Amanda Baggs IS a hoax and a mockery against Autism

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Again, WAIT!

1st, many misinterpretations are occuring and errors are being compiled. There's a lot of 'guessing' based upon nothingness. Not fair. Plus personal attack on a MEMBER!

To dispel any myths: My paternal uncle (he's now dead) was a low-functioning autistic. He lived his ENTIRE life in an institution, committed when he was just a toddler. He never was dressed other than hospital pajamas, was fed by staff, needed assistance with grooming and just basic activites. He was entirely mute - no words AT ALL. Ever. So please don't say, in effect, 'Autistic people aren't like that...' Yes, they can be. My paternal uncle had a definite Dx and he tried very hard. I find this heartbreaking that others could be so callous to assign their judgment when they just do NOT know! If any of you doubt this please do visit your local institution and MEET some LFA. And, no, my paternal uncle did NOT have mercury poisoning. If you must know I have an extraordinarily high propensity for autism in my family ancestry.

Now, the disclaimer: Anbuend is not truly 'low-functioning' in that she has brains and writes beautifully with real logic to her thought. She's kind, funny, and a good friend. She's contributed a LOT to WP so this is not even fair.

I guess if you want to 'see' other LFA, look at Tito (cannot begin to spell or pronounce his Bengali last name); he's a PUBLISHED author and poet yet low-functioning. Check out Stephen Wiltshire too. You might learn something. There's many more. Some are post here on WP too. I think some respect is due. Anbuend, and other autistics, at whatever level, try very hard. Just like you all. We have common denominators so let's not be smearing someone based upon supposition.

I agree; I think thread is not appropriate and should be removed - it's exploitive, even if that's not the original intent.

This thread title is pretty inflammatory and critical. You can question others without insulting them. I suggest you retitled this thread and maybe do a bit more research into John Best's history.

Publicly, I'm a douche-bag.
I just hate the industry, not Ambuend.
She's really cool.

I don't agree with the system, sorry.

Can't a mod change the name of the topic already? I noticed Anbuend was here as the topic started, and can't help but think she left because of it...

I can remember he was on here as foresam. He came back under other accounts. I figure it was him because of the things he was posting about faking disabilities and he started a thread about it and it turned out he was talking about another member. I guessed Amanda because of what was in the blog he wrote about her. It just all matched.

Foresam wrote the 1st letter claiming Amanda Baggs went to Simon's Rock College in 1994 when she was 14.

Simon's Rock College is located in Great Barrington in Southwestern Massachusetts. It is unique in the fact that it will admit students who have finished the 10th or 11th grade who have demonstrated the aptitude. When someone is 14, he/she is usually in the 9th grade. People who go to college at 14 are those genius types that you read about once in a blue moon. Very very rare but it does happen.

Amanda has put up documentation of her condition on her web blog which to me appears to be genuine: http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?page_id=289

well she's clearly musical.

Just because it may not have turned out well for her there doesn't mean she doesn't have Savant traits or capabilities.

there seems to be a number of people posting in this thread who have little or no history here. 6 posts, 5 of them in this thead? 21 posts?

oh never mind.

how 'bout another song?

Perfect pitch. Among other things. She has a very weird, very interesting brain.

I didn't know what to think at first when I saw both sides of the story; but I don't think it could be faked. (For one thing, who would want to live with people intruding on their privacy every single day if they could help it? Not to mention she's put a bunch of documents up on her site that basically prove it.)

But there was one little detail that a faker wouldn't have known to duplicate... Check out the way she interacts with cats. I "speak cat" too but I've never seen anybody just basically turn into another cat whenever they interact with one. I've never even seen an NT interact with a cat in any way other than person-to-cat. The only people I know who interact with cats on their own terms are neuro-atypical--not necessarily autistic, but never NT. I think the NT mind is too much entrenched in certain styles of communication, learned too early, to be that flexible.

Oh, that, and the fact that the people who say she's a fraud have no actual evidence. I might buy iatrogenic schizophrenia; I definitely think there's some TDK from those antipsychotics; but the autism's definitely there, and she sure isn't psychotic now, if she ever was. (Well, YOU go to a psych ward and have them tell you you're crazy and drug you up... see how long you stay sane!)

My mom didn't believe she was "for real" when I showed her. The reason? "Somebody that low-functioning can't possibly type so intelligently!"

That's what's behind it all, I think. The "low-functioning" stereotype. That if you do some things horribly, you're horrible at everything. But we know that isn't true, from our own lives! Who here hasn't done some amazing special-interest-related thing, yet been hopeless at everything from tying shoes to making small talk?

Just because you are horrible at executive function and speech doesn't mean you are horrible at everything else. Just because you're good at those things doesn't mean you don't have deficits.

This is why "LFA/HFA" is so damaging... it puts people in boxes. Maybe you could have a functioning label based on GAF, but it would change from day to day, depending on which skill you were using, depending on how much stress you were under...

Yeah, some autistic people need help. I'm one of 'em and I'm "only" an Aspie. If I'm lucky, they will actually help me get a job. If I'm not lucky, somebody will mess up the meds and I'll be in the hospital again. There are some things I'm worse at than people labeled "low functioning". There are some things I'm better at than people who aren't autistic at all. I've fit into every category, from "put her in the hospital" to "oh my gosh she's going to get the Nobel Prize"! And I'm nowhere near the extreme when it comes to skill gaps.

There are a lot of autistics out there who type but don't speak; I don't see why Amanda's existence is any more surprising than theirs.

BTW. "Savant skills" are nothing very amazing, IMO; it's the human brain itself that's amazing. They are the extreme example of the skill gaps we all have, some much higher than others. There's certainly no excuse to say, "oh, that's just a savant skill", as though that means everything else about the person is unremarkable. We are not performing monkeys.

What does "little or no history here" have to do with anything?!

I may be new here, I may yet be undiagnosed, but that doesn't mean I have no personal knowledge or experience with autism. I may not be formally diagnosed yet but it has at least been confirmed in writing in my case by a renowned expert, who has retired, for Autistic Savants, that mine is undoubtedly a case of Early Infantile Autism and he also referred me to an expert for Autistic Savant Artists. That's a pretty sad commentary from a senior poster.

This thread is unfortunate!

It has to do with people not knowing a lot about you yet. People trust people they know more than people they don't--even if in some cases they trust them to be untrustworthy! (In other words, you're not predictable yet.)

There was no "just" implicated when I mentioned Savant skills. You have no idea what you're talking about or you wouldn't say that.