicheroico to includeincluir someonealguien.
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ni hacer ninguna hazaña
para incluir a otro.
06:12
We just need to be there --
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Simplemente tenemos que estar --
(Aplausos)
06:14
(ApplauseAplausos)
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06:22
(ApplauseAplausos endstermina)
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así es, ninguna hazaña.
06:25
Really, no heroicheroico deedescritura --
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06:28
we simplysimplemente need to be closecerca.
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Simplemente tenemos que estar cerca.
06:33
And if we are afraidasustado of something
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Y si algo nos da miedo,
06:36
or we don't understandentender something,
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o no lo entendemos, preguntemos;
06:38
we need to askpedir.
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seamos curiosos,
06:41
Let's be curiouscurioso
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06:44
but never indifferentindiferente.
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pero nunca indiferentes.
06:50
Let's have the couragevalor
to look eachcada other in the eyeojo,
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Tengamos el valor de mirarnos a los ojos,
porque con nuestra mirada,
06:56
because by looking,
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le podemos abrir un mundo a otro.
06:58
we can openabierto a wholetodo worldmundo to someonealguien elsemás.
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(Aplausos)
07:03
(ApplauseAplausos)
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07:05
(CheersAclamaciones)
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(Ovaciones)

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carina Morillo - Autism advocate
Carina Morillo is an advocate for the social inclusion of people with autism.

Why you should listen

Carina Morillo is a founding member and president of Fundación Brincar, a non-profit organization in Argentina that has worked since 2010 for a better quality of life of people with autism and their families.

Morillo started Fundación Brincar -- inspired by her son Ivan, who is currently 16 years old and has autism -- because she strongly believes that although life with autism can be challenging, her family and others like it have the right to be happy. In spite of its high prevalence, most people still don't know what autism is about or how to help someone with autism. The foundation offers support services and training to families and professionals, community awareness programs and art and skills training for children, youth and adults on the autism spectrum. Brincar has trained more than 15,000 professionals and families, and it currently offers support services to more than 3,000 families throughout Argentina. The foundation's free virtual library monthly reaches 400,000 people per month throughout Latin America and Spain. Brincar is also founding member of the Argentina Network of Autism, and has become one of the leading autism references for both families, health professionals and teachers in Argentina and Latin America.

Morillo is actively working on the creation of an adult life platform for living with autism. Like many parents, her main concern is who will take care of her son during his adult life. Around one-third of people with autism remain nonverbal, and one-third have an intellectual disability, requiring 24/7 support throughout their life. Existing facilities and services in Argentina and Latin America are limited to school age, with no residence or occupation solutions for anyone older than 18.

Morillo has been awarded the 2016 US Ambassador in Argentina Entrepreneur Prize and the 2014 Argentine Solidarity Prize. In April 2017, Fundación Brincar was declared of Social Interest by the Congress of the City of Buenos Aires for its open community services. Morillo holds a BS in Business Administration degree of Babson College.

More profile about the speaker
Carina Morillo | Speaker | TED.com