Insight into Autism on You Tube

An incredibly deep look and feel into the mind of the human condition and experience of an autistic woman has galvanized not only the You Tube community, but the media landscape as well.

Amanda Baggs captured the attention of CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta after he had seen a video of her on You Tube. She posted a video, which she shot and edited. It allows outsiders to see through her eyes and learn through her words, not about the world she lives in; but how she lives in the world, yet speaks a language that might be foreign to most of us.

Dr. Gupta was so intrigued that he visited the 26 year-old woman in Burlington, Vermont. His segment ran on CNN today and it was so moving that I had to write about it. Dr. Gupta, in his blog and his segment surrendered to his human-ness in a way that I thought was thought provoking and quite humble.

He says in his blog..

"As I sat with her in her apartment, I couldn’t help but wonder how many more people like Amanda are out there, hidden, but reachable, if we just tried harder…I am a neurosurgeon and Amanda Baggs opened my eyes about the world of autism."

It got me thinking not only about the "world of autism" but the world we work and live in every day. On the most subtle levels, how many times have we not understood and instead made an assumption about the people we interact with every day?  It was an interesting personal lesson as well.

Just yesterday I was having a conversation with someone who I consider to be highly intelligent. I asked him to maneuver through a few documents on my computer, as I was not in my office, in order to send me some time-sensitive material. I was talking him through this process and became more and more frustrated that it was taking so long. The tension on the phone was so apparent that he finally admitted that he didn’t understand the workings of the program I was asking him to navigate.

I found myself annoyed with him, instead of simply understanding that he didn’t speak "my" computer’s language. We want others to "speak our language" or "know what we are thinking." When aggravation ensues, our ego and ears start filtering and even shutting out the real message or meaning behind an interaction. Sometimes we have to be patient enough to not only listen, but also hear what someone is trying to communicate, even if it’s not a comfortable lexicon for us.

Just as Amanda shared her message through video, we have to be aware and stay alert to the other jewels of wisdom that might come our way; albeit in a different language, presentation, or media venue.