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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
 Posted - 04/21/2007 : 06:02:03
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Dr. Sanjay Gupta talked about Amanda on CNN this morning after seeing her video on You Tube. She has lost the ability to speak and is "communicating" with us via computer speech.
She is autistic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnylM1hI2jc
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I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2007 : 15:23:36 [Permalink]
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Be sure to watch the whole thing. The first half is a little hard to sit through if you think the second half is like the first.
Amanda was interviewed on CNN this morning by Sanjay Gupta. To watch the interview, you would assume that she was oblivious to his questions. She didn't look at him, she did not respond in any way. Her typing was so fast, her hands looked like all of her other inexplicable movements. But the computer spoke for her so quickly, it seemed as if she was talking herself. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2007 : 17:48:48 [Permalink]
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If you are asking if this is real, it's very likely that it is. Michelle points out that Amanda is wrong in her thinking that people have not attempted to communicate with people like her using “her language”. The problem is it is her language. That's the rub. Autistics do not speak a common language, unless it happens to be our language.
The keyboard she is using makes that kind of communication possible. And that technology has been in development for some time now. This is not the facilitated communication that caused so much controversy. (Note that Amada is on her own on that keyboard.) There are programs and keyboards designed to make communication possible with people who have many kinds of disabilities. Stephen Hawking uses one of those specifically designed for his problem, for example.
Here are some sites of interest along these lines:
Information... Autism and Information Communication Technology (ICT)
The Internet Revolution for Autistic People:
Edited to add:
Oh, here is another one. Apparently Amanda is not alone in her criticism of teacher expectations…
quote:
From “Autism, Speech, and Assistive Technology"
Why is speech supposed to be the ultimate goal of so many autism therapies? Because it is ingrained into so many neurotypicals that speech and language are necessary to be whole, alive, and functioning as a human being. I have attended so many psychology and linguistics classes which put forth speech and language as the only way to be a truly thinking being. I must not be a truly thinking being then, according to them, because I don't use language in my head.
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2007 : 04:44:07 [Permalink]
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That last was written by Amanda. She may not use English in her head, but I would think she uses language. Now that I say that I imagine that's what she means.
Here's the CNN transcript:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0704/21/hcsg.01.html |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2007 : 07:36:36 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Gorgo
That last was written by Amanda. She may not use English in her head, but I would think she uses language. Now that I say that I imagine that's what she means.
Here's the CNN transcript:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0704/21/hcsg.01.html
quote:
Originally posted by Gorgo
That last was written by Amanda.
Oh yeah. I didn't notice her name at the bottom. Heh…
quote:
Gorgo:
She may not use English in her head, but I would think she uses language. Now that I say that I imagine that's what she means.
Sure. She call's herself bilingual. My guess is her language is probably nonlinear and lacking the formal constraints of language as we conceptualize it and use it. Our rules of language don't apply. And because of that we have a difficult time following it, even with visual and audible queues. Again, one of the problems being that the language she is using is probably too unique to her for us to understand it.
What I wonder is if her ability to understand and use our language was as big a leap for her as it would be for us to understand her? She seems to think so and it is a source of annoyance for her.
Fascinating stuff…
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2007 : 09:04:30 [Permalink]
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| It is that. I don't have a big enough imagination to to try to put myself in her place. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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Amanda - Autism
