The Amazing Carly Fleischmann Will Leave You Speechless

Carly Fleischmann’s story has always been inspirational to me. She is an amazing young woman who has autism. Now in her 20s, Carly spent much of her life unable to communicate. She displayed typical autism behaviors – tantruming, rocking, and constant arm flailing – but her family refused to follow the advice they were given to put her in an institution. You can read more about Carly’s story here. 

Today, she communicates by typing. She co-authored her memoir Carly’s Voice with her father, hosts her own YouTube series Speechless with Carly Fleischmann featuring celebrity guests, and is by all accounts leading a happy and productive life. Because she is a remarkable person, but also because her family did not give up on her. 

Embed from Getty Images: Carly Fleischmann at her book signing

A Light Of Hope

Carly is special to me for personal reasons as well. In the summer of 2009, shortly after my son Christopher was officially diagnosed with autism, I saw Carly’s 20/20 segment. I was in a particularly fragile state. I was still very new to the autism world. I also had a new baby to care for. My husband and I were sleep-deprived, overwhelmed, and lost. I was looking for any sign of hope. And there it was on TV – a little girl who was very similar to my son, who experts had little hope for. A girl who had made little developmental progress despite thousands of hours of therapy.

But then she found a way to communicate. She typed “teeth hurt help” when she was in pain. And in the 20/20 interview, she responded to reporter John McKenzie with very typical teenage girl answers on her computer. Carly Fleishmann showed the world that she was in there. And I knew that Christopher was in there too. 

{Side note: My mother-in-law, who was watching the episode with me, excitely declared that we needed to “get him a typewriter!” Christopher had just turned two.}

A New Perspective

A decade ago Carly Fleischmann changed my, and so many others’, perspective about autism. I hope she does the same for you. 

Here is the first episode of of her YouTube talkshow Speechless, and it is awesome. You should watch it because Carly, as she interviews Channing Tatum, is amazing, and smart, and hilarious. But I realized that I really want you watch it after my brother saw it. Because if you have a child with autism, like I do, you will probably watch it and think something like, “I know my child has this in him. I hope I can find a way to help him reach his full potential.” It had not occured to me that those outside the autism world would be amazed for different reasons. 

After he watched it, my brother commented that other than the computer voice generated from her typing, Carly reminded him so much of Christopher. She had many of the same uncontrollable movements and sounds. The complex thoughts coming through the computer were a complete surprise to him. And, I believe, a realization that people with autism have so much more inside than we know. 

Carry It Forward

I’ve written before about why this is so heartbreaking to me. But it also fills me with hope. Hope that we can show the world that our kids are in there. And hope that the world will respond with kindness, and with new ways to help our kids express themselves.

After Carly’s Bat Mitzvah speech (read by Ellen DeGeneres), one of the guests commented to her father that she would never look at Carly the same way again. I hope that you too have a new perspective about individuals with autism. I hope that you carry that forward, and look at them in a new way. Please share Carly’s videos, and her message that people with autism have so much more inside than meets the eye.