Top Youth Speaker Mickey Rowe

• From Special Education To Broadway’s Biggest Stage

•Founding Artistic Director of the National Disability Theatre

• Featured by NY Times, TODAY show, Wall Street Journal, NPR, PBS, and more.

• From Special Education To Broadway
• Founding Artistic Director of the National Disability Theatre
• Featured by NY Times, TODAY show, Wall Street Journal

Learning Outcomes Below 👇

According to the CDC 20 - 25% of students have a disability or autism. That's just one of a plethora of reasons our students are feeling undervalued. Let's make them feel valuable today. 💪

As an autistic and legally blind person, it was always made clear to Mickey the many things he was incapable of doing. But Mickey did them all anyway—and he succeeded because of, not despite, his autism. 

He became the first autistic actor to play the lead role in the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, landed the title role in the play Amadeus, and founded the National Disability Theatre. 

Mickey faced untold obstacles along the way, but his story ends in triumph.

Mickey inspires all people—autistic and non-autistic alike—that the things that make us different are often our biggest strengths.

Mickey has been featured in the New York Times, the TODAY show, PBS, Vogue, Playbill, NPR, CNN, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, Forbes, on Smarter in Seconds. He is endorsed as a recommended speaker by the National Organization for Youth Safety.

He has been a keynote speaker at organizations such as the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Kennedy Center, Yale University, Columbia University, Disability Rights Washington, The Gershwin Theatre on Broadway, and more.

Mickey is a disability and accessibility expert has led DEIA trainings and workshops for companies including Nordstrom, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, and more. 

👇Learning Outcomes:

CONFIDENCE: Students leave with a dramatically increased sense of self-worth and self-confidence, knowing that they are more powerful because of every single thing that makes them uniquely them and knowing that they have agency!

CULTURE: Students leave seeing all of their classmates differently. Especially the classmates they have had the least interaction with.

MOTIVATION AND GOAL ACHIEVEMENT: Students leave realizing that regardless of their goals, whether they want a strategy to win the next big game or want to ace the next school project, they can best succeed at all of their goals when they work with people who are very different from them.

UNDERSTANDING: Students leave with a deep understanding and empathy of autism and the disabled lived experience. According to the CDC 20 - 25% of the population has a disability so understanding and empathy are essential for everyone.

Fearlessly Different: Our Differences are our Strengths:

In this engaging keynote, Rowe shares his deeply personal story of growing up autistic and pushing beyond the restrictions of a special education classroom to shine on the Broadway stage. As an autistic and legally blind person, it was always made clear to Mickey the many things he was apparently incapable of doing. But Mickey did them all anyway—and he succeeded because of, not in spite of, his differences.

Rowe shows all of us that whether disabled or not, the things that make you different, or that you might even perceive as your weaknesses, actually make you unique and valuable and might even be your biggest strengths. Ensuring that everyone we come in contact with feels, seen, heard, understood, and valued. And that sometimes just one small action can change a life.

INVITE MICKEY TO YOUR EVENT:
Please contact Top Youth Speakers to invite Mickey to speak at your school, organization, fundraiser, or event.