Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums GT Research Amanda Baggs-brilliant or hoax

I read an article in Wired Magazine about autistic activists. I watched this video Amanda is purported to have made on her own and it's pretty amazing.

People are calling it a hoax, that she could not have done this by herself or had help. She says it's all her. I want to believe it. If so, I think the GT community should get behind her.
See for yourself:

I've seen a video, too, purportedly by some new crew (though admittedly, I took this at face value and did not check to be sure they were for real; if the "news crew" was in on it, then it could have been faked).

But assuming the news crew was real, how would you even go about faking something like that? You can see her fingers on the keys at the right time.

Are they saying she's not really autistic?

DH and I can't figure out how you'd even go about faking such communication...let alone why! I mean, what's in it for them?

We're thinking Occam's Razor is on the family's side here...

Looks real to me. http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/21/autism.amanda/index.html

The video is very artistically done. I love the meditative feel of the music and movement.

I would say that the form of conventional communication that is closest to her language would be art.

http://hatingautism.blogspot.com/
Amanda Baggs is a total hoax. I've written about a dozen posts about her. She was normal until age 14 when she started taking LSD, wound up in an asylum and went doctor shopping at age 19 to have her diagnosis changed from schizophrenia to autism.

And you know this how?

Perhaps it's true, perhaps its not. But from the tone of your blog, you are clearly not some neutral observer. So I'd need some evidence and not just your blog posts.

I have no dog in this fight. I just don't like assertions without evidence.

I'm not saying she's a 'hoax' or not. I'm going to say she's misrepresenting herself as being a 'low functioning autistic'. I think it is a disservice to autistics to have her as some kind of poster child for autistics. I will tell you why. I know people who went to Simon's Rock with her when she was a teenager. She was a functioning, talking gifted student. Somehow along the way, now at 26 she is what she is now.
I have never met an autistic who became one in their late teens. She used to speak, so for her to communicate with a device is not so surprising. Sure, she has some kind of problem, but since this is so atypical for the nonverbal autistic types I think it's inappropriate for her to be trotted out in such a fashion with the press doing no research into her background. The people I know with non-verbal autistic children certainly didn't have them attending Simon's Rock at 14. I'm just saying this is unfair to my friends and now people think their non-verbal kids should get computers and just type at 120 wpm.

Kriston,
Like I said, there's about a dozen posts throughout that blog. I have documented proof from classmates that she was normal when she entered college at age 13. She was a gifted student, not the least bit autistic.

There is probably 50 pages of discussion about this where numerous people contributed her own words that show she was not autistic until she sought that diagnosis at aage 19. The woman clearly has some mental problems but, autism is not one of them.

Very interesting. Here's a quote from the CNN article:


Calizephyr, you are saying that this is completely fabricated? That CNN didn't check any of this?

Yes, Cathy.

I'm also having trouble with this "It's on my blog, so it's true" stuff. I looked at the blog. The only thing it proved to me is that the blog is not a neutral source for information.

Anyone can write anything on the Internet. That doesn't make it true.

Where's your evidence? Not just words that cannot be verified. For all I know, you wrote every entry and comment on your blog yourself and it's all fiction. I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying that a blog isn't evidence of anything except someone with time on his/her hands.

News sources can make mistakes. But if you're asking me to choose between that highly loaded blog and CNN, CNN wins.

Give me something tangible, not just someone's word.

Cathy,
I don't know bettwice33 or that blog. I am involved in the autism community so I am familiar with Amanda Baggs and her blog and her videos and articles. As far as the CNN quote, it makes no sense. Amanda herself won't deny she went to Simon's Rock. She herself won't deny she once spoke as a teenager. (a gifted one!)
Again, my whole point is I think people need to know that about her, because I work with autistic people who don't speak or speak a few words. I think she misrepresents the typical autistic. The kids I know can't type 120 wpm and will certainly never go to Simon's Rock. I am not saying anything else, I am saying CNN and WIred are being unfair to represent her as the benchmark for MY kids that I know and love and don't speak and don't type and don't go to Simon's Rock and it does upset me, that she doesn't provide that disclaimer, for some reason. I don't know why. Again, it's like thinking all people with autism are Rainman or something. it is just so far off the mark. Sure, she makes nice videos. But people ask me about it and it bothers me, like my kids here are supposed to do the things she does. Well, they never did speak and go to Simon's Rock! Do you see why I get a little irritated?

Yes, I do see. She isn't typical of autistic people I know either.

CNN was conned by some pretty smart people. A lot more is involved here than simply Amanda Baggs. Amanda Baggs plays the role of a spokesmodel for Neurodiversity, a group of people associated with Quackbusters whose goal is to prevent anyone from curing autism.
The whole thing is a propaganda con job to deny the truth about how vaccines caused the autism epidemic. And yes, it is funded by the pharmaceutical industry.

Wow!!!!!!!!! Thanks for posting this. I'd love to believe it was all Amanda Baggs. Do you have any links you would be kind enough to share. I am an information cruncher junkie! I would love to read your sources for myself!

Thanks!

Incog

apologize, just went back and re-read all the comments.

Calizepher, I mean no disrespect to you or bettwice33. I am not knowlegable about the autism community at all.

The little I do know is that a person can fall anywhere on the spectrum and autistic people can also fall on any range in terms of IQ.

I know a little girl with an immeasurable IQ whose mother is convinced she is on the spectrum. She has had OT and other therapies since birth, basically. She has other issues as well. Mother reports that she had many autistic behaviors that had subsided with extensive therapy. I absolutely believe her high IQ has contributed to her being so high functioning. To see her you would never imagine that at any time anyone would have considered her to be on the spectrum at all.
This is anecdotal, but true. I'm just wondering if the impossible sounding story of Amanda Baggs could be possible, given my limited experience with another "autistic" child.

Admittedly, I don't know much.

Incog

Can we write CNN to check this out?
If she indeed went to Simon's Rock it should be fairly easy to check.

I left a comment for Anderson Cooper. We will see if there is any response :-)
Personally don't know a lot about autism. I know one boy who is highly functional.
That video looks a little too good to be truth, but who knows?

Amanda has a blog. She has written about her experiences at SImon's Rock. It's not too hard to check, just ask her yourself. She's on the internet all the time, apparently. To clarify, of course I think Amanda Baggs is real, and I think she is very intelligent, I think she makes her videos, because she's been posting for years and years in the autism community. My one tiny point is that I don't like how the media trots her out like some kind of miracle, like she has found a way to communicate with the world.

I'm afraid that I haven't been able to actually watch the video of Amanda Baggs on youtube,(rural area, horribly slow dial up!) but I have seen the CNN report and read the Wired article. And I have to say, being a health care professional who works with children and adults with autism, I am VERY skeptical. The level of "severity" that appears to be there - social disconnect, lack of language, hand flapping, stimming behaviors, etc - do not *typically* appear at the age of 14. Behavior like that would be present from birth or developed around 18 to 24 months of age. And no medical professional could have missed calling it autism from about the age of 5 or 6, tops. IMHO, there is NO WAY that Amanda Baggs could have symptoms that severe and not been diagnosed until she was 14. Autism does not develop at the age of 14. I recently read an article about a child diagnosed with regressive autism symptoms at 4 y/o and the article expressed shock at the delayed onset and questioned whether it was truly autism.

I don't take blogs and Wikipedia as my resources, either. I don't have a clue who bettwice33 and calizephyr are. But I am also not surprised that CNN and Wired could be taken in. I don't take ANY media report without a grain of salt. Perhaps neither one DID check out her story. Where are her parents? Where is the biographical information? Where is the reporting of her development and milestones and how she learned to type? When did she regress? Comments like "she didn't cry as a baby" and "she had to be taught how to nurse" do not indicate or support a diagnosis of autism. Check out this website that Amanda Baggs has been involved in: http://isnt.autistics.org/index.html
Interesting sense of humor. Definitely gifted. But I'd wager to say that much of her behavior is an act. If she is autistic it might be more like Asperger's and then the behaviors are all a put on.
And who wrote the Wiki entry on her? Perhaps Amanda Baggs?????

My suggestion - do the autism community a favor and learn more. Even if by some remote chance Amanda Baggs truly does have autism she does NOT represent the autism community at large. This I know from personal experience. No resources to offer.

(The above rant has been the sole opinion of this writer)

I just took a look at Amanda Baggs website. My impression is that she has some other diagnosis - I won't even venture a guess what. She is definitely gifted. But I do not buy a diagnosis of autism.

Anyone ever hear of Temple Grandin, PhD? She is an adult with autism you can respect and believe. I just recently saw her speak - she is amazing. Read her work. Find her books on amazon. Try "Thinking In Pictures" if you want to learn about what it is like to have autism.

I repeat, Amanda Baggs is NOT representative of the autism community. She *might* have aspergers. But then again, a lot of highly intelligent people who want an excuse for behaving badly are "self-diagnosing" with asperger's. For some reason that diagnosis has become a badge of honor in some bizarre circles or subcultures. And Amanda Baggs is not associated with any mainstream autism organization or agency that I can see. See for yourself on what she now offers at her website:
http://amanda.autistics.org/

Temple Grandin is highly respected by those of us who raise livestock. Here is a quote from her website:

I really like that OHG. I'm a vegetarian, but I don't have any negative thoughts or ill will towards meat eaters (personal choice 'eh). Besides, my husband eats all the animals and I love him. I really like "We owe the animal respect.". Nice thought.

Hello, my name is Ann, and I suffer from rampant emotionalism. Echoes back... Hello Ann. My thoughts are wandering, sorry. Where's that cafe moderator?

The reason I became a vegetarian as a child was b/c I envisioned myself in the role of the animal. I would imagine their thoughts/feelings. I totally understand where Dottie's daughter was going with the lamp saga. I did the same thing when a plant got replaced. My poor mother, she�s very INTJ. It's nice to know that in this environment we can let our guards down and just be ourselves.

Hah! you guys are too much! Too easy to go off on a tangent with this group!

Yes, Dr. Grandin has used her amazing visual spatial skills to develop livestock management systems for the humane treatment of animals raised as food sources. She actually has incorporated sensory integration theory into some of what she does with the animals (eg: using deep pressure, close quarters as a calming for them).

But, the point I was making was not about animal rights. It was that Dr. Grandin is, I believe, a much better choice if you are wanting to know what it is like to have autism. She is also proof that someone with autism can accomplish great things.

Oops.

Haha, didn't mean to sidetrack things either, I just wanted to express my admiration for Temple Grandin. I will add that one of her websites said her diagnosis was changed from autism to Asperger Syndrome.

[quote=Dottie]And to think I almost didn't read this thread!!! I'm glad you can appreicate my lamp dilema Ann, as I'm calling you for advice with the next bout of rampant emotionalism!/quote]

Glad to be of service Dottie! I'm looking forward to putting my talents...'er REism to good use.

I agree with everything written here just now :0
Good stuff!