PALM HARBOR, Fla. — A nonspeaking autistic boy, Swarit Gopalan, 11, learned how to communicate by typing and recently won a prestigious international neurodivergent award.

“We made it a point to make it about the community because we kind of feel it is not just his award,” said Arun Gopalan, Swarit’s dad. “He was just there representing the community.”

What You Need To Know

  • Swarit Gopalan, 11, is a non-speaker

  • Swarit learned how to communicate by typing at the Invictus Academy in Palm Harbor 2 years ago

  • Swarit won neurodivergent “young achiever of the year” award on Sept. 28, 2023

  • His dad said the best way for Swarit to get his thoughts out is through poetry

The family traveled from Palm Harbor to London on Sept. 28 for the award ceremony which was held at the Institute of Physics. Swarit won the neurodivergent “young achiever of the year” award. It is earned by individuals who have achieved something they did not think was possible.

“Once he won, everyone within the school went wild,” said Brianna Grassi, Swarit’s teacher. “There were tears, screams. It’s such a big achievement.”

The Gopalan family moved from Pennsylvania to Palm Harbor in 2021 so that Swarit could attend the Invictus Academy Tampa Bay. The school specializes in educating students with motor and sensory differences, such as autism and apraxia, according to the website.

Gopalan said two years ago his son could not communicate at all and the Invictus Academy unlocked his potential.

“In 6-to-8 weeks we started seeing things that we had never seen,” said Gopalan. “We had been looking for alternate modes of communication because the mainstream will tell you to go after speech.”

Grassi said Swarit has a brain-body disconnect, which means he wants to move his body a certain way, but the motor cortex of his brain is mis-wired.

“What we do is we practice those motor skills and with the letter board,” she said. “We really hone in on those skills to where they can fluently communicate using the letter board and eventually get to a keyboard.”

In April for autism awareness month, Swarit wrote a post every day on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, which his dad said got a tremendous response and led to him being nominated for the award.

“As we started talking about what his purpose for writing is, this is what he said… he wants his words to impact the world,” said Gopalan. “So, it changes it from sympathy and pity for those like him to one of deeper understanding and allyship.”

Gopalan said the best way for his son to get his thoughts out is through poetry, which has been profound for an 11-year-old and the dad reads his favorite line from an April post.

“From being a spectator of our destinies to living lasting legacies,” he said. “I think this is something that people can rally behind and follow.”  

The nonspeaking preteen has found a way to make his words truly inspiring.