Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Autistic Pride

I’ve got a confession to make; when I heard about the YouTube video "In My Language" last year, I watched about two minutes of it, before I stopped, thinking to myself "why do I want to see any more of this autistic woman humming to herself and making noises with objects?"
 
   
 
Well, more fool me. Today, I went back to it and watched it to the end. And I have to say, it’s remarkable. I was prompted to return by this article in Wired, which opens with a portrait of Amanda Baggs (the young woman in the video). The article is definitely worth reading, and you really should see the video, if you haven’t already done so.
 
Update: Amanda Baggs makes a few clarifications on the Wired article over at her blog.

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2 responses to “Autistic Pride”

  1. Gelert Avatar
    Gelert

    I only saw the part of your post above the video and was coming back to say – Geoff, watch it to the end! But you did. Amazing I thought. I expect you’ve seen Stephen the artist before – but I thought this video of him drawing ‘Rome’ after one 40 min helicopter ride was incredible – the brain (his at least) is phenomenal. Have a look if you’ve not seen it –

    Reply
  2. Geoff Avatar
    Geoff

    I have a copy of Stephen Wiltshire’s Floating Cities in the library. Wonderful.

    Reply

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