This thread inspired me (if that’s the right word) to look at the video itself. Sadly, the excruciatingly slow, expensive connection wasn’t up to loading more than a minute-or-so, but I did read the comment, every one of them (995, last time I looked) and those comments convinced me that she’s actually done a brilliant PR job for autistics, whether or not she intended it as such.
Yeah, a handful of idiots made some really insulting comments, of course; and they received such thoughtful and patient answers that one of them did a U-turn., on the spot.. Here are some quotes:
MGthemes
OMG why don't you just talk.. You can talk, why are you superior to normal humans? You are normal, run a treadmill, get a life, and stop being retarded, i used to make fun of people like you at school.
silentmiaow:
You say, "i used to make fun of people like you at school."
Yeah, it shows. It's not something to be proud of. And being able to physically create words with my mouth is not the same as being able to make them mean what I want them to mean, or else, yes, I'd talk. And I'm not superior to anyone. Not that you actually care about my answer.
MGthemes:
Yea, i care about your replay, and i just dont understand hwo your so smart, and you cant talk. You can type, and comprehend normally, and you can humm meaningless stuff, and finger a stream of water, but you cant talk?
silentmiaow:
Intelligence and speech aren't particularly related, that's how. In fact, when I recently demonstrated for a researcher exactly which things I can and can't do in that regard, she actually knew the exact parts of my brain that must be working differently (apparently this pattern is a known thing).
MGthemes:
Sorry. I am starting to feel self concious about my actions. So theres never gunna be a way for you to talk? Except a voice machine?
silentmiaow:
I used to talk better than I do now, it's possible I might again, but I'm not really holding my breath (and given that I have a better means of communicating than even my best speech I don't really mind).
MGthemes:
Yea, you just gotta hang in there, and just think, at least your not retarded. You have the ability to think, and you are smarter than your average person
silentmiaow:
I don't really tend to hang around being grateful I'm not someone else, because it's kind of insulting to the someone else. You underestimate people with intellectual disabilities.
Sneech2:
"at least you're not retarded"? I think you missed the greater point of this video. The whole point is that all kinds of minds are legitimate, and all ways of thinking are legitimate. Yes, this includes "retarded" minds.
FYI, Hadron, a lot of the people who commented, came to YouTube, after seing a clip of the video on national TV, so I think that blows your theory, doesn’t it? The girl’s had a whole more coverage than you thought.
I don’t think it’s at all safe to assume that all those who lack the intelligence or what-have-you to frame a response to video will have a negative perception of it. If you can provide some convincing evidence of that, please provide it. But if you’re forced to back up your theory by retreating into the realms of the unknown, then guessing that those realms would yield contradictory results…well, heck, do you really expect us to take it seriously on that “evidence� And, no, I really don’t believe that the option of the inarticulate counts for more than the opinion of the articulate, or else that’s millenia of political oratory wasted, isn’t it?
The fact is that articulate people have a whole lot more influence than inarticulate people (which is another thing that Amanda Baggs demonstrated with this video, btw). They might mis-use their influence, but they certainly have it. And yeah, some of the curebies might mis-use this video, if they’re desperate. But it’s not as of they’re short of ammunitio, is it? More significantly, it might actually make some of those people think twice.
Btw, here’s another of my favourite parts:
“I hope you will be autistic some day , let's see if you think the same as you do now
You have to realise that the people with autism are the most genuine, sweetest and honest people on the planet, those are the real humans
The rest (like me and you) are just monsters who argue about everything, and how do you start a war ? yes it starts with argueâ€
silentmiaow:
I don't think we're all that idealized versions of people either, at least I wouldn't think so after hanging out around enough of us. ;-)
Yeah, she’s obviously been over here, huh?
