Sorana Savu mi-a aratat in week end un articol minunat despre un copil autist care s-a imprietenit cu Siri si, gratie robotelului de pe telefon, a inceput sa vorbeasca mai mult nu doar sa-si gaseasca solutii la problemele lui. textul aparut in new york times simbata poate fi citit aici To Siri, With Love How One Boy With Autism Became B.F.F.’s With Apple’s Siri
pentru ca motoarele de cautare si de indexare fac astazi mai mult decit ar putea face pentru noi notiunea “serendipity”, facebook-ul mi-a recomandat un articol care i s-a parut de interes pentru mine pentru ca era tot cu un copil autist.
asa am ajuns la povestea lui Owen, un baietel autist care a inceput sa vorbeasca gratie desenelor animate Disney. partea de serendipity necontrolata de spiderele netului este ca pe fratele lui – mare fan de desene animate, gratie caruia a si prins pasiune pentru Walt Disney – il cheama Walt.
mai jos o secventa in care dupa 5 ani de intuneric, in care copilul nu vorbea cu nimeni, doar statea si se uita la televizor, parintii incep sa vorbeasca cu el. Ca sa-l puna in pat la culcare, se foloseau de o papusa un personajul lui preferat din Alladin, Iago. si intr-o seara, tatal lui, jurnalist de meserie – RON ( si mama tot jurnalista, Cornelia) s-a gindit sa …devina Iago.
I freeze here for a minute, trying to figure out my opening line; four or five sentences dance about, auditioning.
Then, a thought: Be Iago. What would Iago say? I push the puppet up from the covers. “So, Owen, how ya doin’?” I say, doing my best Gilbert Gottfried. “I mean, how does it feel to be you?!” I can see him turn toward Iago. It’s as if he is bumping into an old friend. “I’m not happy. I don’t have friends. I can’t understand what people say.” I have not heard this voice, natural and easy, with the traditional rhythm of common speech, since he was 2. I’m talking to my son for the first time in five years. Or Iago is. Stay in character. “So, Owen, when did yoooou and I become such good friends?”
“When I started watching ‘Aladdin’ all the time. You made me laugh so much. You’re so funny.”
My mind is racing — find a snatch of dialogue, anything. One scene I’ve seen him watch and rewind is when Iago tells the villainous vizier Jafar how he should become sultan.
Back as Iago: “Funny? O.K., Owen, like when I say . . . um. . . . So, so, you marry the princess and you become the chump husband.” Owen makes a gravelly sound, like someone trying to clear his throat or find a lower tone: “I loooove the way your fowl little mind works.” It’s a Jafar line, in Jafar’s voice — a bit higher-pitched, of course, but all there, the faintly British accent, the sinister tone.
I’m an evil parrot talking to a Disney villain, and he’s talking back. Then, I hear a laugh, a joyful little laugh that I have not heard in many years.
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intreaga poveste absolut minunata si magica o puteti citi aici .
la 12 ani copilul cinta la pian, un cintec dintr-o animatie Disney, la aniversarea bunicului lui:)
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acum, la 20 de ani, Owen inca se mai uita la animatii si isi explica viata, in felul lui, pe limba lui, prin experienta personajelor animate.
tatal lui, Ron Suskind, este un jurnalist cistigator al premiului Pulitzer, profesor la Harvard, este specializat in probleme de politica interna si a scris despre administratiile Bush si Obama, dar si despre etica si putere in 4 carti care sunt foarte bine cunoscute in lume.
experienta sa personala cu Owen, Walt si Cornelia a pus-o intr-o carte care se numeste Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism si care poate fi cumparata de aici.
multumesc frumos programatorilor Facebook pentru algoritmii care genereaza povesti din aceeasi zona de interes, altfel n-as fi descoperit aceasta minunata poveste.