“Once I knew only darkness and stillness… my life was without past or future… but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living.” –Helen Keller 
Carly Fleischmann is 14 years old and severely autistic. She can’t talk, she’s given to uncontrollable fits of head banging, flailing arms and tantrums. For years, many believed her extreme autism had stunted mental development to the point of moderate retardation (including her parents and therapists). And then one day, she ran to the computer and started typing.
“I am autistic but that is not who I am. Take time to know me before you judge me. I am cute, funny and like to have fun.”
Carly and her twin sister Taryn were born in Toronto to Arthur and Tammy Fleischmann. At the age of 2, it became increasingly clear that Carly wasn’t keeping up with her sister. She was diagnosed with Autism, a disease so increasingly prevalent and yet entirely mysterious that no one knows how or why it affects children, or how best to treat it. In Carly’s case, her parents intervened immediately, spending thousands of dollars over the next 12 years to bring on a team of 3-4 therapists to work daily with Carly. These intensive language and motor skill sessions showed little improvement, even after 60 hr weeks.
If you know anything about Autism, it is a heartbreaking illness. It strikes at a young age, typically between 2-4 years old. And oftentimes, it’s described as watching a person you love slip into an underwater world from which they can’t escape. But Carly, on her own impulse, found a way to escape through the power of a keyboard. And what she has to say is quite simply astounding.
“Dear Dad, I love when you read to me. And I love that you believe in me. I know I am not the easiest kid in the world. However you are always there for me holding my hand and picking me up. I love you.”
For the first time in her life, Carly had an outlet to express herself. And she began to introduce herself to her family; to reveal that she is not retarded or unaware. Quite the opposite. Underneath the layers of silence, exists this intelligent, compassionate girl. A girl who likes malls, and boys and telling spunky jokes like: I’m so cute, blind people stop and stare.
And the amazing thing is she’s been there all along, even when no one else could see. Her parents recall now with horror all those years when they spoke in front of her as if she wasn’t there. It’s easy to dismiss a person who is disabled (or poor, or any manifestation of “different”). But as Carly shows us, everyone deserves acknowledgment and respect. Everyone deserves to be treated on a core level of humanity.
What’s even more remarkable about Carly is that now she is using her voice to help people better understand the inner psychology of Autism. She writes:
Our brains are wired differently. We take in many sounds and conversation at once. I take over a thousand pictures of a person’s face when I look at them. That’s why we have a hard time looking at people… the sensory input overloads us all at once. So we create output to block out the input.”
Carly is very clear that she sees herself as a normal child locked in a body that she has little control over. She describes her tantrums and body jerks as a fire she can’t put out. And even with the writing, Carly still requires constant care and supervision. But even though she has not beaten the disease… she has found a way to transcend it.
In her own words: “I think the only thing I can say is don’t give up. Your inner voice will finds its way out. Mine did.”
Thanks to Superforester Chris for the awesome tip. And Thank you ABC News and 20/20 for the terrific report, which if you have 10 minutes, I recommend watching below:
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