I can't speak. Here's how I get people to listen | Jessica Irwin

Elise Hugh (0:03)

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hugh. Jessica Irwin is many things, a photographer, artist, author, keynote speaker. She also happens to be nonverbal because of a form of cerebral palsy that affects the muscles she needs to talk. That never stopped her from sharing her opinions. She communicates through a device that turns her written words into speech.

That synthesized voice is the same voice you'll hear in her talk, delivering the words she wrote. Here's how she puts it.

Jessica Irwin (0:37)

I am Jessica Irwin, and I have never spoken a single word in my life, even to say my name, nor the vital word of stop. The truth is, I have so much I would like to say, many witty comebacks rolling around inside my head.

Elise Hugh (0:54)

In her talk, Jessica offers a sharp, funny, and urgent reminder that being nonverbal has nothing to do with intelligence, and that the world is badly set up to hear people like her. The problem, she says, is especially bad in health care, the clinics and hospitals that are supposed to serve people of all walks of life with all kinds of communication modes, needs, and styles.

The good news, she has some ideas for how anyone can better communicate with nonverbal people.

Jessica Irwin (1:21)

And when people hear the words brain damage, they automatically jump to intellectual impairment. But when somebody has brain damage, it should not mean their entire brain should be disregarded.

My case affects movement, not intelligence.

Elise Hugh (1:37)

That's coming up right after a short break. And now our TED Talk of the day.

Jessica Irwin (1:54)

I am Jessica Irwin, and I have never spoken a single word in my life, even to say my name, nor the vital word of stop. The truth is, I have so much I would like to say, many witty comebacks rolling around inside my head. Through typing on my communication device, I can express about 25 percent of what I want to say. The other 75 percent stays trapped inside my head for only me to hear. This happens every single day. Why is this? I have a level of cerebral palsy that means my mouth muscles simply won't allow me to physically talk. That is the sole reason. Let's focus on slowly sounding out the letter J.

Did you feel your tongue on the back of your teeth as you sounded the letter out? I am unable to move my mouth and tongue that way. Which means the only way you can hear my intelligent thoughts and ideas is when I type them out for you on my communication device at the rapid speed of seven words per minute.

The robotic voice outputs what I'm saying, but it doesn't express my quick wit. Or can it quickly express something in an emergency? Imagine seeing your little niece about to touch the hot stove. Gracie, stop!

I am unable to quickly say those words. My only hope is that I can manage to push her over. With love.

Many non-verbal people spend a lot of time in hospitals. We enter a system that is brilliant at some things, but untrained in hearing voices like ours. So it becomes a place of fear.

Many people in my situation can't physically use our communication devices when we are lying down. Our voices are suddenly not there. Imagine lying in a hospital bed with an injured hip, with wounds and bone fractures. A nurse comes up to your bed, bypasses your notes, and goes to roll you straight onto your injured hip. What can you do to prevent the extreme pain that you know is coming your way? Absolutely nothing.

You can't say the single word, stop. I mean, you can start crying, but you are on pain medication that has a side effect of irritability. This is misinterpreted by the nurse as the patient is just fussing because they don't want to roll, and your only option is to brace for the extreme pain and take it like a non-verbal person. This is not hypothetical. It has been my horrifying reality. This is why I'm bringing communication training into hospitals. I don't want other patients to experience unnecessary pain. And here's the brilliant thing. This problem is solvable. All it takes is knowing one simple thing. Assume the patient is intelligent, ask yes and no questions, and ask them to. Look up for yes and look down for no.

Let's try it together. If you're with me, look up for yes.

Now look down for no.

Awesome. Just like that, without a single spoken word, we've had a conversation. This also works for complex scenarios like, are you in pain? Do you want me to call someone? Can I examine where you are hurting? Can I run through the alphabet, so you can spell out a word by looking up on the correct letter? Four simple steps, but they can save a life.