Carina Morillo: To understand autism, don't look away
Carina Morillo: Autismoa ulertzeko, ez ezazu begirada kendu
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.
into an eye-contact coach.
begiraden entrenatzaile.
exists in images.
irudietan dagoen.
jaso genuen,
when he was two and a half.
gogoratzen dut momentu hura.
ikusten genuen gure burua.
or to anything we asked him,
he would look at me,
to working with him on those things,
eye-contact moments.
egon zitezen.
"orbanera jolasten",
with his older sister, Alexia,
txanda horietan
bizirik zegoela sentitzen nuen.
I could feel he was alive.
orduen errekorra daukagu.
in a swimming pool.
izugarrizko grina.
we'd go swimming.
ez bait genion joateari uzten.
and I took the wrong exit.
atsekabe handiz, geratu gabe
inconsolably, nonstop,
that a two and a half year old
ez erantzutea bere izenari,
ni ezer ikusteko gai ez nintzen hartan,
where I couldn't see anything,
izugarrizko ikus-oroimena zuela,
had an exceptional visual memory,
hasi nintzen,
pictures of everything,
bata bestaren ondoren.
azaltzen digu Ivan-ek
Ivan's eye contact that mattered.
ere bazegoen.
soilik ez begiratzea,
not only his autism,
gustuko ez dituenekin,
to give of myself.
nik ere nire aldetik jarri behar nuen.
in a neighborhood near our house.
egiten zuen, beste auzo batean.
while I was waiting for him,
nengoen, itxaroten nuen bitartean,
with a little bit of everything.
non denetarik duten.
ibiltzen ikas zezala nahi nuela,
to walk down the street by himself,
if Thursdays around 2pm,
ur botil apalak txukuntzera,
the water bottles on the shelves,
some chocolate cookies,
batzuk erostea,
of water bottles
antolatzen laguntzen zion,
gelditzen zirelarik
lined up on the same side,
with his chocolate cookies.
egitea beste norbait sartzeko.
ez da izugarrizko ekintzarik.
axolagabeak izan.
to look each other in the eye,
beste norbaiti.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carina Morillo - Autism advocateCarina 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.
Carina Morillo | Speaker | TED.com