A nonspeaking valedictorian with autism offers her college's commencement speech - NPR

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"God gave you a voice. Use it," Elizabeth Bonker informed her fellow graduates. "And no, the irony of a nonspeaking autistic encouraging you to make use of your voice isn't misplaced on me." Scott cook/Rollins college cover caption

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"God gave you a voice. Use it," Elizabeth Bonker instructed her fellow graduates. "And no, the irony of a nonspeaking autistic encouraging you to make use of your voice is not lost on me."

Scott prepare dinner/Rollins school

She did not say a note — and that handiest made her message resonate more powerfully. Valedictorian Elizabeth Bonker currently delivered the commencement speech at Rollins school in Florida, urging her classmates to serve others and embody the vigor of sharing.

Bonker, who is affected by nonspeaking autism, hasn't spoken due to the fact that she became 15 months historic. but due to an accepting angle from her friends and teachers and help from know-how, she has overcome many challenges and graduated at the suitable of her class on the Orland0-enviornment school.

"God gave you a voice. Use it," Bonker informed her fellow graduates. "And no, the irony of a nonspeaking autistic encouraging you to make use of your voice isn't lost on me. as a result of in case you can see the value in me, then you can see the worth in every person you meet."

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Bonker used textual content-to-speech application to deliver the commencement address — an honor for which she changed into chosen through her fellow valedictorians.

"I have typed this speech with one finger with a communique associate maintaining a keyboard," she spoke of. "i am one of the crucial fortunate few nonspeaking autistics who had been taught to classification. That one crucial intervention unlocked my intellect from its silent cage, enabling me to talk and to be educated like my hero Helen Keller."

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In her speech, Bonker also evoked an extra hero: Fred Rogers, the Florida college's most famous alumnus. last yr, the faculty unveiled a statue of the person greatly called Mister Rogers. And it has long embraced his classes.

"When he died, a handwritten observe become found in his pockets," Bonker stated. "It mentioned, 'existence is for carrier.' "

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She advised her classmates to rip off a chunk of paper from their program, write those words down, and tuck the message away in a secure location.

"we're all called to serve, as an popular act of humility, as a dependancy of intellect," she observed. "to see the worth in every adult we serve."

the brand new plan: assisting others destroy via an inability to talk

After graduating, Bonker plans to use what she has realized to support people who face cases like hers.

"There are 31 million nonspeakers with autism on the earth who're locked in a silent cage," she noted. Her lifestyles's work, she stated, could be to assist them categorical themselves.

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Bonker recently launched a nonprofit company, verbal exchange 4 ALL, which aims to ruin down the limitations facing nonspeakers with the aid of providing conversation substances, peculiarly in colleges.

She'll additionally work to the public in regards to the tens of millions of people littered with nonspeaking autism. As she has stressed during the past, it is not a cognitive or intellectual ailment.

An estimated 25–30% of babies with autism spectrum disease are nonspeaking or minimally talking, in keeping with recent studies.