"The first part is in my 'native language,' and then the second part provides a translation, or at least an explanation. This is not a look-at-the-autie gawking freakshow as much as it is a statement about what gets considered thought, intelligence, personhood, language, and communication, and what does not."

 

 

What do you guys make of this?

It's certainly a very interesting video. At first, I thought she might have had Asperger Syndrome (high-functioning autism with the possibility of verbalization), but the difficulty with muscle control, and once I realized the explanation was computer-based, etc. lead me to believe otherwise.

 

I'd like to believe it, as it's certainly very inspiring to see someone with autism be able to express themselves like this. However, quite frankly with the complicated sentence structure as well as the fact that she's not speaking herself, this seems something like facilitated communication, which was huge in the early '90s for this kind of thing. Autistic people were writing unbelievable stuff, poetry even, with complex vocabulary and appreciation of meter, and identifying people who had sexually abused them when they were thought retarted (as an appreciable percentage of people with autism also are). However, when they did double-blind testing for the courts to see how reliable the communication was without the facilitator guiding the person physically or being able to see what the person was typing, it just didn't hold up the scrutiny. I'm not sure if this isn't more of the same kind of thing.

 

So, it's really cool and thanks for posting it, but I have my doubts as to what's actually being presented, even though I'd agree with some of the stuff the person is saying. Like to hear your thoughts.

That was an awesome piece, glad you shared it.

I dont know but I think Im gonna have nightmares tonight.