This is very POWERFUL video that Amanda has created and, for me, it opened my eyes to the world of Autism. Watching the first 3 or so minutes of the video, it appeared that although Amanda was interacting with MANY OBJECTS in her environment, all interaction seemed meaningless, confusing, and difficult to comprehend. At the point at which the video transitions from this scenario to the voice over of Amanda explaining her actions, I was SHOCKED and MOVED that these were her words that I was hearing! This articulate young woman is inside and, without the opportunity of assistive technology and the belief of presumed competence, we may not have really ever had the wonderful opportunity to meet her. In addition, she is absolutely correct in assuming that most people meeting her on the street would most likely consider her to be “non-thinking” and perhaps even a “non-person” and that “failure to learn our language is a deficit but failure to learn her language is natural”. It is imperative that we, as educators and even as people in general, do not settle for the fact that “it is only when I speak your language that I am communicating” and that we presume competence in all individuals and make it our job to help support and assist them in finding their voice and recognize the video is a “strong statement on the existence and value of many different kinds of thinking and interaction”.
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