my name is Elizabeth Lander and I I am
autistic what do you think about when
you hear the word autistic how do you
would you say that it is a lifelong
disorder an impairment a disability this
is indeed the way medical language
describes it but autism is so much more
than that no diagnostic manual can truly
explain the multi-faceted experience of
autism it is a neurological difference
with a fast spectrum of representation
within its population it can come with
remarkable gifts and skills as well as
devastating traits but autism doesn’t
necessarily equal disability and
thankfully today we have a word that
challenges this negative terminology
neuro diversity neuro diversity
describes how diverse we are as human
beings from a neurological perspective
it suggests that the many variations of
human brains like autistic ones should
be accepted as a natural and valuable
part of humanity’s genetic legacy DNA
shows us that autism is primarily a
genetic condition something that has
been passed down through generations and
is still widely shared in the general
population these genes can carry some
things so positive in spite of the
difference they caused that they have
persisted throughout our evolution and
still flourish today
some of our important inventions pieces
of art and music and discoveries in
scientific fields that have moved our
world for words come from artistic minds
with today is exciting new technologies
in neuroscience we have seen that
autistic brains differ from the norm not
only that but it appears as if each and
every one differs in its own unique way
so autism is rich in expression but
still faces limiting generalizations
today I want to talk about the autism
that I display the one that blends with
normality and can have catastrophic
impacts on people’s lives not
necessarily because of the autism itself
but because of the ignorance of it or
the failure to recognize that it is
there in the first place as I eventually
would discover now in social situations
we do have expectations upon one another
we use a certain kind of rulebook which
when followed rewards us with social
acceptance but I always felt that I was
different the trouble was I couldn’t
explain how and certainly not why it
felt as if I had been provided a
different rule book and that I lacked
the community to fall back upon that
could confirm to me that the way I
interpreted the world was valid too so I
grew up feeling very misunderstood by
pretty much everybody even within my own
family if I applied what would have been
my motives my intentions upon someone
else’s behavior or vice versa the
outcome was often negative and very
confusing so to me the social world
became scary and unpredictable now I did
notice however especially during my
school years here in Sweden that my mind
had been blessed with gifts like
analytical skills
an intense mental focus high capacity
for memorizing information which made
studying very pleasurable and easy so in
my academic pursuit
I came here to Gothenburg where I
studied at the university I later went
to the Netherlands where I attained my
master of music and today I live in the
UK working as a professional cellist in
the London Philharmonic Orchestra
touring the world but this however is
quite unusual for me to stand on a stage
just talking to you without my
instruments I can’t help the feeling
that I have forgotten it somewhere okay
so one man I think okay she place in
this great Orchestra she’s obviously
done pretty well for herself what’s the
problem well I have a very literal mind
and it constantly clashes with both
nonverbal and verbal subtleties in
social situations it gives me a very
direct line of approach and speech in
everyday conversations I still don’t
really understand the purpose of small
talk although I can appreciate it now
and jokes and sarcasm that fly
completely over my head my mind just
takes things in so literally it loves to
analyse everything my world is a very
intense one my senses are heightened my
brain absorbs everything in through an
amplifier my special interests can
completely consume me and my emotions
they go from the highest of high to the
lowest of low and their on and off like
a light switch my family blessed them
they can still stand in utter disbelief
when I go from a complete nuclear blast
to rainbows and butterflies in less than
two seconds literally so okay autism
influences my thoughts
my imagination my senses my emotions and
the way I process information but
without knowing this it was very
difficult to maintain friendships
because our social expectations were so
different
I could come across as odd and I
experienced a good amount of bullying
for it
but the most devastating the most
devastating were the eroding
misunderstandings that dominated the
relationships with the people closest to
me body signals misread words completely
misinterpreted it was so frustrating it
was like fighting a ghost something that
no one could really grasp not even the
counselors we sought for help so it was
a mentally agonizing situation that
persisted year after year and in my
mid-twenties I had reached a really dark
place and I started to be truly scared
for my future but then something
extraordinary happened that changed
everything
in 2006 I heard about Asperger syndrome
it is already an outdated term today but
it is still a form of autism on the
high-functioning end of the spectrum
three years later when I was 28 years
old I received this diagnosis and I
realized that a good third of my life
had been based upon a false perception
of myself imagine that
no wonder my life had been so confusing
but now now I started to see myself in a
new clearer context my whole life and
all my experiences just started to make
sense this launched me on an incredible
journey of enlightenment and
transformation I had finally been given
something that allowed me to explore the
relativity of my perception of the world
compared to others
I gained access into that mysterious
rulebook and I could start comparing it
with mine and so I learned to identify
my differences so in the coming years
I found efficient ways to improve my
social skills I learned to verbalize my
needs recognize my limitations and
develop my strengths I found it
successful strategies to navigate my
everyday life and significantly improved
all the disabling traits of my diagnosis
but this took a lot of commitment
dedication and hard work because autism
is a spectrum I had to become like a
researcher and collect a lot of
information from a lot of different
sources over a long period of time in
order to be able to complete my unique
life puzzle when I thought that I had
reached the level of conformity that
society demanded I kept feeling that
something was not quite right something
was still missing I could change the way
I acted but I did not change the way I
am my natural biological calibration is
and always will be autistic and the
problem I had now is to live up to this
new high social standards that I had set
for myself
I had come to understand my differences
but as you all know a relationship is a
without acceptance and understanding for
the real me I would never be truly happy
and this prompted me to one day make
write a radical move on the second of
April 2015 I announced my autism on
social media and I started to talk about
it with everybody
openly bang just like that I admit it
was absolutely terrifying because I had
encountered what was out there
the stigma the prejudice I was very
afraid that people would put their
preconceived ideas of autism onto me
rather than letting me show them what
autism can look like but this didn’t
happen what happened was that my life
changed completely almost overnight I
was met with curiosity and support
started to flood in from everywhere from
friends from family from colleagues and
from people I didn’t even know media
started to take notice and people who
recognize themselves in my story started
seeing how common the situation was and
how efficiently it could be reversed
using the same tools that I had it
inspired me to share my experience
further that the knowledge of
neurodiversity opens new communication
channels between us
by identifying differences we didn’t
know of before because they have been
hidden in our minds it unlocked my world
with the key to identify my differences
and to communicate these in a way that
we could all understand so today I am a
very happy person I’ve got wonderful
friendships I’ve connected deeper with
my family members and I’m experiencing
what it is to be in a happy healthy
relationship with a wonderful man who is
thankfully also very patient because
misunderstandings they still do happen
but now now they can be resolved so
they’re no longer threat to our
relationship we have taught one another
to read each other’s Rule books and it
I’m still autistic but I love it I
embrace it I can no longer align myself
with a word disabled because in
retrospect I understand that the
suffering that I have experienced does
not stem from my autism itself but from
the impacts of ignorance about it so if
we need a cure for anything it’s not for
differences are always challenging but
they are equally what makes this world
such a beautiful and spectacular place
by recognizing how we differ from each
other from a neurological perspective
helps us to coexist more smoothly
without having to carve so much in our
authenticity allowing our natural skills
talents and creativity more freedom to
roam not just for people on the autism
spectrum but for all by joining forces
we can create a larger picture of
ourselves and inspire each other on new
levels the autistic population is not an
insignificant one in the UK only we are
nearly 1 million people so knowingly or
not you will find us amongst your
friends and colleagues we might be a
family member your boss our neighbor you
might have fallen in love with someone
on the autism spectrum why why must we
wear a one size fits all because it fits
the majority of people should what is
neurologically accepted be determined by
was what’s the majority it’s human value
determined by what is the majority no of
course not but yet a lot of autistic
individuals
many can still not access their basic
rights as citizens because ignorance of
our difference still permeates every
aspect of society we deserve the same
access to education with knowledge and
flexibility regarding our unique
information processing we deserve the
same access to the workforce with
understanding for our sensitivity to
social deciphering and sensory input we
deserve appreciation and recognitions
for our skills and we deserve the same
access to adequate health and support
where the true source of our struggle is
better recognized all services have to
start evolving towards taking your
diversity into account or a lot of
people will continue to fall through the
net and that is ultimately harmful to
our entire society it is unacceptable
but because some don’t fit a standard
norm they risk being bullied
discriminated labeled as impaired and
pushed to the edge of society becoming
spectators behind a glass wall it is a
weakness that deprives us of
contributions from unique minds that are
valuable to us all because they are
different because they think outside the
box the quirky kid from school like me
has just as much to offer the world as
anybody else every human being is a
resource and society has to broaden its
framework to allow everyone a place in
it this may seem a daunting task but we
mustn’t be discouraged extraordinary
things can and have been done by
ordinary people no matter through which
spectrum we perceive the world thank you
[Applause] [Music]