Bobobek shares his story of growing up with a hearing loss and sheds light on the perspectives of the disabled people in an otherwise "abled" world. He connects the struggles and joys of those people with that of everybody else and attempts to provide a vision of inclusivity and accessibility for all.
Bobobek Khalilov is a 19-year-old freshman student at Webster University in Tashkent. He was born with complete hearing loss in Kokand city, Fergana region. Despite being a person with hearing disabilities, he is able to communicate with people by lipreading & read people’s emotions from their facial expressions very quickly and this sense has become more enhanced in him compared to other people, because his main form of processing information is visually.

During his journey as a deaf person, he has undergone diverse life obstacles & bullies at school. Despite such challenges, he has graduated from an ordinary school and became one of the first deaf people in Uzbekistan who has been able to do so. Bobobek’s deafness amplifies his natural talent. His deafness is an asset and not a limitation, he is amicable and an activist of the Deaf community. He believes that everyone is capable of achieving whatever goals they set in their lives. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx