Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Speechless

I don't often post other content verbatim because I fancy myself a writer and want to say it myself, i.e. ego, meet blog. Trouble is, some things can't be said, at least not by me, sometimes not by anyone.

Meet Carly:

My name is Carly Fleischmann and as long as I can remember I’ve been diagnosed with autism.

I am not able to talk out of my mouth, however I have found another way to communicate by spelling on my computer.

Last year a story about my life was shown on ABC news, CNN and CTV here in Canada.

After my story was played I kept on getting lots of emails from moms, dads, kids and people from different countries asking me all sorts of questions about autism. I think people get a lot of their information from so-called experts but I think what happens is that experts can’t give an explanation to certain questions. How can you explain something you have not lived or if you don’t know what it’s like to have it? If a horse is sick, you don’t ask a fish what’s wrong with the horse. You go right to the horse’s mouth.


Yes, this video is long, but if you do anything online today you simply must watch. Amazing, inspirational, mind-blowing. Wait, I said I had no words, didn't I? So just watch. Or check out Carly's blog here. Goddamn, what a smart 13 year old kid.

xo,
S

11 comments:

Chelsea said...

wow. that's incredible. what a smart girl indeed.

Richie Designs said...

stunning.

there were a couple of books written a few years ago by a woman diagnosed in her 20's as a high functioning autistic "Somebody Somewhere" and "Nobody Nowhere" that explains autism well too.

but this girl...
WOW

Appletree said...

that was worth the 10 minutes.

SGM said...

I watched the whole thing too. Amazing story, unbelievable girl.
(I wonder what the story is with her mom? I kept waiting for her....)

essbesee said...

wow. thank you.

dee said...

That was so sad and hopeful at the same time. I wanted to hug Carly and her father for believing in her. How incredible that this little girl has opened up a whole new understanding of autism to the medical community. Just think if they can find a way for other disabled children to communicate, like those with cerebral palsy or physical handicaps. Carly is amazing!

Pooch said...

Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful story. I am now sharing it with as many people as I can.

Truly amazing and touching!

Lana said...

Carly is an amazing girl. I work with children with Autism and some of her answers to my questions (if you tweet her, she'll answer!) have helped me grow as a professional and have more insight into how I do things with the kids I work with.

I think the reason he Dad does all the talking for the family is that he's been elected as the family spokesperson. They want to raise awareness for Carly and for autism, but they don't want the family being harassed constantly- so Dad does the talking. At least that's what I assume.

Amy said...

I watched this video with my 3yr old daughter who was very recently diagnosed with Autism, and one of the only times (if not the only time) she sat really still beside me and watched the whole ten minute video. The video was awesome and her watching it with me was awesome as well.

Petunia Face said...

Popping in to add--I just noticed a bunch of traffic coming from Twitter. Now I don't twitter, but I clicked over to see that Carly had twittered a thank you to me for this post. Holy Twit, you guys! I totally feel like a celebrity stopped by. Carly--if by any chance you stop by again, let me reiterate just how awesome I think you are. And one day I hope to read a book by you--you have an amazing way with words. :)
xo,
S

Browser Games said...

Amazing! That's as close to fringe science as it can get. The girl literally explains what's going on in her mind through a computer. Insightful, a must watch!