Our Differences Are Superpowers Beyond the Dis in Disability
[Music]
[Applause]
merriam-webster divides as
defines a superhero as being a fictional
character
having extraordinary or superhuman
powers
but it also defines a superhero as being
an extremely skillful
or successful person
spider-man is one of the most popular
superheroes
peter parker aka spider-man
was bitten by a spider and that’s how he
became different
he probably already felt different he
was an orphan living with his aunt and
uncle
he was a teenager teenagers all feel
different
and he didn’t have much money but that
bite
that spider bite is what really made him
different
it took him out of the norm
by being different he also gained
superpowers
he became a super version of himself and
he became
a superhero i believe like peter parker
if we embrace our differences we can all
be superheroes
i’ve met and worked with so many people
over the years
who use their differences as their
superpowers
especially people with neurodiversity
like adhd
dyslexia learning differences and autism
they use their differences to change
this world
and it’s amazing
i want to tell you about a few real live
superheroes
the first one is my friend john john
is an amazing guy he founded a tech
company
that he runs with several partners he
has a wonderful wife
he has wonderful children he’s really
like he has the perfect life if y’all
met him
you would be amazed at this life that he
has built for himself
he’s also very kind and he’s very bright
john’s a mentor for my business and when
i told him about the software that i
developed
that helps employees with neurodiversity
get the support they need in the
workplace
he was super excited about it he said he
was so passionate about it because he
has adhd
i didn’t know this about john and then
he shocked me when he told me he was
ashamed of having
adhd he said betsy please don’t tell
anyone that i have adhd
because i’m so ashamed of it and i
thought you know
we need to change that because while i
think his
brain does work differently because of
his adhd
i think it’s his superpower he can
multitask like nobody else you’ve ever
seen
he gets a ton done he also thinks
outside the box sometimes i call that
thinking out so far outside the box that
you don’t know where the box was
he’s so creative and he is doing he’s
developing technology that’s
literally changing our world he’s not
limited by being in the norm
another one of my friends is named
charlotte charlotte has severe dyslexia
she didn’t learn to read until she was
in the fifth grade
in elementary school charlotte felt
different and she felt less
she was struggling academically and
while she knew she was smart
because she couldn’t read she was
falling further and further behind
every year her mom also knew she was
smart
and extremely creative so they pushed
for a diagnosis
of dyslexia they found the best tutors
and therapists
and charlotte ultimately did learn to
read
she did great in middle and high school
but
in college she struggled again to the
point
of becoming suicidal
luckily for charlotte she went to a
small liberal arts school
really similar to austin college and
there she got the support that she
needed
she asked for accommodations she worked
harder than
all of her peers and she ultimately
regained her confidence
she worked in the financial world for a
couple of years then she went
back to grad school and she’s now a
serial entrepreneur
besides running her own company she also
mentors
and works with other startups developing
not just her own products
but helping other people develop amazing
creative
technology that is again changing our
world
let me introduce myself i’m betsy furler
graduated from austin college in 1989
[Music]
and you may think how am i different
and i look pretty normal in fact some
people kind of think i’m the
perfect person that does fit inside that
box called the norm
but let me tell you about myself i’m
really far from normal
and i’m far from perfect i was however
i guess i should say i am however a
member of
the best sorority at austin college
kappa gamma kai
proud and purple i also went to the best
liberal arts school
austin college
i have a graduate degree from a well
thought of institution
i love fashion and i’m always dressed up
but i’m a woman in tech and that sets me
apart from the norm
i also have characteristics of dyslexia
and adhd putting me in the neurodiverse
category
and i want to talk just a little bit
about
neurodiversity because you know when we
think about it we’re probably
all neurodiverse even if you aren’t
diagnosed with a specific condition
the chances are your brain does not work
the same way as other people’s brains do
that’s what makes us all special that’s
what makes us all different
and that’s what the world needs is our
for us to embrace all those differences
as our superpowers but now back to me
so i can’t tell my left from my right
if you ask me to give you directions
when you’re driving
i will tell you to turn the wrong way
just ask my friend v
but i can read maps really really well
i’m
also mult i’m a multi-tasker and i
multitask
just a little too much i’m frequently
just a little bit late and i am
buried in a pile of emails right now
that i will never probably get out of
but
i’m incredibly efficient and productive
i am the mom of a child with a
life-threatening chronic illness
but i’m also the mom of a highly
competitive skeet shooter
i have lots of friends but i’m not
always a good friend
i only speak english i am that american
that only knows one language and i’ve
never lived outside the state of texas
i’m complicated we’re all complicated
we’re all different and we can when we
can embrace those
differences as our superpowers we can
take on the world
i want to talk a little bit more about
neurodiversity
30 percent of people are diagnosed with
a
neurodiverse condition like adhd
dyslexia learning differences or autism
but a hundred percent of us have
cognitive
changes during our years
our months our weeks and our days
whether you have a major event like a
stroke
or an injury or an illness or a life
change
like having a baby and not getting
enough sleep
or a daily cognitive change from too
little sleep
too little coffee or too much alcohol
we all have cognitive differences
challenges
and changes yet
our society stigmatizes those whose
brains work differently from
the norm literally no one can meet that
standard
so why we always see these cognitive
differences
as a disability i believe we should see
them all
as a superpower using
the way our brain works in its unique
way and its
unique strengths makes us all stronger
and makes our society stronger
it’s dangerous and limiting to think of
people in a group as all the same
we frequently group people by their race
gender sexual orientation or what groups
they belong to
and thinking that someone of a specific
group is the same as everyone in that
group
is dangerous it limits that person
and it limits you when you don’t embrace
your own differences and their
differences
a child in school may struggle
academically but see numbers in a way
that nobody else can one boy i work with
has autism he’s in a special ed
classroom in a high school
and he’s considered severely disabled
but this guy processes numbers
in a way you can’t believe he knows
everyone’s birth date
and if you give him a specific year he
can tell you
instantly how old you were during that
year
he also knows hundreds of countries
their flags and where they are in the
world
he has amazing strengths but yet
we define him by his disability
and don’t allow him to use those
strengths
for the benefit of himself and society
by limiting him we’re limiting all of us
some people are twice exceptional or 2e
people who are 2e have either a
cognitive difference or a disability
and academic giftedness
their superpowers of their cognitive
difference
and their academic giftedness are also
often devalued
because they think work and learn
differently
yet they are our true superheroes they
are the people who are going to make
innovations who are going to change this
world
by looking at them as having
disabilities
and differences as less rather than just
different
we’re all losing out some of you in this
room are probably 2e
embrace your superpowers
our society loses out on the most
valuable people
and we lose out on the most valuable
pieces of ourselves
by not embracing our differences
i believe as we embrace our own
differences and acknowledge the fact
that we are not normal we can also
acknowledge the fact
that other people’s differences are the
most valuable pieces of them
and the thing that gives them the gives
the most to society
we deflate our kids early in the
educational process
because we judge them by how well they
read
how that well they can attend or sit
still
and by whether or not they can memorize
facts and regurgitate them on the test
we lose out on their strengths
on their abilities on their natural
gifts
by defining them in this way we lose out
by diagnosing them with a disability and
seeing their differences
as a weakness and making them feel as
less
this then follows people into the
workplace
where employees are frequently placed in
a job
not based on their unique strengths
but often actually against their
strengths
and then they’re constantly working
against their weaknesses
rather than working towards their
strengths
small changes can make huge differences
imagine a world where in workplaces
employees are surveyed for what they do
well
what they like doing and how they like
to work
imagine an educational system where
children are educated to their
individual differences
to all children’s individual differences
where they are valued for their
strengths where they
are allowed to dream their dreams where
they feel good about themselves
and empowered to also accept their own
differences
as we accept our differences as
superpowers
we can all be superheroes
remember the definition of a superhero
merriam-webster says that a superhero is
a fictional character having
extraordinary or superhuman powers
like spider-man but it also says a
superhero
is an exceptionally skillful or
successful person
we all are superheroes when we embrace
our differences
and the differences of others
maya angelou says if you’re always
trying to be normal
you will never know how amazing you will
be
go out embrace your superpowers
and the superpowers of others and make a
difference
in our world
my talk today is in memory of my friend
dean
dean used his neurodiversity to be a
superhero
to others to help them learn and connect
and he is a true superhero gone from
this world
way too soon thank you