TED Talk: "How autism freed me to be myself"

This is one of those great talks that transcends autism, and yet is so relevant to the conversation about autism. Rosie King has autism. Her brother and sister have autism. What she's asking is that we re-think what autism is and, more importantly, why "normal" is so important to so many of us.

"But if you think about it, what is normal? What does it mean? Imagine if that was the best compliment you ever received. 'Wow, you are really normal.'"

(Laughter)

Instead, she says, the "compliments are, 'you are extraordinary' or 'you step outside the box.' ... So if people want to be these things, why are so many people striving to be normal?"

I'm reminded of the excellent talks by Faith Jegede and Andrew Solomon.

Regardless of your connection to autism, this TED Talk is a clarion call to celebrate uniqueness. It's six minutes of awesome. Watch and share, please.