About me – my name is Hannah & I’ve been sick all my life. Even though we didn’t know it at the time, I was born with Lyme Disease (my mum had it when she was pregnant with my twin sister & I), which means that I suffered hearing loss, seizures, severe dyslexia, & eventually paralysis, which put me in my wheelchair (it is very groovy, it’s painted with vines, and leaves & flowers & is called Ivy). The good news is that I am now starting to get well & am no longer dying – thanks to some really great Dr’s I am now able to walk, talk, swallow & breathe easily again. I’m still doing treatment and rehab, but I’m finally getting better & not dying anymore (my hope is for remission).

Because I’ve been sick for so long (I’m 16) I’ve not been able to go to school for a long time (9 years), so I’ve been homeschooled with my twin sister. I’ve been very lucky that where I live there are lots of other homeschoolers (so I’m not isolated), and LOTS of very interesting and very clever people – which means that a lot of my education has been learning directly from scientists, archaeologists, historians, artists, social justice campaigners, animal scientists (including Jane Goodall!!), & military ethics professors in their work place.

The other vital part of my education has been TED. TED has opened up a world of opportunities for me. I have been watching amazing people on the TED website, since April 2007, when I discovered Jane Goodall’s talk – my first TED talk. I like to say I’m a TED tragic, but my family say I’m a TED addict.

I am very lucky that Steve from TEDx Canberra organised for me to have a live web feed of TED 2011. So here I am, sharing my thoughts on TED 2011 in Long Beach California, viewed from my lounge room (with me hooked up to my IV for my daily treatment) – it just doesn’t get any better than this!!!

(if you want to learn more about Lyme Disease go here www.lymedisease.org or www.lymedisease.org.au )