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I can't speak. Here's how I get people to listen | Jessica Irwin

I can't speak. Here's how I get people to listen | Jessica Irwin

TED Talks Daily
Oct 22, 2026 9 min
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About this episode

Jessica Irwin is many things: a photographer, artist, author, performer. She also happens to be nonverbal, born with cerebral palsy that affects the muscles she needs to talk. Speaking through a device that turns her typed words into speech, she gives a sharp, funny and urgent reminder that being unable to speak has nothing to do with intelligence — and shares a few easy ways anyone can better communicate with nonverbal people.<hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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Podcast episodes are one of the highest-density ways to absorb English at native pace. I can't speak. Here's how I get people to listen | Jessica Irwin from TED Talks Daily gives you natural dialogue, unscripted speech, and vocabulary that actually appears in real conversations.

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