Rebel Girls Celebrate Neurodiversity: 25 Tales of Creative Thinkers
6 AMANDA GORMAN POET One cold January morning Amanda Gorman approached a podium took a deep breath and began to speak Millions of people from around the world watched as she recited her poem The Hill We Climb It was the 2021 inauguration of President Joe Biden and she was the youngest inaugural poet in US history When she was finished the crowd cheered for her beautiful words and moving performance Amanda was proud of herself She knew there was a time in her life when saying a poem aloud would not have been so easy When she was a little girl Amanda was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder People with auditory processing disorders can hear but their brains have a hard time making sense of sounds This can make it difficult to have conversations follow directions or learn new words For Amanda this was especially true when she tried to say certain words and sounds like r and sh sounds Writing however that didn't pose those same challenges From a young age she found solace writing poems She worked hard to create a voice and style that was entirely her own Before long she had enough to fill a book She called it The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough Writing poems was one thing reciting them was another As Amanda got ready for the inauguration she focused on her inner voice She knew what she had to say was powerful and she could spread her message of hope and togetherness She practiced by reading aloud It helped her develop a strong voice and the courage to perform in front of others The letter r still gave her trouble especially when she had to say the word rise many lines in a row but that didn't matter Amanda led with her strengths and the world heard what she had to say BORN MARCH 7 1998 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
I DON'T CONSIDER HAVING A SPEECH IMPEDIMENT NECESSARILY AS A DISABILITY BUT ACTUALLY AS A STRENGTH IT GAVE ME MY GREATEST SUPERPOWER WHICH IS MY VOICE AMANDA GORMAN ILLUSTRATION BY KETURAH ARIEL
8 BILLIE EILISH SINGER-SONGWRITER When Billie was little she and her brother spent their free time writing songs together She loved finding the perfect words to match the melody and hearing the way her voice moved through them all from soft whispers to airy high notes She always knew she wanted to be a singer When she was 13 Billie uploaded her song Ocean Eyes on a streaming platform Listeners loved it and the world wanted to see what Billie would do next Out of the spotlight though Billie was dealing with a neurological condition When she was 11 years old Billie noticed her body moving on its own She would raise her eyebrows wiggle her ears back and forth click her jaw or flex her muscles all without being able to control it Billie did not know why this was happening to her With help from her family and doctors she found out that she had Tourette's syndrome a condition that affected the nerves in her body It caused her tics the sudden movements that kept happening throughout the day Billie was relieved to know what was going on but she still had a hard time with the tics like when people would laugh at her That made her upset Over time Billie embraced Tourette's syndrome It's not like I like it she says but I feel like it's part of me Some of her tics have gone away as she's gotten older She still experiences others Through it all she's focused on what really matters her music Billie uses lots of different sounds from electronic beats and catchy bass lines to soft guitar chords and plinking piano notes Above it all her gentle expressive voice intones heartfelt lyrics Billie keeps speaking out about her experience with Tourette's syndrome She wants everyone to feel comfortable sharing what they're going through BORN DECEMBER 18 2001 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Bill X X X X WRITING BILLJE A SONG IS SO PERSONAL YOU HAVE TO HAVE TRUST IN SOMEONE YOU'RE WORKING WITH OTHERWISE YOU'RE NOT GONNA COME OUT WITH SOMETHING THAT'S REALLY YOU BILLIE EILISH Billj eili ILLUSTRATION BY PAULA ZORITE Z
