Carina Morillo: To understand autism, don't look away
Καρίνα Μορίγιο: Για να καταλάβετε τον αυτισμό, μη γυρνάτε το βλέμμα
Carina Morillo is an advocate for the social inclusion of people with autism. Full bio
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into an eye-contact coach.
σε προπονητή οπτικής επαφής.
υπάρχει σε εικόνες.
exists in images.
when he was two and a half.
να κρατήσει οπτική επαφή,
ή σε οτιδήποτε τον ρωτούσαμε,
or to anything we asked him,
he would look at me,
που του άρεσαν, με κοιτούσε,
να δουλέψω αυτά τα πράγματα,
to working with him on those things,
στιγμές οπτικής επαφής.
eye-contact moments.
with his older sister, Alexia,
ένοιωθα ότι ήταν ζωντανός.
I could feel he was alive.
in a swimming pool.
που περνούσε στην πισίνα.
πολύ μεγάλο πάθος για το νερό.
πηγαίναμε για κολύμπι.
we'd go swimming.
και βγήκα σε λάθος έξοδο.
and I took the wrong exit.
απαρηγόρητος, ασταμάτητα,
inconsolably, nonstop,
that a two and a half year old
που δεν έβλεπα τίποτα,
where I couldn't see anything,
είχε καταπληκτική οπτική μνήμη,
had an exceptional visual memory,
ο τρόπος επικοινωνίας μας.
φωτογραφίες από τα πάντα,
pictures of everything,
με αυτόν τον τρόπο,
Ivan's eye contact that mattered.
του Ιβάν που είχε σημασία.
να δουν όχι μόνο τον αυτισμό του,
not only his autism,
να δώσω τον εαυτό μου.
to give of myself.
κοντά στο σπίτι μας.
in a neighborhood near our house.
while I was waiting for him,
με λίγο από όλα.
with a little bit of everything.
μόνος του τον δρόμο,
to walk down the street by himself,
αν τις Πέμπτες γύρω στις 2μμ,
if Thursdays around 2pm,
να τακτοποιεί τα μπουκάλια στα ράφια,
the water bottles on the shelves,
some chocolate cookies,
να αγοράσει μερικά μπισκότα σοκολάτας,
τα μπουκάλια νερού στα ράφια
of water bottles
από την ίδια πλευρά,
lined up on the same side,
με τα μπισκότα σοκολάτας.
with his chocolate cookies.
για να αποδεχθείς κάποιον.
να κοιταζόμαστε στα μάτια,
to look each other in the eye,
έναν ολόκληρο κόσμο σε κάποιον άλλο.
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