She didn't say a word — and that only made her message resonate more powerfully. Valedictorian Elizabeth Bonker recently delivered the commencement speech at Rollins College in Florida, urging her classmates to serve others and embrace the power of sharing.
Bonker, who is affected by nonspeaking autism, hasn't spoken since she was 15 months old. But thanks to an accepting attitude from her peers and teachers and help from technology, she has overcome many challenges and graduated at the top of her class at the Orland0-area school.
Bonker used text-to-speech software to deliver the commencement address — an honor for which she was chosen by her fellow valedictorians.
"I have typed this speech with one finger with a communication partner holding a keyboard," she said. "I am one of the lucky few nonspeaking autistics who have been taught to type. That one critical intervention unlocked my mind from its silent cage, enabling me to communicate and to be educated like my hero Helen Keller."
After graduating, Bonker plans to use what she has learned to help people who face situations like hers.
"There are 31 million nonspeakers with autism in the world who are locked in a silent cage," she said. Her life's work, she said, will be to help them express themselves.
Bonker recently launched a nonprofit organization, Communication 4 ALL, which aims to break down the barriers facing nonspeakers by providing communication resources, particularly in schools.
She'll also work to educate the public about the millions of people affected by nonspeaking autism. As she has stressed in the past, it is not a cognitive or intellectual disorder.
An estimated 25–30% of children with autism spectrum disorder are nonspeaking or minimally speaking, according to recent studies.
Source:
A nonspeaking valedictorian with autism gives her college's commencement speech
A computer keyboard "unlocked my mind from its silent cage," Elizabeth Bonker told her fellow graduates. She urged them to serve others, citing Rollins College's most famous alum: Fred Rogers.
www.npr.org
Full transcript here:
Be the Light: Elizabeth Bonker’s 2022 Commencement Address
Rollins College valedictorian Elizabeth Bonker ’22, who is affected by non-speaking autism and communicates solely by typing, urges her fellow graduates to use their voices, serve others, and see the value in everyone they meet in her valedictory address.
www.rollins.edu