
English: 
Translator: Iryna Abramidze
Reviewer: Theresa Ranft
My parents came here from Vietnam in 1975.
They came in the aftermath of a war,
which many Americans
disapproved of at the time,
so they tried hard not to rock the boat.
They had me some years later,
actually right here
in Southern California,
and they tried to raise me
with the same Asian values
that they were raised with:
meekness, humility, and obedience.
And they taught me not to complain.
When I would grumble about having 
a mean bus driver in elementary school,
my parents told me stories
about how they had to walk to school
for miles and miles through the snow,
carrying loads of books on their backs.
And my smartass response was,
"I don't think it snowed
in Saigon, Mom and Dad!"
(Laughter)
When I would complain
that I couldn't go outside

Chinese: 
譯者: Cassie Lo
審譯者: Helen Chang
在 1975 年，
我的父母離開越南來到這裡。
他們是戰後來的，
當時很多美國人反對
（接受越南難民），
所以，他們盡力不去惹事生非。
幾年之後，我出生了，
我出生於南加州，
而他們試圖用他們被養育時
所被灌輸的亞洲價值觀來教育我：
溫順、謙虛和順從。
同時他們也教我不要抱怨。
當我在小學時抱怨
遇到了一個很刻薄的公車司機，
我的父母告訴我
他們曾必須走路上學的故事，
背著大量的書籍
在雪地中行走千里。
那時我自作聰明的回應是：
「爸媽，我不認為西貢會下雪！」
（笑聲）
大約二年級時，

Chinese: 
我抱怨沒辦法到室外和我朋友玩耍，
而是必須待在室內，
以二年級生的年齡
試圖解出五年級的數學題目。
我的父母會說他們根本不能出去，
因為當時越共正在轟炸他們的城市。
因此，我學會停止抱怨。
我閉嘴不再說話。
實際上我今天來到這邊，
我丈夫說——如果你們問他——
我其實很常抱怨。
他對這個故事有個完全不同的看法。
事實上我今天來到這邊是他的主意，
來抱怨給你們所有人聽，
因為我覺得他已經聽膩我在家抱怨了！
（笑聲）
有鑑於此，這是我的機會，
我要站出來和你們所有人抱怨，
同時希望你們會聽我說。
所以我來了，
而以下皆是我的不滿。
第一個抱怨是
當你看不見時，購物真的很麻煩。
（笑聲）
我所在的職業領域
使我要做很多的公開演講，
而我也有一個自己的烹飪節目，
稱為《四覺》，
因此，我經常站在大眾面前，
以及鏡頭面前，

English: 
to play with my friends
and instead had to stay indoors
and work on 5th-grade math problems
when I was like in 2nd grade,
my parents said
they couldn't go outside at all
because the Vietcong
were bombing their cities.
So I learned to just stop complaining,
and I just shut up.
I actually came here today ...
my husband says - if you ask him -
that I complain a lot.
So he has a whole
different take on this story.
It was, in fact, his idea
that I come here today
and complain to all of you instead
because I think he was tired of listening
to me complain at home!
So, here's my chance.
I'm going to stand up here
and complain to all of you
and hope that you listen.
So here I am, and here are my grievances.
Gripe number one:
Shopping sucks when you're blind.
(Laughter)
The nature of the business I'm in,
I do a lot of public speaking,
and I have my own cooking show, 
called "Four Senses,"
so I'm in the public eye,
I'm in front of people,
I'm in front of cameras a lot of the time,

English: 
and I have to care about how I look.
Let me dispel a myth for you,
all of you here, right here and right now,
that just because I can't see how I look
doesn't mean I don't care how I look.
And, you know, I wish I could not care.
I mean, if I had my choice,
I'd be up here right now in my pajamas
and barefoot probably giving this talk.
But I do have to care;
it's socially acceptable for me to care.
Unfortunately, I'm not rich enough yet
to have my own hair,
makeup, and wardrobe team
follow me everywhere I go,
so most of the time,
I'm doing my own hair,
putting on my own makeup
and dressing myself.
So, did I do okay today?
(Laughter)
(Applause)
Before I lost my vision,
I read a lot of fashion magazines,
and I loved to shop.
These were habits
that I picked up from my mom,
who actually turned an entire room
of our 3-bedroom home
when I was growing up
into her own personal walk-in closet.
And, of course, after I lost my vision,
it wasn't that I stopped loving to shop,

Chinese: 
因此我不得不在乎自己的外表。
此時此地，
讓我向大家澄清一個事實，
即使我看不見自己的樣子，
不代表我不在乎。
而且，你知道的，
我希望我能夠不在乎。
我的意思是，如果我有選擇，
我當然希望可以穿著我的睡衣，
赤腳站在這裡演講。
但我的確很在意是否能被社會所接受。
不幸的，我並沒有有錢到
可以擁有一個我自己的造型團隊，
無論我去何處都會跟著我。
所以，大部分的時間，
我自己整理我的頭髮、自己化妝，
同時自己著裝。
那麼，我今天看起來還好嗎？
（笑聲）
（掌聲）
在我失去視力前，
我看了很多時尚雜誌，
也很喜歡去逛街購物，
這是我從我媽媽那裡得到的習慣。
在我長大的過程中，
她甚至把我們其中一個房間，
改裝成她的私人步入式衣櫥。
當然，在我失去視力後，
我並沒有停止購物，

Chinese: 
但我必須想出新方法來做。
購物中心總是擠滿了人，
而我對手扶梯感到恐懼——
就像你想像的一樣，
對於看不到的人而言，
這是一個極大的挑戰——
因此，我避開不去購物中心。
幸運的是，在我失去視力時，
網路購物逐漸變成主流。
但缺點是
在無法看見實物的網路購物世界中，
對看不見的我而言，
沒辦法感受材質
或透過觸摸裙子的剪裁
來知道整件衣服的外觀，
我很難去想像
正在看的衣服長什麼樣子。
神經科學研究表示，
當一個人失去視力時，
他們的腦袋會進行重組，
所以他們其餘的四種感官
會變得更加活躍。
因此，舉例來說，
當一個人學習如何閱讀點字時，
大腦皮質曾接收並處理
眼神經衝動的的那部分
將會自動重接，
以便重新接收
並處理來自指頭的神經衝動。
很多人問我，
在我失去視力後，

English: 
but that I had to figure out
a new way to do it.
Malls were crowded,
I was afraid of escalators.
As you can imagine, that's a challenge
for someone who can't see,
so I kind of avoided malls altogether.
And luckily, at the time
that I was losing my vision,
cybershopping became much more mainstream.
But, unfortunately, for me,
not being able to see
the two-dimensional nature
of online shopping,
not being able to feel the fabric
or touch the cut of a dress
and know what it looks like,
it was hard for me to figure out
what it was that I was "looking at."
Neuroscientific research actually shows
that when a person loses their vision,
their brain reorganizes itself
so that the other four senses
become more dominant.
So, for example,
when a person learns to read Braille,
the part of the cerebral cortex
that once received and processed
nerve impulses from the eyes
rewires itself so that it starts receiving
and processing nerve impulses
from the fingertips.
A lot of people asked me,
after I lost my vision,

Chinese: 
是否我其他的感官有所提升，
是否這是我能夠
在廚神當道中烹飪的原因，
以及為什麼我能
如戈登．拉姆齊所說的
煮出出色的料理。
但實際上，
我不會說我的感官本身變得更好，
我會說無論是我的眼睛、鼻子、
舌頭或是手指，
皆變得更加敏感，
因為這是我在這個世界中
必須採取的新模式。
所以，因為我無法透過電腦螢幕
看到、聽到、
聞到、嚐到或是摸到衣服，
線上購物對我而言依舊是個難題。
很多時候，
我會利用螢幕閱讀器來讀商品敘述，
但那些敘述總是
非常模糊、沒什麼用處。
最糟的是
某些品牌用艱澀的名字來描述顏色，
像是霉綠色及迷幻色，
我該如何知道這是什麼顏色？
像是我在描述一個
我不知道它長什麼樣子的彩虹。
就是這麼困難。
我的願望是

English: 
if my senses have heightened
and if that's how I've been able
to cook on MasterChef
and how I have this extraordinary palate,
like Gordon Ramsey says.
And, in actuality, I wouldn't say
that my senses are better per se,
but I will say that
I'm much more sensitive
to what my ears, my nose,
my tongue, and my fingers take in,
because this is the new paradigm
through which I have
to take in this world.
So, because I can't see or hear or smell
or taste or touch the clothes
through the computer monitor,
online shopping still remains a challenge.
There's often times
when I would use my screen reader
to read item descriptions,
and they're not very clear
or very helpful.
The worst is when a brand would use
very convoluted names for their colors,
like "mildew" and "LSD."
How am I supposed to know what that is?
Like, I'm picturing a rainbow,
I don't really know.
So, that's difficult.

English: 
My wish is that developers and programmers
would follow good programming practices
and use proper HTML and tag it,
so that I can, for example,
use my screen reader
to navigate through headers
and find this checkout button.
If you're in e-commerce, you know
exactly how important it is
for a consumer like myself to be able
to find and click on that checkout button.
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was amended
in 1998 to include Section 508,
which is a mandate
that required federal agencies
to make their electronic
and information technologies accessible
to people with disabilities.
This was 17 years ago - think about that.
Seventeen years ago,
and it was only required
of the government.
I feel like this mandate
should be expanded
to make it required of everyone,
not just the government.
This conversation that we've been having
a lot in the media lately about equality -
this needs to include the dialogue
with people with disabilities.

Chinese: 
開發人員和程式設計師
可以遵循一個好的編程習慣，
使用正確的 HTML
並對其進行標記，
以便我能用我的螢幕閱讀器瀏覽標題
並找到此結帳按鈕。
如果你從事電子商務，
那麼你就會知道
對於像我這樣的消費者來說，
能夠找到
並點擊結帳按鈕是多麼重要。
復健法案 1973 為納入第 508 條
是在 1998 年修訂的。
該條款要求聯邦政府
使身心障礙人士得以取得
無線電及訊息技術。
這是在 17 年前被修正的。
試圖想一下。
在 17 年前，
只對政府要求而已。
我認為這項條款需要被延伸，
不僅僅針對政府，
同時也針對所有人。
我們最近不斷在媒體上
談論關於平等的議題；
關於身心障礙人士的議題
也應該被包括在內。

English: 
You know, I think about that a lot,
and I also think about
how we would be upset, for example,
if a particular business
barred women or the LGBT or Asians
from shopping at their stores.
It's kind of the same thing,
if you put yourself in my shoes right now
as a visually impaired person.
I'm barred from many online stores
because it's not accessible.
I'm barred from viewing many websites
or using a lot of web apps,
simply because they're inaccessible.
So that was my first gripe.
My gripe number two is entertainment,
and television sucks when you're blind.
So, ever since being on MasterChef,
a lot of people tell me
that I'm like the real-life Daredevil.
For those of you who don't know,
Daredevil is a superhero character
who is also blind.
I haven't read a comic book in years,
but when Daredevil came out
on Netflix last month,
I decided to sit down and try to tune in
because I kind of wanted to see

Chinese: 
我最近想了很多，
我也想到為什麼我們會感到不安？
舉例來說，
像是有一個特定的企業拒絕
讓女人、非異性戀者或是亞洲人
進入他們的店中。
我要說的情況類似。
如果你站在視障人士的立場來看，
我正被許多網路商店拒在門外，
因為它們並非無障礙的。
我無法造訪許多網站
以及使用許多應用軟體，
僅因為對我而言，
它們是相當不友善的。
到此，這是我的第一個抱怨。
我第二個抱怨是
當你看不見時，
娛樂表演和電視都很爛。
自從我上了廚神當道後，
很多人告訴我，
我就像是現實版的夜魔俠。
對於那些不知道的人，
夜魔俠是個看不見的英雄角色。
我已經有很多年沒有看漫畫了，
但是當夜魔俠上個月在 Netflix 推出後，
我決定坐下來並試圖觀看，
因為我想知道

Chinese: 
所有人不斷拿我跟相比的那個人
到底是什麼樣子。
所以我試圖去看，
但因為裡面有太多的動作戲，
使我很難去跟上劇情。
要去思考哪個聲音來自哪一個人
對我來說非常困難。
我還在劇情進展中說話，
不斷地打擾我丈夫。
這非常的困難。
而我不是唯一注意到這反諷的人。
事實是這樣，
我是一位視障人士，
但我卻不能去關注或享受
一個關於視障人士的節目。
我相信有些人
可能聽說過一份請願書，
在這季首映後的請願，
希望 Netflix 讓此節目
能夠讓視障人士欣賞。
透過增加口述影像的方式。
幸運的是緊隨其後，
Netflix 不僅為夜魔俠增加口述影像，
其餘的原創節目亦然。
這很棒，
因為我最近正在看紙牌屋，
這很難去觀看，
倘若你只能聽對話，
有許多沉默的鏡頭，

English: 
who this dude was that everyone
kept comparing me to.
So I tried to watch it,
and it was difficult for me to follow
because there's a lot of action going on.
It was hard for me to figure out
whose voice belonged to whom,
and I was annoying my husband
because I kept talking over the show.
And it was just very difficult.
I wasn't the only one
that noticed this irony.
The fact that here I was,
someone who's blind,
and I couldn't follow or enjoy a show
about another person who is blind.
There was a petition, that I'm sure
some of you have heard about,
that was created after
the season premiered,
and it was about wanting to make Netflix
make the show accessible
by adding audio description.
And, fortunately, Netflix followed suit,
and they not only added
audio description to Daredevil,
but to also all of its other
original programming.
That's a good thing because I've been
watching House of Cards,
and that's kind of hard to follow
when you're listening to dialogue
and a lot of silent scenes

Chinese: 
而你卻不知道發生了什麼事情。
所以這是個很好的轉變。
至於我的節目《四覺》
是一個烹飪節目，
這原本只在 AMI
無障礙媒體公司播放。
AMI 做的是
一個完全致力於
專門為聽障和視障人士
提供電視節目的網絡。
所以這是為所有人製作的娛樂節目。
我喜愛 AMI 、
它的目標、它代表的一切；
但我希望這並不會是
單一網絡的責任，
只有它製作節目娛樂所有的人。
我感覺這應該變成是
所有製片公司
以及網絡該負責的事情，
責任應該共同分擔。
要記得，因為某個人看不見，
並不代表他們不能享受藝術
及流行文化。
當我的朋友坐下談論唐．德雷柏
或是廚神當道接下來發生的事情，
我也想要加入那個對話。
這就是我的第二個抱怨。
所以我的第一個抱怨是
讓科技更友善。

English: 
and you don't know what's going on.
So that's been nice.
And my show, "Four Senses,"
is a cooking show,
and it originally airs on AMI,
or Accessible Media Inc.
And what AMI does -
it's a network that's completely dedicated
to providing television
for the hearing and vision impaired,
so it makes inclusive
entertainment for everyone.
And I love AMI and what its mission is
and what it stands for,
but I wish that it wouldn't be
the sole responsibility
of a single network
to bring inclusive entertainment for all.
I feel like this should be something
that all production companies
and all networks are responsible for,
and it should be shared.
Remember that just because
someone is blind
doesn't mean they don't enjoy
art and pop culture.
When my friends sit down to talk
about Don Draper
and what's going to happen
next on Mad Men,
I want to be able to join in
on that conversation as well.
So, that's my gripe number two.
So my first gripe was about making
technology accessible.

Chinese: 
第二個抱怨是
讓娛樂更容易享受得到。
你們看到我以 TED
為主題的方向了嗎？
在開始我下一個抱怨前，
事實上，我想要
和你們一起做個小測驗。
我想要讓你們來體驗我的情況。
在座的各位請閉上眼睛。
不要因為我看不見就騙我。
（笑聲）
一旦閉上了眼睛，
我要你們拿出手機，
試圖自拍或是拍張我的照片，
把它放上 Instagram 並標記我，
我是位盲人廚師。
你們做得到嗎？
（笑聲）
大家，歡迎來到我的世界！
（笑聲）
有人可以嗎？
好，我們先做到這裡就好，
才不會一直感到很挫敗。
有人成功嗎？
請不要舉手，出聲就好，我看不見。
沒有人？
好吧。
現在你知道活在我的世界是什麼感覺。

English: 
My second gripe was about making
entertainment accessible.
Do you guys see where I'm going here
in the theme of TED?
So before I go
into my next gripe, actually,
I'm going to do a little exercise
with all of you.
I want you to all
put yourself in my shoes.
Close your eyes, everyone in the audience,
and don't lie to me
just because I'm blind.
(Laughter)
Once your eyes are closed,
I want you to take your phone
and then try to take either
a selfie or a picture of me
and Instagram it and tag me.
I'm the Blind Cook. Can you guys do it?
(Laughter)
Welcome to my world, guys!
(Laughter)
Anyone?
Alright, I'll stop you guys there,
so you don't have to be miserable
this whole time.
Did anyone succeed?
Don't raise your hand,
just make a sound, I can't see you.
No one? All right.
Now you know how it's like
to live in my world.

English: 
So my third gripe, gripe number three:
This world is not designed
to include the blind.
As you just experienced and learned,
social media is very difficult
for not being able to see.
I'm actually very active on social media,
that's how I stay in touch with my fans,
that's how I let people know
what I'm doing.
It's difficult. Even coming
here to do this talk.
You saw me walk on stage with my cane,
and I was being guided.
It was hard to make sure
I don't fall in these heels,
make sure I find
this circular rug that I'm on,
make sure I'm facing the audience,
and that's difficult.
Even traveling here to San Diego
from my hometown of Houston was difficult.
Next time you're at an airport,
put yourself in my shoes.
Close your eyes and see how you can
get through security checkpoint
without leaving anything behind,
or having people annoyed
with you for being a little slower,
and then try to find
a public restroom in the airport,
with your eyes closed.
Then try to find a stall,

Chinese: 
所以我的第三個抱怨是，
在設計這個世界時，
並沒有考慮到盲人的感受。
如同你剛體會到的，
社群媒體對看不見的人來說非常難用。
實際上，我在網路上相當活躍，
因為這是我和粉絲保持互動的方式，
和讓別人知道我在做什麼的方法。
這相當困難，
來這裡演講也難。
你看到我帶著枴杖走上台，
同時被人帶領著。
我很難確保不會
穿著這雙高跟鞋跌倒、
找到我正站在上面的圓形地毯，
以及以正面面對觀眾。
這真的很困難。
甚至是從休士頓來到聖地牙哥
都很艱難。
下次當你在機場時，
試著站在我的立場，
閉上眼睛來通過安檢
而不忘記拿任何東西；
在你身後的其他人
不會因為你稍微緩慢而感到生氣。
然後在閉上眼睛的狀況下
試著在機場裡找到公共廁所；
接著，試著去找到廁所隔間、

Chinese: 
衛生紙；
將座墊紙鋪在馬桶上面；
找到沖水按鈕——
而這一切都在閉眼的情況下完成。
你知道當你看不見時，
你會想像最糟的狀況，
像是所有東西都沾到排泄物，對吧？
你必須了解這樣的壓力有多麼大。
之後你還要試圖去找洗手槽、
擦手紙或是乾手機。
整件事情造成的壓力都很大。
甚至像是我最喜歡做的事情之一
吃飯——
吃飯是我們為了活著
並維持自己不可或缺的一件事情——
甚至吃飯這件事
同樣也會造成很多壓力。
下次你到一間餐廳，
閉上你的眼睛，
並看你有多少次會忘記
在你的水裡其實有隻吸管，
而會因此戳到自己的眼睛或是鼻子。
我常常這樣，
很丟臉。
點些壽司並且試著用筷子去夾它，
來看看多少次它掉在你的大腿上
而不是你的嘴巴裡面。
或者試試看你是否可以分辨出
哪一個是飯或芥末。
實際上我發生過很多次，
並不好玩。
這些或其他視障人士曾經歷過的事情

English: 
try to find the toilet paper,
put the seat cover down
and find the flusher -
all with your eyes closed.
You know that when you can't see,
you're imagining the worst,
that everything's like
covered in feces, right?
So you have to think about that,
how stressful that is,
and then afterwards
you try to find the sink
and then paper towel or the hand dryer.
It's all very stressful.
And even something like eating -
one of my favorite things to do
that we all have to do to stay alive
and sustain ourselves.
Even that is often stressful.
When you're in a restaurant,
next time, close your eyes
and see how many times you forget
there's a straw in your water
and you poke yourself
in the eye or the nose.
I do that all the time,
and it's embarrassing.
Order some sushi and try
to eat it with chopsticks
and see how often that lands on your lap
instead of your mouth.
Or, try to see if you can tell
which is the rice and which is the wasabi.
I've actually done that
quite a few times, and it's not fun.
So these are things that I go through,

English: 
or other visually impaired people
go through as well.
And it's all funny now, to me,
these blindness adventures that I have,
but it wasn't always
kind of a funny thing.
It took me a while to adjust to this
because I wasn't born blind.
When you're young,
you think you're invincible.
And I was in college at the time
when I had my first experience
with optic neuritis,
or optic nerve inflammation.
I was 20, and like many of you,
I was in college.
And at the time, I didn't think
that I would ever go blind,
or even if I did,
I didn't think it would be something
that would happen until I was in my 80s.
And here I was, 20 years old in college,
and I thought 
that this wasn't really fair.
I thought I was exempt
from these sorts of things.
I thought if anything in college,
I should only be worrying
about boys and final exams
and which part of my body
to pierce next,
not something as serious
and chronic as blindness.
But here I was, 20 years old,
losing my vision.

Chinese: 
我都曾經歷過。
現在看來
這些眼盲的經歷非常有趣，
但並非總是這麼有趣。
我花了很長一段時間去適應，
因為我並不是出生就是眼盲。
當你還小的時候，
你認為你是無敵的。
我在大學時
第一次得了視神經炎。
我那時 20 歲，
而如同多數的你們一樣，我正在讀大學，
在那時，
我並沒有想過我可能會看不見。
即使想過，
並不覺得會發生在我 80 歲之前。
然而我 20 歲讀大學時就失明了。
我認為這並不公平，
我以為這種事情不會發生在我身上，
我以為在大學時我需要擔心的事情
僅是男生、期末考
以及我要在身上的哪處打洞，
而不是像失明一樣
嚴肅和永久的事情。
但我在 20 歲時失去了視力。

Chinese: 
我接受了一系列的測試，
從核磁共振成像到脊髓穿刺，
再到大量的血液檢驗，
試著去找出我身上有什麼問題。
醫生花了很長一段時間才搞清楚。
最初，
他們認為我有多發性硬化症，
所以，我進行了一連串的治療，
包含我必須每日自己注射藥品。
之後他們發現這並沒有成效，
因為儘管有這些治療，
病還是不斷發作。
一直到 23 歲時
我才正確被診斷為
罹患 NMO 多發性硬化症。
NMO 是個罕見的自體免疫性疾病，
它會攻擊神經系統，
尤其是視神經和脊髓。
我很幸運
症狀緩解 8 年了，
從醫生們發現我患多發性硬化症
並提供我有效的治療計畫後算起。
但在我的疾病穩定下來之前，
我經歷了許多的苦痛，
年復一年，
月復一月，

English: 
And I was put through a battery of tests,
from MRIs to spinal tap
to a lot of blood work,
to try to figure out 
what was wrong with me.
The doctors took a long time
to figure it out.
At first, they thought
I had multiple sclerosis,
so I was put on a treatment plan
that involved daily injections
that I had to give to myself.
Then they noticed that it didn't work,
because regardless of the treatments,
I was still having attack after attack.
It wasn't until I was 23 years old
that I was officially
and correctly diagnosed
with neuromyelitis optica, or NMO.
NMO is a rare autoimmune disease
that affects the neurological system,
primarily the optic nerves
and the spinal cord.
I've been fortunate that I've been
relapse-free for about eight years,
once the doctors figured out
that I had NMO
and put me on a treatment plan
that worked for me.
But before that,
before my NMO was stabilized,
I went through a lot of attacks.

Chinese: 
我經歷了無數的痛苦，
我最糟糕的日子在 2002 年，
當時我以一個正常人的狀態
參加了一個四天的課程，
能正常走路、
做任何事情
以及看得見一切——
在那時，我想，
就算有隻眼睛看不見了，
另外一隻依舊健全——
我從一個身體健全的人，
到脖子以下完全癱瘓。
這讓我很難去適應，
因為突然之間，
我從一個身體健全的人，
變成像是困在嬰兒身體裡的成年人。
無論我多努力試著去移動我的腳趾，
但它就是不動。
面對這樣的情況讓我感到非常沮喪，
特別是因為我是一個多麼獨立的人。
這真的很困難。
當我在醫院服用藥物時，
醫生們給我抗癲癇藥物，
因為我的肌肉時常抽筋；

English: 
Year after year, month after month,
there was just attack after attack.
My worst one happened in 2002,
and I was going over a course of four days
from being a fully functioning adult,
being able to walk and do everything,
seeing okay for the most part,
I think, at the time,
like one of my eyes was bad
but the other one was fine.
I went from being
a fully functioning adult
to completely paralyzed
from my neck down.
It was a hard time for me to understand
because I went from fully functioning
to all of a sudden being this adult mind
that was trapped in an infant's body.
No matter how hard I willed
for my big toe to move, it wouldn't.
It was frustrating for me,
to say the least,
especially because I've been
such an independent person all of my life.
It was hard.
I was in the hospital,
and I was put on a lot of drugs.
The doctors put me on seizure medication
because my muscles were cramping a lot.

English: 
They put me on morphine
because I was in pain,
and they put me on corticosteroids,
which helps with inflammation,
and they were trying to figure out
how to stop this attack.
I underwent a lot of physical
and occupational therapy.
The worst was that, at the same time,
I was still experiencing bouts
of optic neuritis.
So there were weeks at a time
when I would be laid up in bed
and unable to see,
unable to move, and unable to sleep
because all the drugs
I was on were causing insomnia.
So I had a lot of time to think,
and that can be very scary.
I thought about how things
that once seemed so simple -
like being able to open a door,
or use the restroom by myself -
now had become so suddenly
monumentally difficult.
I thought about how my priorities
changed overnight,
how I went from wanting a better job,
more money, a faster car,

Chinese: 
他們讓我服用嗎啡，
因為我很痛苦；
他們讓我服用皮質類固醇
來減輕我的發炎症狀；
同時他們也努力弄清楚
如何減輕我的痛苦。
我經歷了許多物理和職能治療，
最糟的是，
同一個時間，
我正在忍受視神經炎的發作。
所以有一段時期，
我躺在床上，
但看不見任何東西、
沒有辦法移動，
甚至沒辦法睡覺，
因為我正在服用的藥物會讓我失眠。
因此，我有很多時間可以思考，
而這非常的可怕。
我想過曾經如此簡單的事情，
比如能夠自己開門、
獨自去上洗手間，
在這之後突然變得非常困難。
我想到我的優先順序
在一夜之間改變了，
從我想要擁有一個更好的工作、
賺更多的錢
及換更快的車子，

Chinese: 
到我希望我可以從我的床上起身
並自己走到冰箱，
為自己倒一杯水。
我記得非常地清楚，
我想要的
僅是恢復正常的生活。
我花了九個月從脊椎骨髓炎康復，
而我，非常幸運地，最後康復了，
如同你可以推測的一樣，
我可以正常地走上台。
但我的視力儼然是另外一個故事了，
我的視力不斷地退化。
在 2004 年時，
它退化到我不得不停止開車。
我開始將電腦上的字體
放大到 35 pt。
你們可以想像它有多大，對吧？
但我只必須要這樣才可以看到字，
我不得不反白字，
變成黑色背景上的白色字體。
在 2007 年，
我的視力退化到
我再也沒辦法在沒有人帶領
或是沒帶拐杖的情況下
到處亂走。

English: 
to wishing that I could
just get up from my bed
and walk to the fridge
and pour myself a glass of water.
I remember thinking distinctly
that this was all I wanted to be able
to do with my life again.
It took me nine months to recover
from this spinal inflammation.
And I, fortunately, did recover.
As you could tell, I walked here
on stage just fine,
but my vision was obviously
a different story.
My vision continued
to deteriorate over time.
In 2004, it decreased to a level
where I had to stop driving,
and I started magnifying the font
on my computer to 35pt.
So you can imagine
that's like pretty big, right?
But that's how I would read print.
And I had to contrast the font
so that it would be a white font
on a black background.
In 2007, my vision
deteriorated to the level
where I could no longer walk around
without assistance
from a sighted guide or a cane.

Chinese: 
我必須停止閱讀，
並開始使用螢幕閱讀器，
透過聲音
讓我知道螢幕顯示的東西，
像是電子郵件等等。
我現今的視力正是醫生們所稱的
無法用眼睛來數手指數，
甚至看不到斯內倫
視力表上的任何符號。
我會說，根據光線，
我或許可以數出在
大約 10 到 12 英寸
距離外的手指數。
我認為最貼切的描述方式是
試想剛沖完熱水澡，
看著那個潮濕且霧茫茫的鏡子，
這正是我所看到的世界。
所以我其實看得到一點顏色和形狀，
但大部分是陰影。
這就是我的世界
以及我站在此處所見。
我站在這裡，
知道這裡有一盞明亮的燈光，
但我就是看不見任何東西。
我看不見。
我知道這裡有一個圓形地毯，
因為我今天提早來到這裡並感受它，
但我真的看不見多少。
這其實有助於公開演講，
因為不知道觀眾的人數多少

English: 
I had to stop reading print altogether
and start using a computer screen reader
to feed me audibly everything
on my computer screen, my emails, etc.
So my vision today
is what the doctors call
"counting fingers in both eyes."
So I don't even register
on the visual acuity scale.
I would say that,
depending on the lighting,
I can maybe count fingers at a distance
of about maybe 10 to 12 inches.
And I best describe it as
if you were to imagine coming out
of a really hot shower
and you look into that steamy,
foggy mirror - that's kind of what I see.
So I see a little bit of color,
a little bit of shape, but mostly shadows.
So that's my world and that's what I see.
Up here, I stand here, and I know
there's like a bright light right here,
but I can't really see anything.
I don't really see the...
I know there's a circle rug
because I was able to come up
here earlier and feel it out,
but I don't see much -
which kind of helps doing public speaking
because I don't see
how massive the audience is,

Chinese: 
讓我比較不緊張。
但這就是我現在的視力和所見。
所以試著站在我的立場
以我的方式過日子，
試著煮飯、
處理日常事務、
處理報告
或是寫作。
這並不總是有趣。
但我非常幸運，
因為我能夠適應得這麼好。
很明顯地，
NMO 影響我很深。
而我站在這裡，
告訴你們這個故事，
非常坎坷
且私人的故事。
而我有時會為了要不要說出來
而相當猶豫。
這件讓我相當緊張，
因為我不知道大家會怎麼想。
但我希望你們可以記得
NMO 、失明或身心障礙
沒有人能絕對倖免。

English: 
so I'm a little less scared.
But that's my vision 
and that's what I see.
So just try to put yourself in my shoes
and try to live life that way.
Try to cook, go about your daily business,
work on your papers, or do your writing.
It's not fun all the time,
but I've been fortunate
that I've been able to adapt quite well.
NMO is something
that has affected me a lot, obviously.
And I stand here and tell you this story,
and it's rough, 
it's a personal story of mine,
and I struggle with it sometimes
to just tell this story.
It makes me nervous
because I don't know
how people will take it,
but I want you to remember
that NMO and blindness or disabilities
are not things that everyone
is exempt from.

Chinese: 
而有時生活會非常困難。
人生總是千變萬化
而老化是不可避免的。
我希望你們可以想一想。
我知道或許你們無法理解
我今天的抱怨、
我的人生經歷，
甚至我的失明狀況。
但要記得，
或許聽起來會有點讓人難過，
要記得
我們不會永遠健全或不健全，
只是暫時健全。
因為就像我說的，
老化是無可避免的，
死亡是必然的，
生命充滿驚喜，
而身心障礙或是失明可能影響
我們的父母、祖父母、
我們的孩子、摯友
以及我們自己。
所以當那天到臨時，
你難道不希望這個世界
已經為你們設想，做好準備了嗎？
好，讓人憂鬱的話題到此結束好嗎？
我要換個話題。
實際上我丈夫最近問我，
如果有天我可以要回我的視力，

English: 
And life is very difficult sometimes,
life is ever-changing
and aging is inevitable.
And I want you all to think about -
I know that you may not be able to relate
to my gripes that I have up here today
and relate to my own
personal life experiences,
and I know you probably
can't relate to my blindness,
but remember - and this may
sound a little bit depressing -
but remember that we're all
not just abled or disabled,
but we're all just temporarily abled,
because like I said, aging is inevitable,
life is inevitable,
and life is surprising,
and disability or blindness can affect
our parents, our grandparents,
our children, our best friends,
and ourselves.
So when that time comes,
don't you want this world
to kind of be ready and designed for you?
Okay, I'm not going
to keep going depressing, okay?
So, I'm going to try
to pick it up a little here.
My husband actually asked me recently,
if I could have my vision back

Chinese: 
但前提是我必須回到我以前的生活，
我會怎麼選擇？
我的答案或許會讓你們覺得很驚訝。
我說我不會這樣做。
而我拒絕的原因是因為
NMO 和失明使我學會
適時尋求別人幫忙是好的。
大部分的時候，
人們總願意提供幫助。
NMO 和失明教會了我
做自己喜歡或擅長的事情
是可以的，
而我一直很幸運有機會可以去嘗試。
NMO 教會我，
我應該要無懼地活出每一天。
我嘗試過跳傘，
甚至，在失去視力後，
我開始滑雪。
我現在的人生哲學是
不能害怕你看不到的東西。
這教會了我無所畏懼。
它教我
無需懷抱著歉意過日子。
但最重要的是，
我認為身障教會我的是
擁有同情心。
身為家中唯一的小孩，

English: 
but I had to go back to living
the life that I had before,
would I?
And the answer that may surprise you
is I said no.
And the reason I say no is because NMO
and blindness have taught me
that it's okay to ask for help sometimes.
More often than not,
people are always willing to help.
NMO and blindness have taught me that
it's okay to do what you love
and to do what you're good at,
and I've been given
that opportunity, fortunately.
And NMO has taught me
that you should live life fearlessly.
I've actually gone skydiving
and picked up snowboarding
after I lost my vision.
My philosophy in life now is that
you really can't fear what you can't see,
so it's taught me to be fearless.
And it's taught me that I should
live life unapologetically.
Most of all, though,
I think what disability
has taught me is compassion.

English: 
Being an only child,
growing up, I was selfish.
Now I am much more compassionate,
and it's given me
this platform to advocate
for women, for ethnic minorities,
for artists,
and for the differently abled.
And I'm fortunate and I'm blessed
to be able to stand here
and talk to all of you about those issues
that I think we will all face one day.
Like I said, I know this doesn't
necessarily affect a lot of you now,
but like I said, we're all
just temporarily abled,
so remember that.
I'm here to be able to advocate for that
and to make you guys all think
about what it's like to live in my shoes.
And when you see people,
try not to think of them as disabled,
people like me who are visually impaired,
but think of them as "differently" abled.
And I find that...
another thing that I've really learned
from my NMO and my blindness

Chinese: 
在成長過程中，我非常自私，
反觀現在，我變得比較慈悲。
而這給予我這個平台
來為所有女性、少數族群、
藝術家
以及各式人等來發聲。
我很幸運能夠站在這裡
告訴大家
我認為我們終將面臨的那些問題。
就像我說的，
我知道這不一定
此刻會影響你們很多人，
但如我所說的一樣，
人生是千變萬化的。
所以記住這一點。
我來到這裡是為了
提倡並告訴大家
站在我的立場看世界是什麼感覺。
而當你遇到像我這樣的視障人士時，
盡量不要把他們當作身障人士，
將他們視為擁有不同能力的人。
我發現
我從 NMO 和失明中
學到的另外一件事情是
到頭來，

English: 
is that, at the end of the day,
we are all different on the outside,
but we're very much
the same on the inside,
and we all have the same human desires
to be loved and to be respected
and to be understood.
And so, in some way,
in one way or another,
we are all in search of this inclusivity,
and I think that's important
to remember that,
that we're all in search of inclusivity,
and we're all humans.
My parents came here
to the United States with hope
because they were hopeful
that their lives would be better.
And while I'm sure
that didn't include having a daughter
that would be eventually diagnosed
with NMO or lose her vision,
I am also willing to bet
that they didn't expect to have
a daughter win MasterChef,
and to be standing up here one day
to give a TEDx Talk.
So I guess it all evens out
in the end, right?
But my parents were hopeful,
and they instilled hope in me,
and that was probably 
the most important value
that they instilled in me.
And I'm still hopeful,

Chinese: 
從外表看來我們各不相同，
但在內心我們卻非常相似。
我們都希望
能夠被愛、
被尊重以及被理解。
所以，在某種程度上，
不論以哪種方式，
我們都在人群中尋找歸屬感。
我認為記住這一點很重要，
我們都在尋找歸屬感，
我們都是活生生的人類。
我的父母帶著希望來到美國，
因為他們希望擁有更好的生活。
雖然我很確定他們的計劃
並不包括生下一個女兒，
最後會被診斷出罹患 NMO
或是失去視力。
我甚至可以打賭
他們並沒有預期
擁有一位贏得廚神當道的女兒，
一位能夠站在這裡
給予 TEDx 演講的女兒。
所以我想這最終都是公平的，對吧？
我的父母總是充滿希望，
而他們灌輸這希望到我身上，
這或許是他們灌輸給我
最重要的一個觀念。
同時，

English: 
in spite of all the gripes
that I've given all of you today,
standing up here.
I'm hopeful that my talk will motivate you
to see the world as the blind do,
and my hope is that you too will see
that it's an idea worth spreading.
Thank you.
(Applause)

Chinese: 
儘管我今天告訴你們的所有抱怨，
我依舊保有希望地站在這裡，
我希望我的演講可以激勵你們，
用和視障人士一樣的方式看待這世界。
同時，希望你們也會認為
這是一個值得傳播的想法。
謝謝。
（掌聲）
