“i’ve always understood more than i could communicate”

I loved the subtle callback to the rule of threes at the end there: "Take that as what you will, thank you, and hello" rather than saying goodbye. But the double meaning of that line, concluding a ted talk with a hello as if she's only introduced herself to us now at the end is brilliant. Captivating work.

My mum went to school with her and hearing all the terrible things that happened to Hannah in that town makes me so angry! I know how toxic the people there still are and all the conservative farmer families making conservative children, my cousin's included. I'm terrified of my family and I just want to escape.

That standing ovation was well deserved.

She is so smart and funny. But my favorite thing about her talk is that she is super real and authentic. Well done, great TED.

“Speech has always felt like an inadequate freeze frame for the life inside of me,” is my current favorite way to explain to others how hard it is for me to communicate. My diagnosis has also has helped give me a profound framework to my experience of ptsd and autism. It’s not easier, but the context helps. Thank you, Hannah.

It took me about halfway through Hannah’s talk to realize that the reason that I can’t stop crying is that I’m releasing trauma from decades of feeling misunderstood. Thank you so much for sharing and inspiring, Hannah.

I came out to my nan. I’m so glad I got over the fear of telling her. She asked me if I was sure. I was. she accepted me & told me she loved me even if I was gay. I think she hoped I would “meet the right guy.” But I got it off my chest & it was so worth it. I’m proud of the fact that I’m a lesbian. I struggled & still struggle with it. But it’s a long tough process.

As usual, Hannah tells her truths with honesty, integrity and passion. Much Respect my fellow neurodivergent wonder woman.

I am so glad that the vast majority of the comments here are not only respectful but appreciative and loving. No verbal abuse. What a relief. Hannah deserves to be lauded for her talent and the courage to be true to herself. ❤️❤️❤️

I can not articulate my thought when I’m around others. I never feel like I can express my thoughts properly or I totally miss social cues. But I am one of the best speech givers at my school. I excel at giving speeches and I think that’s so fascinating. In the ways I cannot connect to others in everyday life, I can reach people’s heart through speech and written pieces ♥️

Very often, comedians doing TED talks are either recycling routines or trying out new material. This was a unique journey of staggering profundity & kept me transfixed from start to finish. Bravo.

"Because thinking is how I grieve." God I needed that.

The words she chooses to express herself are truly remarkable. In some ways, I feel like I am listening to a scholar.

This is one of the best Ted talks I've ever seen. I connected with so much of her way of thinking. My head never stops whirring and I've always felt separate and different. For someone who feels like she's bad at expressing herself, she's really good at expressing herself 👏👏

Hannah Gadsby is a gift of humanity that we do not deserve. Bless her spirit and honesty.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. - Maya Angelou

"How autism and PTSD have so much in common" - THIS! I'm not autistic so I was really surprised when reading about autism my first thought was how much of it I've experienced myself. I grew up in an abusive environment and have PTSD and severe anxiety with a lot of similar symptoms. It's good to know it's not only in my head.

That was so strong, one of the most intense and complete talk I've heard

I watched this 3 times and each time got something that I missed. Hannah is a very clever writer, regardless of what she thinks :) Well done!

She is a powerful and gifted orator - eloquent, honest, fearless

As a person with ADHD I'm pretty sure this is the only talk above 8 minutes that I've listen without missing a second. Truly captivating.

When I listen to Hannah I go from crying to laughing in a matter of half a second.

I'm a tad mad at myself that it took 2020 for me to find discover this absolutely brilliant woman. Her stand-ups are amazing and her talks are riveting. I can't wait to see more of her stuff.

I'm not autistic but I do have ADHD and I agree that knowing I had ADHD didn't stop the struggles but it allowed me to identify the struggles and like she says, it's about facing the eye of the storm. Such a good talk.

I was deeply moved by Nanette and have been looking to see how you are doing. This TED talk was good. You shared your story in Nanette and I felt your pain and felt connected to you. This demonstrates to me how hungry we are in the world for connection to authentic stories. I Thank you again for sharing yourself with us.

As a late-diagnosed female (31), I find it comical how similarly my brain works compared to Hannah! I love her communication style and unapologetic sense of self. Hannah is the female autism superhero in my book. Hannah, thanks for encouraging me to be my weird self, and for sharing your story in such a powerful way. You have changed my life and are a huge inspiration to me.

I might show this to my parents. It made me really happy when she said she was autistic, even though it's always sad that we autistic women find out so /late/, but I'm trying to get diagnosed now at 18 (found out 3 years ago) and I'm lucky that feeling of inadequacy didn't settle in before then (happened after that, woo lucky me) but finding out I was autistic was good news for me! My life made so much /sense/, now I gotta navigate that storm, even if I'm not sure it's possible to navigate the fairly demanding first year of higher studies I went into while managing my spoons, I'm doing my best, and I'll try to find the eye at the middle of my storm. Thank you for this talk

I love the way she speaks, the way she shows her 'imperfections' letting us to connect with ours.

It's not the garden but the gardening that counts. Yes, love it.

I love TED talks. This one touched my heart so much. Hannah, you are my new hero. I’m an abuse survivor and this was inspiring. Thank you.

Powerful. This actually taught me something about my grief. That it connects me to the world rather than disconnects me from it. That that is what makes us human.

"I don't think I'm qualified to speak my own mind. I've always had a great deal of difficulty turning my thinking into the talking. Despite being a pathologically shy, virtual mute with low self-esteem... I knew... why is it I could be so good at something I'm so bad at." Thank you Hannah for saying these (and many other) words that need to be said and heard yet almost weren't. I love this Hannah, thank you!

I was shocked to find how powerful this talk is.

I love her. Hannah inspires me to pursue my dreams in communications despite my struggles as a neurodiverse individual. Thank you Hannah and hello.

Heartbreaking and raw, thank you for sharing your story Hannah. My daughter is on the spectrum and I love how you explain your thinking to help typical people understand your brilliant mind. I wish you all the best and look forward to hearing more from you!

Hannah Gadsby is a genius, everything she does is so amazingly well-written. I want to write music like she writes speeches.

As an Autistic person (late diagnosed) also from where Hannah is from, I find her talks so refreshing and connecting. I have also struggled with feeling connected to my friends and family on a genuine level, and being able to express myself with out the mask of trying to be normal has helped me to be and feel more authentic. Hannah is such a beautiful and important person to have in our media at the moment!

One of the great artists of our time. Bravo!

An inspiring artist, I'm glad she's living her truth

"My struggle is not to escape the storm, my struggle is to find the eye of the storm", THIS is what I desperately wanted to hear in Douglas.

That was beautiful. And the ending "Hello" I enjoyed. It was perfect. She didn't close the door after her talk she welcomed us to continue this journey of Nanette's. I am shocked that she explained so much of how I feel as it relates to communication, and other aspects which I had yet to think about.

She really punches through to my heart.

Hannah is amazing! I’m so happy you are out in the world sharing your story and your voice! I’m so sorry you’ve had to suffer so much to get to where you are...but I hope you can feel supported now! Thank you for telling your story to help give voice for the many unique people who don’t feel they have a voice and survived trauma and abuse too. Thank you

The heart of a lion. The soul of a prophet. The language of compassion. ☮💖☯😎🙌

could listen to her forever tbh, she speaks from the core of her being and it ends up hitting you the listener there too, amazing

Our trauma makes us feel trapped and isolated, but there are safe spaces where we can share and reclaim our connectedness and humanity. Thank you Hannah.

I wish I could “ like” this several times. So poignant, so heart wrenching, yet so wise. Every single thought here is precious!

Your human is just what humanity needs. Thank you Hannah for embracing you & sharing it with us.

This is the first video I did for TED as a volunteer subtitle translator (simplified Chinese). It's so shockingly powerful!

You might never see this but your comedy changed me. It gave me a larger awareness. I don't feel alone. Thanks 😊

It's never a waste of time to spend time with Hannah Gadsby, I love her intelligence, her insight and her humour

Hannah is one of the greatest artists of our times - it's up to us to catch up. Love her !!

I. Love. This. Lady!! She is a fabulously profound speaker. She says volumes in her appearances. Keep up the awesome work

Two-plus years late here, but wow, a lot of that hit eerily close to home. Thank you to Hannah Gadsby, on the off chance she comes across this.

She is always so layered in what she does. Very clever and very authentic.

It's so ironic, she's a marvelously gifted speech maker. She has a style that is completely unique. She pulls you into her own hieroglyphic mind and keeps you fully surprised, amused, and enlightened.

Hannah, I'm listening to this as another autistic lesbian with ptsd (and like you, I didn't find out I had autism until adulthood). It's so encouraging to see someone else from this weird intersection of traits. Thank you for giving this talk! I'm definitely going to be checking Nanette out.

Thank you, Hannah.It touches me when you say "I am connected in disconnection." Always tell the truths......

„through an act of disconnection i found connection“. Thank you Hannah for your great and reallyy inspring talk! Greetings from an traumatised ADHD girl.

Thought it was going to be tough for Hannah to follow up ‘Nannette’ but am starting to realize she’s just getting started. Damn, she is a force of... I can’t capture the right word to do her justice.

“Flaccid be thy hammer!” 😂❤️ I love this woman!

Beautiful. I am autistic. Diagnosed at 31!! You make complete sense to me. 🥰 "I always understood more then I can communicate" I can't do simple things NT people take for granted, but I have a wealth of ever growing knowledge and ideas and theories. I wonder if NT brains are as loud and as amazing as ours.

I doubt if you’ll see this BUT: You may not always make me laugh in your broken comedy, but you help me UNDERSTAND. Love it!

I put off watching this because I didn't have time, but I'm so glad I found time to watch this today.

“Nanette” is also two palindromes squished together. Nan-ette.

"I was depressed and anxious because I couldn't sort my life out like a normal person, because I was not a normal person." I love this about Hannah Gadsby... When my son was diagnosed with Aspergers, I went into a mini depression, because everything he struggles with, I too struggle with... But with one difference, I have a deep level compassion for all living things (except mosquitoes, leeches and ticks). My son struggles with empathy. So we sent him to empathy classes. Asides from this he is a beautiful young man. And through helping my son, I have come to better understand autism and myself.

First comedian, who made me cry, and still she IS a comedian. Very deep, highly intellectual and captivating! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Greetings from Austria!

Hats of to this human! Hannah made me learn and feel connected more than ever.

The resonance between trauma therapy and making oneself at home with a spectrum diagnosis - YES!!

Nanette is a palindrome if you start reading it backwards from the second "n". The best TED talk ever.

I resonated with literally everything that she said. Like, I kept thinking, almost every time, “Hey, that happened to me too!” Almost with excitement, because it is so hard to find someone who would viscerally KNOW, and not just know but UNDERSTAND what my life is like, what I have never been able to put to words out of the hieroglyphs and pictograms that make up my mind. I have my own list of contradictions. I am a female. I am not a girl. I have horrific stage fright. I love singing in front of a crowd. I am autistic. Not a contradiction, just giving the rule of three a try. Did it work? On the other hand, my list of similarities when comparing Hannah’s life experiences with my own can not be contained to three. I have autism. I have PTSD. I have anxiety. I have depression. I have been abused. I have been sexually abused. I have been bullied and mocked about how I look and behave. I was diagnosed late, albeit not quite as late as Hannah. I regret not sharing my truth with my grandpa before he died. Writing is a struggle. Talking is a struggle. Everyday is a struggle. I don’t know the purpose of my human. I don’t know who I am. Am I still my nan’s granddaughter (another similarity, I call my grandmother nan too) and my mother’s daughter and my sisters’ sister if I am not girl? Can I still say I love to sing when my stage fright makes me too afraid to join my church choir? Can I even be considered a person when my autism and my anxiety and my PTSD and my depression debilitate me and my life so much? I don’t know. But I want to find out. Thank you for reading this essay while watching someone else give a TED talk. Edit: Sorry this is so heavy. I never said I was a comedian! (That was my attempt at a joke. I think how not funny it is says it all.)

Once again, Hannah speaks and the world stands still to listen.

I don't know why I'm crying but I smiled and laughed and felt all tht feels at the same time. Thank you for sharing Nanette and yourself.

This video couldn't come at a more fitting time in my life. I'm deeply moved and feel supported. Thank you Hannah!

The framework of this speech is just amazing. I keep coming back for it.

You always make me cry BUT thank you. I'm queer have depression ptsd and probably autistic. Thank you for having a voice even when I can't. Thank you thank you. thank. you.

The true Great Gadsby

Yes, I always understand more than I could communicate. I just wish others would give me the time to let me comunicate. Hannah you are amazing!!!

I certainly feel connected now - an elusively rare occurrence. My heart is just swelling, very strange. Thank you, Hannah.

Hannah, thank you for existing. Thank you for being you. I just watched Nanette and I had never loved crying during a comedy show before. You touched my soul and I love you for that. Thank you.

Keep talking, keep sharing. We need your words, Hannah. Feedback.

Last night I watched Hannah for the first time. I am in awe. I viewed Nanette. I am grateful for the world to have such an easy opportunity to learn so much. My only regret, is the tumultuous road she has traveled. And having said that, Hannah, proved an interesting point I have believed for a very long time. We can be our own Neosporin, as well as Triage others. Very done, Hannah...

Love this, she has such a way of provoking thoughts and really having the desire to truly learn to know yourself. Amazing...

Gasping! Hannah, you have not just quit comedy (in the old way) -- you have quit being human (in the old way) .....and my heart, my head, and the cells of my body are all bursting....and letting go! New(!) is happening. Your "onions" and your "savant genius: are helping so many of us to be more than we ever imagined! May some of this connecting bring you home.

I have NEVER watched a TED talk from beginning to end...until now. Consider this the ultimate compliment and THANK YOU for sharing.🌻⚜

Thank you for sharing yourself like this. Your voice and you stories hit me in such a deep place. I know your pain and I'm so grateful that you are who you are. The world is better for it.

56 years old. Only just worked it out for myself....Thanks Hannah, you are great

Thank you Hannah for being so Real. I feel validated every time I listen to you. What a blessing you are❣️❣️

What an engaging speaker. There's so much to unpack in Hannah's work. She's so dang smart.

Everything she says is relatable for me as a person on the spectrum who also struggles with PTSD and depression. It's a comfort to see someone on the spectrum being confident, succesful and embraced publically. I also tend to hide all my dark sides - including my diagnosis, for the comfort of others and the fear of being shamed. Thank you for being so open Hannah, it's inspirational!

Every time I connect with what you have to say is an absolute blessing. Your ability to make me laugh and cry is a true gift. Thank you.

"Speech has always felt like an inadequate freeze frame for the the life that lives inside of me." An incredibly accurate reading of the verbose. I am told frequently that I'm well spoken, that my writing connects easily with the reader and is laden with emotion that translates easily to the audience. If any of that is true it is only 100th of what I can work out into the world. My mind is a jumbled mess of ideas and feelings that overwhelm me. I use the best means at my disposal to express and explore that tangle but it never feels adequate. Thank you for something so simple but so relatable.

Wonderful to see the overwhelmingly positive and supportive comments. Hannah, you bring out the best in us 💖

I LOVE your glasses. I’m a late diagnosis myself. Only 10 months ago. Finding inspirational people like you to keep myself motivated is my new SI. Thank you

Her words... She herself... just brilliant, gorgeous, astonishing! Thank you! From me as a woman, as a human that always wondered what's wrong with me, others, humanity itself. THANK YOU!!!

Watching this makes me feel more human

One of the best TED talks!! Funny yet so profound at the same time. Hannah's delivery was just great. Wishing you all the best ❤

This is one of my favorite women in the world. The genius, the way she articulates, the messages she sends. Everything.

Might just be the most amazing talk I've witnessed. Fucking rocking it this lady. So much Love from and now for her from me Yes.