Eddy's Good News: A neuro-diverse genius with autism & Ant-Man to the rescue!

Virgin Radio

18 Jul 2022, 09:10

Every day during his show on Virgin Radio, Eddy Temple-Morris brings you Good News stories from around the world, to help inject a bit of positivity into your day!Be sure to listen each day between 10am and 1pm (Monday - Friday) to hear Eddy's Good News stories (amongst the finest music of course), but if you miss any of them you can catch up on the transcripts of Eddy's most recent stories below:

Monday 18th July 2022

Amazing news from the USA as we meet a neuro-diverse genius with autism who is fluent in 40 languages!

Say hello to the incredible Vaughan Smith, who’s from Maryland and cleans carpets for a living. His parents long suspected he was on the autistic spectrum and there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind now because Vaughan has a superpower. He’s a mega-hyperpolyglot! A hyperpolyglot is someone who can speak 11 languages or more, but Vaughan can speak almost four times that, fluently!

From every single European language, including Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and all forms of Swiss, to Mandarin, Japanese, and Indonesian, Hebrew, and Arabic. He even learned Amharic (Ethiopian) which is really impressive, they have 202 symbols in their alphabet and their words are famously multi-syllabic (I happen to know ‘thank you’ is ‘amsakanalaho’).  He even knows native american tribal languages, like Lakota (I think that’s Sioux), Salish, Navajo, and more. He does it to connect with people and I really get that. I can say hi and thank you in about 15 languages and I love the look of joy people get when you smile and say thank you in their language. Vaughan has demonstrated, once again, that we need to change the narrative around autism: it’s not a learning difficulty or a disability, it’s a superpower.

Via: goodnewsnetwork.org

Heart warming news as a Hollywood film superhero comes to the rescue of a 12 year old boy that was incessantly bullied at school.

Say hello to Paul Rudd, from Phoebe’s other half in Friends to Brian Fantana in Anchorman and of course the star of Antman, Paul befriended 12 year old Brody Ridder, from Denver, Colorado. Brody was mercilessly bullied at his school and when Paul found out he only had two signatures in his yearbook, he stepped in, video called him then wrote the most inspiring letter: “it’s important to remember that when life gets tough, things get better…There are so many people that love you and think you’re the coolest kid there is - me being one of them” said the A-list star and signed it “your friend, Paul''. He didn’t stop there - he sent a replica of his Antman helmet and inscribed it “for my good friend Brody, for when he takes on the world”.

This makes me want to cry, my son was bullied so badly that the police got involved and he ended up with a stammer for a few years, so this story is close to my heart and Paul Rudd gets this week's Keanu Reeves award for kindness to strangers by a movie-star.

Via: goodnewsnetwork.org