{"id":268911,"date":"2022-05-28T10:04:13","date_gmt":"2022-05-28T15:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=268911"},"modified":"2022-05-27T10:15:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T15:15:23","slug":"autistic-history-graduation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/autistic-history-graduation\/","title":{"rendered":"Non-verbal autistic students make history with UC Berkeley graduation"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Two graduates from the University of California, Berkeley made history recently when they were the first non-verbal autistic students to earn their degree from the prestigious university.<\/p>\n

David\u00a0Teplitz and Hari Srinivasan are both autistic, and also have\u00a0apraxia<\/a>, which is a\u00a0neurological disorder that affects the brain pathways involved in producing speech. They believe that their accomplishment will help pave the way for other students with disabilities while encouraging other colleges and universities to recognize the potential of people with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Teplitz sat down with ABC 7<\/a> to share his story, answering questions by typing on a computer. When asked by reporter Lyanne Melendez how it felt to achieve such a major milestone, he wrote, “It feels especially wonderful to graduate from Cal. It has been my dream for so many years and I am proud that I accomplished it. I hope it inspires other non-speakers that want to go to college to know that it is possible.”<\/p>\n

READ: Five inspiring people you might not have known were autistic<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Srinivasan has also commented on the impact his education had. \u201cEducation and the chance to be a contributing member of society was like a candy store with me on the outside looking longingly in,\u201d he wrote<\/a> on his website. \u201cAccess to higher education for individuals like me is hard-won and I have absolutely thoroughly enjoyed and just savored my undergraduate years at UC Berkeley and all the opportunities it has opened up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both students were involved with an autism advocacy club on campus called “Spectrum: Autism at Cal.” “I walk to raise awareness and to encourage an inclusive culture at Cal,” Teplitz told ABC 7 last month<\/a> during a 5K run\/3K walk fundraiser event.<\/p>\n

People with disabilities often have to fight a lot of discrimination in order to participate in many of the same programs and activities as their typical peers, but Teplitz and Srinivasan show that they have just as much to offer as anyone else. Neither one let the fact that they were non-verbal stop them, and Srinivasan graduated with a 4.0 GPA. He received a fellowship from Vanderbilt University and is headed there in the fall to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience. And the message, according to Teplitz, is simple.<\/p>\n

“I want people to know that we can achieve a lot if we are able to participate.”<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two graduates from the University of California, Berkeley made history recently when they were the first non-verbal autistic students to earn their degree from the prestigious university. David\u00a0Teplitz and Hari Srinivasan are both autistic, and also have\u00a0apraxia, which is a\u00a0neurological disorder that affects the brain pathways involved in producing speech. They believe that their accomplishment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":268988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[14704,17543,2685,14827,17541,17542,17544,17492,17545,17540,898],"yoast_head":"\nNon-verbal autistic students make history with UC Berkeley graduation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two autistic students, who are also non-verbal, have graduated from University of California Berkeley, and made history along the way.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/autistic-history-graduation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Non-verbal autistic students make history with UC Berkeley graduation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two autistic students, who are also non-verbal, have graduated from University of California Berkeley, and made history along the way.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/autistic-history-graduation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-28T15:04:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-27T15:15:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Photo-shared-on-Facebook-95.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" 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