I can usually tell…a little too late…when I have done something stupid.
For me, it usually takes the form of agreeing to some seemingly innocent request. So, when I agreed to do a simple 5 minute talk for a local conference… well, that seriously should have sent up some red flags…
I honestly thought when I agreed to do an Ignite Series five minute talk that it would be a no-big-deal-thing for about 25 people… So imagine my shock when I went to the venue and found nearly 200 people in the room!
Oh, yeah, and did I fail to mention that the talks were proposed as abstracts online and then selected by popular vote to get this honor??? I know, it is a computer engineering conference, but I proposed one of my touchy, feely topics on disabilities and empowerment and stuff like that…so I figured that alone would get me out of it, right?
Great plan or so I thought…
So naturally, my proposal got the second highest votes only behind a talk on the topic of “sexy computer code”…obviously a hot button for programmers. Which meant I would be doing my little talk in front of God and everyone. It had better be good.
Now, I have given probably hundreds of talks in my career, but seriously…nothing really prepares you for a five minute Ignite talk! You can only have 20 slides put on a 15 second auto timer for your five frenzied minutes… The slides fly at you out of no where and you just hold on to your own talk for dear life!
And to make matters worse, the talks were being billed like five minute versions of the Gettysburg Address! So in a panic, I borrowed…ok, stole…from my own blog! I used the main theme from my “In Honor of One” blog about the tragic autism epidemic that we currently face in the United States, and probably worldwide…
Let’s start with a simple question…I thought…
Innocently, I asked my cozy audience of 200 engineers, programmers, and designers to raise their hands if they knew of a friend or family member with autism. Even though I know that 1 in 110 families are affected…nothing can prepare you for actually facing the sea of hands that I saw in the air at that moment. I remember hearing my own trembling voice say into the microphone, “oh. my. gosh. look at the hands…”
The moment just hung in the air.
I had prepared my slides, prepared my talk…but I had not prepared myself for the reality of the impact that just one chronic illness can have on so many people. As I gained my composure, the magnitude sunk in. I still feel honored to shed just one more small point of light on something as profound as autism, as well as other cognitive disabilities.
Let me share with you the talk that I shared with them…
“I’m so sorry Mrs. Satterfield…”
She never even said the a-word
but sadly, 1 in 110 parents will silently hear that word…
but, uh…we could go to speech therapy, right? there are things we could do, right?
We’ll get well, right?
…autism, epilepsy, sensory disintegrative disorders, apraxia of speech, ataxic gate, slow spike wave patterns in sleep, blah, blah, whatever…
honestly…
it doesn’t really matter what you call your cognitive disability, does it?
but, what if there is another way of thinking about this…
what if disabilities aren’t disabilities at all…
what if disabilities are just part of the human experience?
What if people are just naturally unique? How would we as engineers, programmers, and designers…design for uniquely normal people?
hmmm, well…
emotional and social considerations would be really important, I think…
and…it would probably be important to know the range of things that people are actually capable of doing…
oh, it would also be good to know what people really enjoy doing!
and, admit it…
we want to look cool, sexy, and smart in front of our friends. ; )
So, people with disabilities want the same things that all uniquely normal people want?
yes…only better.
Wow…this is going to be a bit tricky.
And it may even require some *sigh* collaboration.
So, what if…
we brought together a group of thoughtful, committed designers, engineers, programmers, therapists, doctors, parents, teachers, friends, and citizens..
Could we change the world for uniquely normal people?
yes.
indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
~
Thank you, Ignite, for the opportunity and the honor.
Respectfully dedicated to all who have been forever changed by a person with a cognitive disability.
