The Superhumans That Exist Amongst Us
Transcriber: Khanh An
Reviewer: Chryssa Rapessi
Do superhumans exist amongst us?
A six year old girl crying inconsolably,
hands on her ears,
standing outside the classroom.
Teachers are encouraging her
to go into the classroom.
The more they try, the worse it gets.
As a psychiatrist
with 16 years experience,
this is one of the many stories
that I’ve heard from teachers and parents.
Have you seen anything like this?
And have you jumped to the conclusion
that they are a naughty child
or blamed poor parenting on this?
What if there’s a perfectly
good explanation for this behavior?
There’s a very high probability that she
has what we call autism spectrum disorder,
or ASD, or we normally
say on the spectrum.
According to the latest global figures,
1 in 56 of us have ASD,
and that only accounts for those
that have been diagnosed.
So there’s a very good chance, you know
of someone who has this condition.
It might be you, your child,
someone you love.
But it might surprise you to know that
this misunderstood cohort has all it takes
to astonish you
with their incredible abilities,
intricate minds and purity of soul.
In short, they certainly are superhumans.
So let’s start by imagining for a minute
that you are someone
who’s on the spectrum.
What would your life be like?
Imagine going through every day
being called and considered
a weirdo and an outcast,
but not understanding why.
Imagine being bullied because
of your appearance,
different skills and your lack of social
abilities, but not understanding why.
Imagine being taken advantage of
because you’re honest,
trustworthy and transparent,
but not understanding why.
Imagine being obsessively detailed
about a certain subject
and ridiculed for being a nerd,
but not understanding why.
Imagine being snubbed for being direct,
literal and focused,
but not understanding why.
Imagine needing to hide under a table
at a birthday party
to escape the sensory overload
but not understanding why.
You are misunderstood,
you feel you are different,
and you know that you do not fit in,
but you do not know why.
And all the time you are asking
the question “What is wrong with me?”
As a person with ASD,
you are confused and frustrated,
you cannot comprehend
the world that you live in.
Its rules for behaviors
and social engagements.
You look strangely upon for possessing
a superior power of sensors.
You may be able to hear
inaudible frequencies.
You may be able to smell things
other cannot smell
and may be able to read patterns
others cannot see.
You are looked down upon
for being creatively superlative
and averse to routine tasks.
This is the price
that you pay for neurodiversity.
Yet, it does this neurodiversity
that drives your passionate interest
in certain topics.
If you are into maths,
you may become a champion mathlete.
If you are into space,
you may have more knowledge
than an astrophysicist.
If you’re into airplanes,
you may have more knowledge
than an aeronautical engineer.
And if you’re into nature,
you probably have more knowledge
than David Attenborough.
Good question about your sense of style,
but you think how you look
is just superficial?
In fact, you may feel no need to dress
at all. Clothes are overrated anyways.
You sometimes are called cold and callous,
but you are not.
In fact, you have got
an array of emotions,
but you do not know how to express them.
But instead of understanding,
people judge you for not having empathy.
Neurodiversity is a blessing. It’s a gift.
It makes you humane, sensitive,
original, progressive, creative.
Yet, you are stigmatized
for these very attributes.
This is life with ASD.
This is life as a superhuman.
Once considered to be a rare condition,
it has become more visible as we have
acquired skillset and knowledge base.
Since 1970, it has gone from being one
in 5,000 diagnosed with this condition
to one in 56.
And then likely many more still
undiagnosed like myself.
It’s considered a male dominated condition
with a male to female ratio
of four to one.
But we know females.
They mirror and mask to fit in
and remain undiagnosed.
If that is taken into account,
it becomes one in one.
So what does all of this mean?
But the most important thing is
that we all need to be trained, educated,
our perceptions need
to be made more flexible
so that we are able to accept
the superhumans that exist amongst us.
It’s not about knowing autism,
it’s about understanding autism.
And given that is this more
common than schizophrenia,
you’d be thinking there would
be an abundance of services.
Unfortunately not.
We have failed globally
to upskill the health professional
to better manage this condition.
In the UK there are certain areas
where the waiting list up to seven years
just to get a diagnosis.
Individuals with neurodiversity
that struggle with identities
because we tell them and show them
that they are different.
Adults may be misdiagnosed, mismanaged,
trialled on psychotropic medication
and locked in invasion wards
before the health professionals
run out of options and finally say,
“Yeah, this might be autism.”
As a professional, I have seen parents
at the verge of a breakdown,
just fighting a simple battle of referring
the child for an assessment.
I have witnessed parents burst into tears
when I’ve told them
that the child is on the spectrum.
They’re not upset, not, they’re relieved.
A 61-year-old man hugged me with gratitude
after I disclosed the diagnosis to him.
He had been searching
for answers for a very long time.
As I said earlier, it is not
about knowing autism,
it’s about understanding autism.
Sophie, a 56-year-old academician,
salt and pepper hair, squared face,
elegantly dressed every day.
She told me that she has been
misinterpreted, mistreated,
misunderstood in her workplace.
She was seen as defiant
and anti-management,
whereas in reality
shows factual and logical.
Throughout her life, she was invisible
to everybody for no fault of our own.
At the end of the assessment,
she told me that I was the first
person ever listen to her.
We did not judge her, was patient with her
and understood her.
It’s not about knowing autism,
it’s about understanding autism.
This neurodiverse group is one
of the most resilient,
brave and courageous group of
people I have come across.
Despite being ridiculed, rejected,
undermined and mismanaged.
They continue to strive for an answer to
the question “What is wrong with me?”
“Why am I like this?”
What do you call the strength?
I’ll call this superpower.
They certainly are superhumans.
And it’s not just their ability
to be resilient,
stability to do the impossible
and that to from a very young age,
I’ve seen the child develop
aerodynamic models for cars.
Another one wrote a book on the birds of
the world, which is about to be published.
A 10-year-old Japanese boy wrote a book,
“The reason I jumped”
and became a bestseller.
Does this affect people
from all walks of life?
Singer Susan Boyle, actor Dan Aykroyd,
film director Tim Burton
and finally Elon Musk
came out in the open
and announced that he was on the spectrum.
The great Albert Einstein,
although not officially diagnosed,
but has the professionals agreeing
that he was on the spectrum
and the list is endless.
So with so many people
experiencing life with ASD,
what can we do to make sure that their
superhuman abilities are able to flourish
and are not lost in oblivion?
Firstly, what if the authorities
and the leaders educate communities,
train schools, colleges and universities
to be able to spot the signs
and see it as a strength or of weakness?
What if the upskilled,
the health professionals
better manage this condition.
What if decided early intervention
services to infuse social skill set
at a very early age and fund schools
so that they’re able to help the children
without asking for a label?
That would be a great start, wouldn’t it?
Secondly, parents, teachers and employers
have a responsibility.
They should be able to acknowledge
the strengths
and strengthen the areas
that they find challenging.
They should not just know what autism is,
they should understand the implications
of autism on that person.
Remember this. It’s not about knowing
autism, it’s about understanding autism.
Well, we often teach our children of
being tolerant of differences.
Tolerance is the wrong word.
Acceptance isn’t much better, either.
Isn’t the time we show compassion
and embrace this neurodiversity
so that they are able to flourish
and we benefit from them as a community.
I cannot forget those words
when I was assessing Gemma,
a young female with ASD.
She had been bullied all her life.
She said to me, “Normal people
do not like different.”
What if that difference is a superpower,
isn’t it time that we embrace
the superhumans that exist amongst us?
Thank you very much.
(Applause)