In My Language

This is In my language by Amanda Baggs. I use it in my classes because it gets the idea across that someone who is not verbal and acts very oddly can have a mind and a very rich inner life. The impression people have at the end is very different from the impression at the beginning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnylM1hI2jc

ASD is, more than any other disorder, a difference in how one relates to other people. The argument could be made that many high-functioning autistics are limited more by discrimination based on their odd interaction styles than by anything else. This is not surprising considering that they do not do all the things that people who are neurotypical (not-ASD) do automatically to make themselves comfortable with other people and other people comfortable with them in the course of routine social interactions, so they are uncomfortable in social situations and make others uncomfortable as well. If this social awkwardness where seen as the symptom of a disorder, this discomfort would, I hope, lessen on both sides of the transaction. My housemate, who is a high functioning autistic, talks about “faking normal” in social situations and waiting for “it” to happen. “It” is the faux pas that outs him as “really weird” and starts the cycle of discomfort feeding on discomfort that will eventually make him withdraw. I don’t react this way because I see his odd interaction style as a symptom of ASD. I wish the whole world could do that. He is a brilliant guy with so much to give.