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Brigid Muller

Professor Ferrara

Intro to Rhetoric and Composition

16 November 2021

“Different Not Less”

When someone finds out a family member of theirs is going to undergo many struggles

just to reach “the average” human capabilities, it can take an emotional and physical toll on

them. Many people think parents and siblings of kids with developmental disorders have it the

hardest because their wants and needs can be pushed to the side when taking care of the other

child. Faith Jegede Cole, however, thinks the total opposite from that claim. In her Ted Talk

given in April of 2012, she informs the audience of her relationship with her two autistic brothers

as well as driving the idea home that they have enhanced her life rather than hindered her

experience of life through experience, emotion, and the tone used throughout her talk. She wants

to show people that being different is beneficial and makes the world more interesting.

In this Ted Talk given in London, people from various backgrounds gathered to hear Cole

speak about her experiences with her autistic brothers and all the lessons she has learned from

being surrounded by them all the time. It is evident that there was a group of people that believe

very strongly the same ideas that Cole was preaching because there were loud cheers as well as

enthusiastic clapping towards the end of the talk. As the camera is spun around into the

audience, it shows audience members engaging in the talk by laughing, smiling, and nodding

their heads in agreement on what Cole is saying. It is also shown that there is a large age range

and gender distribution represented within the crowd. The people attending this talk were enticed
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on the topic of autism and how it does not hinder experiences but helps you learn and are a

positive aspect of one’s life.

At the beginning of the talk, it is a little confusing where she is planning on taking this

speech because she starts by saying “Today I have just one request. Please don't tell me I'm

normal.” ( “What I’ve learned from my autistic brothers” 00:00:05) This may be strange for

many to hear because oftentimes in life people are constantly striving to fit into the cultural

norms whether it be the clothes worn, activities performed, or just wanting to look like everyone

else around. However, Cole perfectly uses these words to set up her argument that despite her life

being different from everyone else does not mean she is any less of a person or missing out on

essential parts of life. She demonstrates this by talking about her two autistic brothers who,

although have made her life more complicated, have taught her essential life lessons. Two

specific lessons that her brothers, Remi and Samuel, have taught her are looking at a person as a

whole entity rather than getting caught up on one aspect of a person such as race or gender, and

to love unconditionally.

The nature of the talk is not only to inform the audience of Cole’s unique life with her

two brothers but also to persuade people how having differences in the way we all live is

necessary when wanting to live life to the fullest! She is effective with conveying her message

because she although is very respected by the audience, sets the stage to be an informal speech

by joking with the audience and not just reading slides from a PowerPoint but talking about

personal experiences that people can relate to in some extent. She does this to relate to the

audience and help draw the bridge between her “superiority” on stage compared to those who are

in the seats not talking. Her goal, aside from informing and persuading, is to connect to the

audience and help them learn more about this topic. The speaker also uses rhetorical devices
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effectively to help portray her message to the audience. The first rhetorical device she used

effectively was the ethos. Faith establishes herself to be welcoming and trustworthy by not only

being honest with the crowd when she says “Now, I cannot deny that there have been some

challenging moments in my family, moments where I've wished that they were just like me.”

(“What I’ve learned from my autistic brothers” 00:03:41) but also removing a shell of herself by

openly talking about her experiences with her brothers which is not always easy to share in a

room full of strangers. When she is frank with the audience about how challenges are posed

within her lifestyle, she helps bring her idea to the reality of the audience. Most people with

siblings often have run into conflicts about various things with a large range of severity. It would

be very hard for people to believe her life with her brothers was all sunshine and rainbows so

adding the difficulties helped fully understand the positive effects outweighed the negative

effects. Faith also effectively used pathos within her talk by drawing on the audience’s emotions.

She spoke about personal experiences that helped the audience truly connect with her and feel

what she felt during specific moments. One way she warmed the audience up with pathos was

when she joked about how her brother has great memory until it comes to eating her candy bar

(“What I’ve learned from my autistic brothers” 00:00:59). Not only does this piece of evidence

get the crowd laughing and engaged but also shows another side of her brother which helps the

audience feel more invested within her story. The more invested one is with a story, the more

likely they are going to make an emotional connection, big or small, to the story or topic. The

last rhetorical device that was effective in proving Faith’s point was logos. Throughout the entire

talk, she was constantly bringing up her brothers and stories of how they have impacted her life

for the better. Some rhetorical devices are used more thoroughly throughout the speech compared
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to others but they each have their unique aspects that help to enforce what she is talking about

and how important her topic is.

After diving deep into this Ted Talk given by Faith Jegede Cole, it is evident that she

knew the necessary ways to help captivate an audience and get her message across in a timely

manner. She used rhetorical devices very effectively which helped her draw the audience in and

get them emotionally invested within her topic. The audience came out of the talk with a clear

message: Having differences in one’s life compared to their neighbors allows for diversity within

the culture as well as key learning experiences that would not have been possible if one’s life

was the same as everyone else’s.

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Works Cited

Cole, Faith Jegede. What I've Learned from My Autistic Brothers. TED TALK, TED Conferences,

LLC., 2 Nov. 2012,

www.ted.com/talks/faith_jegede_cole_what_i_ve_learned_from_my_autistic_brothers/transcri

pt#t-230834.