Non-Speaking Autistic Valedictorian Finds Her Own Way To Give Powerful Speech

And as she told it, that term also characterizes her own personal victories as it was through a kind of collective action that her speech was even possible.

She described living with a form of autism that prevents her from speaking and the neuromotor effects that come with it means she needs assistance to tie her shoes or button her shirt.

But because she was taught to type — which is apparently rare for someone with her condition — she was able to type her speech with one finger as her communication partner held the keyboard, which then enabled her to broadcast it via a text-to-speech program.

And armed with what she has learned, she dreams of doing her part to bring about a future where everyone can communicate, particularly the 31 million other non-verbal autistic people who share the fight she's had in life.

She also touched on the fact that this fight was partially to overcome the obstacles set by other people.

In one particularly egregious example, she said that the principal at her high school once made the front page of a local newspaper by telling a staff member that he would never allow her to be valedictorian.

Worse yet, he referred to her with an offensive term that I won't repeat here, but that she relays in the full video if your curiosity overwhelms you.

For her, Rollins College is a place where every student is cared for, where she could find a place that what take a chance on her, and where kindness lives.

And she saw that kindness in every sorority and fraternity fundraiser, every drive to weave blankets for the homeless, and in other examples she found too numerous to recount.

As we can see in Bonker's speech, these acts exemplify and provide further opportunities to live up to the code of Rollins' most beloved alumnus, Mr. Rogers.

After his death, a handwritten note was found in his wallet that read, "Life is for service."

h/t: Good Morning America, Rollins College of Liberal Arts