Um mundo por trás do silêncio: quando as letras voltaram | Naghmeh Afshinjah | TEDxLittle Iran Women

A artista irano-canadense Naghmeh Afshinjah fala sobre seu filho autista não verbal, Matin, cujo futuro foi restringido por laudos iniciais. Aos dezesseis anos, a comunicação por letras permitiu que ele apontasse letras e compartilhasse pensamentos, sonhos e poemas. A palestra aborda a maternidade, a comunicação, a presunção de competência e como os julgamentos sobre o potencial humano afetam vidas. A autora defende o direito de pessoas não verbais a se comunicarem.

• O relato de uma mãe que criou um filho autista não verbal
• A comunicação por letras revelando pensamentos e poemas
• A presunção de competência em pessoas não verbais

For years, my non-speaking autistic son was defined by what his body could not do and those limitations were often mistaken for limits of his mind. At sixteen, access to letter-based communication began to reveal a world that had been there all along: thoughts, questions, poetry, and a voice waiting for a way to be heard. This is a story about motherhood, communication, presuming competence, and the profound consequences of how we judge human potential. Naghmeh Afshinjah is an Iranian-Canadian visual artist, painter, graphic designer, illustrator, writer, and art educator. She brought art into social action, earning recognition from the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada for defending freedom and women’s and human rights in Iran. For her, standing firm is deeply personal. When reports and assessments narrowed the future of her nonspeaking autistic son, Matin, she refused to accept them as the final word on his life. She mobilized her life around finding a path to communication. Matin worked to express himself: pointing to letters, he shared his thoughts, spoke of his dreams, and composed poetry. The young man others spoke about now had something to say himself. Naghmeh sees this achievement as the beginning of a larger mission. She advocates for nonspeaking people’s right to communicate, with one clear demand: no one should have to wait a lifetime to prove they have something to say. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx