Infinite Possibilities

“Many don’t realize that Possibility actually precedes Opportunity. When the mind opens itself up to the thought of possibilities this in itself subtly suggest the existence of alternative paths. Out of this are born opportunities. Opportunities, that let you delve in and explore. And this is the just the beginning of my journey” –  Hari Srinivasan

We are so excited to have Hari Srinivasan as a keynote speaker for the I-ASC Motormorphisis this upcoming July!

Hari Srinivasan is a minimally speaking austistic who uses Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). He grew up in the San Francisco area with his parents who immigrated from India. Around the age of two, Hari lost his ability to speak as well all of his developmental milestones. At age three, Hari was diagnosed with autism and ADHD. (PD Soros Fellowship for New Americans — Hari Srinivasan, n.d.). Hari was also diagnosed with oral motor apraxia, which is a communication disorder that impact’s ones motor skills that are needed for speech (Nassim, 2022). Not only did his parents have to juggle the challenges of cultural assimulation, but they were now facing discrimination towards Hari’s disabilities from their immigrant community (PD Soros Fellowship for New Americans — Hari Srinivasan, n.d.).

Hari’s parents were having a difficult time navigating different treatments and disability services as many parents do in the disability community. He attended a school that was not presuming competence and had very low expectations for the special education students. When Hari was 10 years old, the extent of his education consisted of learning to spell three lettered words and basic addition. By limiting his ability to learn, Hari’s intelligence, perseverance, and passions were being trapped in his own mind. Unfortunately, there are many nonspeaking autistic people out there that don’t get to be released from this mental prison. Fortunately, Hari was moved to a charter school and had begun using alternative communication. Once Hari had access to proper education, he began to excel in writing and poetry. Hari went on to win various writing and poetry awards and eventually became valedictorian of his high school (PD Soros Fellowship for New Americans — Hari Srinivasan, n.d.). Some of his poetry has been featured during I-ASC’s  Neurolyrical Cafe!

Because of his hard work and determination, he went on to graduate from UC Berkeley. He received a Bachelors of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in Disability Studies (Srinivasan, n.d.). He continued to advocate for the nonspeaking community by becoming the Senior Staff Writer for the student paper where he wrote a column on autism. While attending UC Berkeley, he served as a Lead Undergraduate Student Instructor for 7 semesters teaching 1:59 Autism Spectrum Disorder. His amazing energy and passion caused the class enrollment to grow from under 17 to 50 students. Hari continued breaking barriers by becoming a University Medal Finalist which consisted of the top 5 individuals in the class of 11,000 students (Srinivasan, n.d.). Hari also was given the Departmental Citation Award which means that he was the top student in the psychology program. He also received a National Gold Medal at Carnegie Hall (Srinivasan, n.d.). That same year, he was published in a Scholastic book which included a forward by Nobel Laureate, Elie Wiesel (Srinivasan, n.d.). He maintained a 4.0 GPA, was a member of both Phi Beta Kappa and Psi Chi honor societies, and he delivered the commencement speech at his graduation (Srinivasan, n.d.).

Watch Hari Srinivasan’s Commencement Speak Here: Berkeley Psychology Commencement Speech (I got the Departmental Citation Award) 

Currenly, Hari is a PD Soros Fellow and will be Starting at Vanderbilt University in the Fall of 2022 to get his PhD in Neuroscience (Srinivasan, n.d.). He was recognized by President Obama’s instagram to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Watch here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/108hari
Instagram/Twitter: @harisri108
YouTube: tinyurl.com/108hari
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/harisri108/

Jenn Montes. Hari’s passion, dedication, and ability to break barriers goes to show that those in the autism community can be just as capable, hard working, and determined as the rest of society. By presuming they are incompetent, we continue to keep their brilliance and beauty to be locked inside their minds. In the short time I have been at I-ASC, I have learned that we are here to help one another overcome our obstacles. The saying “you should never judge a book by its cover” has never been more applicable and as we say, always presume competence and the insides aren’t always going to match the outsides.