In My Language

[@NicholaHS]

As a Deaf person with my native language and mannerisms, I am often seen as a non person by the Non-Deaf. My unique often exaggerated facial expressions and body movements...odd! Well not to us, the Deaf. It's the way how we communicate. It c an be exhausting to try to conform. This makes me less of a person. How ironic! Thank for for the video.

[@floranger]

This fil means more to me than nearly all Hollywood films. I have sent it to many friends. THANK YOU so much for making this beautiful, wonderful film. I wish everyone could see this. It deserves a massive audience. You have done something so generous and kind. Thank you, thank you. Chris

[@hevans7020]

As the mother of a son with Angelman Syndrome who is unable to talk verbally, your video was such a blessing to me. It is a reminder to me that I need to continue to learn his language. Blessings to you!

[@fjarle]

There's not much left to say after watching that. The most important film on youtube - or, probably, on any tube. Discovery should pick this one up as one of those shorts between programs. I got a wake-up call by watching this video, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't alone needing one. Everyone should see this. It's the first time I've ever seen your language explained in a way I could understand, and it's utterly fascinating. Thanks for helping me understand what I wasn't able to grasp before :)

[@jennymacdownunder]

Dear SilentMiaow Your video affected me profoundly. I am now deeply aware that I have been missing the point of perhaps many people's communication. I am sorry that it has taken me so long to realise how privileged I am within the linguistic / behavioural paradigm we have constructed.Thankyou for posting this video.

[@eveghost]

Your video has really moved me. I have worked with people with autism for many years and I have never assumed that just because I don't understand their language that they were any less aware of my own interractions and any less deserving of respect. I am delighted to hear from your point of view, which confirms what many of my cherished clients were never able to tell me.

[@omagine]

This is incredibly important. I'm SO glad it's here. It reminded me of how deeply and freely i could think as a child, and how language has gradually eaten away at that. I suddenly feel as if I can really understand the autistic people i know, and appreciate them more. I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't see the amazing significance of this film. THANK YOU!

[@meowkie]

I just watched your showing on 360. I was touched in a very emotional way when I realized exactly how...wrong I am about the human race and its differences. I'm eternally thankful for your message, and that I received it at an early age (17), because it's taught me more than any thing or anyone ever will. Thank you SO much for sharing this with those of us who overlook the capabilities of our fellow individuals. For my thoughts and actions prior to hearing your message, I am so, so sorry.

[@moonglow38]

I love your singing..its very calming and lulling and shows a real talent there. Plus the 'added' sound effects as you interact with your environment. I didn't see any of this as mindless, but saw it as stimulation, something we all do in different ways. Many people are just more sullen about it is all. Thanks for the wonderful enlightening video!

[@stephaniestoneb]

Thank you Amanda , I have a 3 year old autustic son , he has speech issues. This gives me hope that someday I will be able to communicate with him. I watch him interact with his surroundings alot, I absolutely know that his is amazingly intelligent.I encourage his sensory exploration, and I constantly wonder what he is thinking, I hope one day he can tell me in a way that I can understand. God Bless you!

[@MusicalAspie]

I am so glad that somebody said all this. You so clearly articulated the things that have been bothering me for a while. I really enjoy your videos. They are very insightful. Please keep doing them.

[@ruiner2501]

i just want to hug the lady in the video for the courage to say this. I wish people, including myself, had the balls to say things like this. Thankyou so much

[@oliver_twistor]

Wow. I've never before thought in the way that you're saying in the end of your video. That it's also we who can verbally express words that are limited in our communication skills, if we can't speak your language. Thanks for giving me that insight! I'm born with a disability myself and though I'm able to express myself in a language the rest of my world understand, I feel that people around me doesn't think highly of my intellect or thoughts. I'm out of space here, so I just say THANK YOU!

[@scose]

The video in your native language was very comforting and beautiful. The sounds you used go well with your singing, it's kind of meditative. I would love to see a longer video of music.

[@HaywoodBrown]

After reading Temple Grandin's "Animals in Translation", I feel as if a window has been opened for me. Amanda, your visual and audio vinyette gives even more elucidation on the experience of autism. From my own personal experiences with autism, you have done a great service for the alternative language people out there. Kudos.

[@Rememberyouaredreaming]

Truly amazing. It's good to have concepts shattered right in front of your face.

[@awollangk]

I am not autistic, but I found the first part of this video very soothing. This is odd because I am very sensitive to sounds and tend to be irritated quite easily by anything jarring or discordant or even out of key. I also found myself fascinated by the imagery. I have a very active imagination and could easily imagine myself doing many of the things you do in this video if it weren't for my own inhibitions. Thank you for posting this.

[@boudica82]

Thank you so much for making this video. I work with youth that have a range of disabilities, some verbal but still their communication style is often overlooked. I am going to share this with my students and encourage them to make and post their own videos. Thank you so very much!

[@ReiYuriko]

I found this so beautiful and calming. I do all of the things in this video on a regular basis and it is so wonderful to have someone who understands and doesn't think I'm a "freak."

[@rachael596]

thank you for posting this video i have two atustic sons who are non verbal to the normal world i seem to understand them just fine .. this video was completely normal for me as with a few of the others you have posted i understand them completly but only because my son's have taught me your language.. but to learn it you have to care enough to listen

[@astrotter]

Thank you for this extremely enlightened and intimate glimpse into your mind. While I agree with the linguists who question whether your behavior truly constitutes "language", you demonstrate a capability for a highly sophisticated, unique and fluent dialog with the world that very few people could dare to claim. You call into question whether common language is a necessary trait of being fully human. It is a profound, and fully human, question, which you pose with grace and eloquence.

[@replacer]

This is the most interesting perspective on stimming I've ever heard.

[@yrfilms]

Thank you for this beautiful short film! It's the most amazing and groundbreaking piece I have seen so far here. I wish to hear more from the unheard voices amongst us who can teach us a thing or two about ourselves and our environment. I wish you all the best and glad you reached out.

[@LiberalViewer]

This video is excellent! I am giving this video 5 stars and I am adding it to my list of favorites! I am subscribing to your videos, too. Thank you so much for giving me this insight into another way of thinking :-)

[@bbrown218]

Hello Amanda, I suppose it is fitting that after watching your video words fail to express how poignant and insightful it is. Thank you for making this available to myself and the entire world. You have fantastically presented us all with the opportunity to think on how we have caste human thought and interaction. Best of luck with your activism and fight for rights - it is truely a fight to salvage human thought from despair.

[@LadyUk]

You are my first KZbin subscription. This video has touched me in sooo many ways. I am a scientist who has always had a keen curiosity in both Autism and Language, and this has really been the first time I have seen someone put it all together so beautifully. I have embedded this into my own personal blog in hopes that people will become more tolerant and learn to appreciate your language and understand Autism even more. Keep up the great work!

[@sustainablelove]

Thank you for taking the time to learn that language enough to say this message...it is unfortunate that this message even needed to be made, but as it did and does (need to be said...in a language they will understand) thank you, thank you.

[@magicalmiriam]

Loved the video, i can relate to you alot, especially what you meant by when your intereacting with the water how it interacts back. I find this with many objects and things.

[@dankaness]

Beautiful and profound. You expressed so clearly everything that I only felt and could not relate to others about my brother who has Down syndrome and about us as humans unable to understand so many things, yet thinking we are somehow the pinnacle of creation. Thank you for your video and your statement. It is much needed.

[@KristiCurry]

Thank you for your efforts in making this video. I am just learning about Asperger's with a family member and have found resources very limited for adults with Asperger's or Autism. There are quite a few Aspies out there and now they have a voice that is heard. I just gave a speech about our experiences and want people to realize that different does not mean inferior. You confirmed that. Thanks!

[@artiststranger]

This is just a beautiful video. Thank you so much for opening your world up to me.

[@Dagmary]

silentmiaow - Your point is clear to me. I am glad to have seen these videos and am sharing them with friends. Also, your singing voice is a lullaby to my mind and body.

[@michaelrlevin]

Wow. I truly learned something from this video. I'm going to watch all of your videos, silentmiaow, and forward them to friends. I have a nephew with Asperger's (sp?). Your video helps me understand a little better how he perceives the world and interacts with his environment. You are a terrific writer, even by the standards of a "native speaker." Please keep making videos. This is true art.

[@JoeWise2]

I've been trying to tell people (for my project) that you can literally "play the Internet." You just did that more eloquently than I could have imagined. We are better by your presence.

[@belladonnalin]

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to both see this video and have your native language shared with me. There are many people, myself included, who may hide behind "good intentions". But the fact is, you are correct, too many of us want people with cognative or communicative differences to be like "us" who do not have them and do not ask what we could learn from being like you. I am grateful for this chance to learn. Thank you.

[@TVS1461]

just for a moment of letting me share in your world, my world has been forever changed. Thanks, Christina

[@daemonka]

Thank you for this video, for the hope, enough to try and courage us to understand you and other people who use other ways of communication than I do. I have experienced glimpses of non-verbal communication in my life, and always felt that this is something important. Your effort will help us all to gain a better understanding of who we are, how our minds work, and in how many different ways we are all connected. That's huge.

[@raevenfrost]

Hi Amanda, I just saw the CNN article about you and wanted to come here and see your video. You are a blessing. Thank you so much for giving us this tremendous gift. This is a great example of the benefits of technology and the windows of understanding that can be opened between us. Thank you again, you are awesome!!

[@megabigblur]

Baggs' description of the way she interacts with the world as a "language" is a powerful metaphor to me because I'm living in a foreign country where some people can be a little xenophobic. If you've been a foreigner anywhere, or been surrounded by people who don't speak your language, or in any way been alienated from those around you, think about how that feels - having it implied that you're less of a person.

[@toasterrodeo]

Thank you, thank you, Amanda. I read the article in Wired magazine and then saw your videos. My daughter is autistic, and what they would call 'high-functioning.' I love the way she thinks even though it's a deficit on MY end for not always understanding. Thank you for helping me be a better mother and a better person.

[@bondservant007]

Joyful noises. My sister-in-law suffers from a mental handicap, but she loves music .. sounds ... of any kind. You should here us singing along to the radio, or making up our "own tunes" loud and off key. She enJOYS this. It brings her JOY. ;-)

[@cleverVideoMaker]

I've been thinking all day about your video. And I am back. My perception of things has been expanded many folds since watching this. Thanks for such wonderful gift.

[@Brachiopod]

The creation of art isn't necessary intentional, and the artist doesn't necessary see herself as an artist. All that is required to create art is the desire to express oneself, irreguardless of whether anyone watches, or cares. In the case of silentmiaow's videos, this is the greatest art. Read these posts and see how deeply this self-expression has changed people who view it.

[@SandyChase]

I am working on a news story about technology designed to help autistic kids learn to communicate (in "our" language). Your video really opened my eyes about what communication means to someone with autism. I saw the WIRED article this month. I think there may be a change coming about how people think about language and thought and autism. Thank you for making this video. Good work.

[@IvyRoad]

Thank you Amanda. This is a beautiful video in every respect. Not only is it an important statement about Autism but it is also a work of art. I was mesmerized by the first part. Not because I found your gestures at all odd but because they were beautiful and your editing was marvelous.

[@martineri2000]

So good Amanda, I saw you on CNN channel down here in Mexico, and i instantly tried to find your blog and page at youtube, to see what they were talking about, its really interesting to see what some people think like and what they see the world like, you show me a way of thinking just too different from everything i had seen before, Cheers Amanda i hope you make another video of yours, very soon Martin From Veracruz, Mexico

[@mgo1954]

Thank you. You have given a lot of people hope all over the world. Please tell everyone where to get that machine. Thank you again. You will never be forgotten. Bless you.

[@grandmabev]

Silentmiawo, Thank you for sharing how restictive some of us can be in our view of the world. Your vid caused me to pause and reevaluate how I approach those who thing, feel, or act differently from me. Prejudice comes in many forms, and sometimes we forget.

[@beelzebozo69]

Hi Amanda, I saw your story on CNN, so I checked out your video blog here. You're an amazing person. Thanks for sharing. I saw your blog website, too. You're a great writer! Keep up the good work! Cheers, Beelzebozo

[@amykso]

Amanda, I think you are a BRILLIANT person. I was so moved by your CNN special and wanted to check this out. THANK YOU for educating ALL OF US about your world. It is amazing how we can all be so close minded. Thank you for making us see the "light". May God Bless You!!!

[@rockxaction]

Your video is both haunting and maybe a little eerie, but simultaneously so beautiful. It's a little difficult for me to wrap my mind around having a constant touch or song-based communication with my environment, but I feel I've learned something. Hopefully that was the point.

[@huijingwu]

Continued..I really enjoyed the slinky, the paint ladder and the running water. I searched for you here because you were featured on the news and I needed to see your video for myself. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.(continued)

[@soderlundmaria]

Beautiful! Thank you! This expresses so well thoughts and feelings I myself often fail to be able to express. Much do to the confining nature of spoken and written language. Thank you.

[@ariannasage]

In many ways, your ability to interact with the world humbles me. For many of us, it takes great effort and struggle on many levels to reach that sort of connectedness. You are my sister, and in viewing your video, I realize how much their is to learn, and how much beauty there is in the world that is not appreciated. Fantastic video.

[@purplesop]

Dear Amanda, I saw the short on you on CNN last night, and was compelled to find your video. THANK YOU SO MUCH! What you shared is important far beyond understanding autism. It speaks to your special gift of experiencing all aspects of environment with each sense and tool at your disposal. We all should develop the skills you have.

[@chrispypie]

This is fabulous. I sent it to all of my friends. I always wonder how people would view things if they had different/no label. For example, the beginning of this could very well have been and art piece in a museum if it had been labeled as such. Thanks for sharing this!

[@WolfAxle]

I want to thank you for completely changing my understanding of the diagnostic label "functioning autistic"... now I see that really, those persons labeled as such are comprimising themselves to function with persons such as myself.

[@JKVisFX]

Oh my god! Your video resonated with me on a deep and personal level. Inside, in many ways, I am like you and I felt that deeply with your video. I am "very high functioning" autistic (Asperger's Syndrome). Though I can communicate "normally," dealing with the "normal world" is exceedingly difficult for me because of who I am on the inside. Thank you so, so, much for sharing this video so that others might begin to have some sort of understanding of what it is like for us inside.

[@DennisWoodSD]

Thank you for sharing your statement of human interaction. My 3 year old twin nephews have been found to characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, and are enjoying life in the splendor of their individuality. Being given opportunities for exposure to many different arenas of learning, they are bright and shining lights of love in our family. You are a brave and creative soul, opening your life and thoughts to the world. May peace and joy be yours. Dennis (San Diego, CA)

[@1st1anarkissed]

Your videos are enlightening and explosive. I hope that they expand to a larger venue as the message contained within is not only vital, but extremely well demonstrated. It is as though you've taken a special role with your life of reaching out through the barriers to touch the normals of the world and lift our consciousness if at all possible.

[@theleaningelm]

Thank you for putting this up. My brother was diagnosed as being mildly autistic when he was younger, and while intensive speech therapy has made him "open up" to the world, it has also caused him to lose many skills that he had before. Thank you for letting us into your world.

[@lukasz]

thank you for sharing. you've changed the way i see the world and its people, your are an amazing, amazing person. and i mean this from my heart.

[@AndrewDoe777]

I understood you, even without the words. You are beautiful. Thanks for sharing. I'm afraid that soon, people who don't go along with the dominant language or thoughts will soon be extinguished. I don't want to live a life where I have to speak someone else's language and ignore my own. What can I do?

[@millerceleste]

Thank you so much for this generous, loving, insight that shares your rich language with us who live in such a more limited world. I am a dancer and am drawn to the power of your kinesthetic interactions and conversations with the world. Thank you thank you thank you

[@biognome]

Amanda, I saw your story on Dateline this week, and was deeply touched. I have a "low-level" autistic cousin in Montana whose mother is visiting my family this week. I told her about your story, and she will definitely be viewing your video very soon. Thank you for posting. It has certainly made me see things from a new perspective.

[@Brachiopod]

You are a true artist. Your collection deserves to be placed in one of the great galleries or museums. Thank you for sharing.

[@ecinajx19]

I enjoyed your video very much. I hope that you feel some of the same amusement and pleasure that I do when I watch you "speaking your language," especially flapping what looked like a grocery store receipt. Thanks for making this video.

[@thelionandtheram]

Amanda, I just saw you on CNN international. I live in Paris, France. BRAVO! You have opened a door to understanding. I applaud you and wish you further success in changing the perception people have of individuals living with autism. Much Admiration, Ron

[@ToddBradley404]

Outstanding. This is one of the best, most interesting short films I've seen, and definitely the most thought-provoking thing I've seen on KZbin.

[@mightym2]

I have watched my son try to go between "his world" and "our world" for years. Your video helps all of us understand your language and, hopefully, our own. You have made a grest translation for us. Please post more videos!

[@cisum135]

I am so glad to have seen your video and really want everyone to see it. I am so fascinated by your different levels of communicating and of thinking, but I also wonder which aspects of normal confused people, like myself, you share. Do you experience music similarly, or is your constant communication with your surroundings a form of music on its own? You mentioned that you can sing along with what is around you; I wonder if you can describe that any further. (to be continued!)

[@chubbychibi]

You have opened my mmind to a whole other way of thinking.. and connected so many incomplete thoughts of my own. This video was great. thank you

[@punkgrl325]

Wow, you are so absolutely right. I have ADHD which, while it is very different from autism, still results in people misjudging me and treating me like my brain's defective or something, but it's not defective, just different. Thanks, this video really encouraged me to be myself and I hope that more people will treat you fairly and respect you for the wonderful person that you are.

[@Cookie-loves]

thank you for reaching out to those of us who never understood or even realized the existence of your native language. your gesture has not gone without notice or appreciation. thank you for teaching me something new and beautiful today. how universal your message to all open our ears, our minds, our hearts to all that we do not immediately understand.

[@EmilyElle]

[@couldbejustme]

thank you so much for making this video. my son does all the same things you were doing. he is non-verbal so he can not explain things to me. we just called the things he did "stemming". you have helped me understand him more than any specialist has. thanks again.

[@StudioCi]

I read the article about you in Wired and looked for this video. Thank you for posting this, as I find it a valuable insight into how autistic people see people like myself. I used to work with autistic children and although I could see that there was immense intelligence, I could not always find a way to communicate back and forth with them.

[@canadianprincesss]

I am simply blown away by this video. Thank you so much for doing this..for sharing a bit of your world with us. Autism has touched millions of lives, it has touched my own family. Thank you and bless you for sharing your world with us.

[@DarkRockFairy]

I first heard about you and this video in the 'New Scientist' magazine and I totally understand your point of view. Just because people think or act differently than others they are considered not to have a real personality, and I absolutely agree that this is the wrong way to look at things. Congrats on having the courage to post this video, it's really touching :)

[@debbiez112]

I think it is such a wonderful gift you have given everyone in doing this video. Thank you for learning our language and helping me to understand yours.

[@regierufflife]

hi there! i just wanted to say that your video was quite amazing! it helped me learn different kinds of communication and "what is literacy" in a different aspect! i hope that you are doing well! keep up with your blogs, you have so much to say and i think its wonderful! thanks so much!

[@LittleHiggins]

This is amazing. I am a sophomore in college and right now I am trying to figure out a concentration which happens to be on language, both visually and verbally. I am writing a paper on how sign language is a language just as any other language. After watching your video I feel like my eyes have opened even wider. Thank you for letting me in. This is amazing.

[@grinchf15]

Thank you so much for showing me a different kind of communication. I saw you last night on CNN with Dr. Gupta. Best of all to you always. Love in light and darkness, Jennifer

[@hughwilson]

Fascinating video. I saw the show on CNN last night, and so checked out this page. First up well done. Great points. However, if I may throw in my 2c. I would change the word "language" to "expression", as I think you'd find it more accurate. Artists express in similar ways to what you are describing. Interacting with soundings and expressing an emotional response. Some of that expression uses language: music, poetic words. But expression is not limited to language. More next post....

[@808poetry]

Amanda, In my language...I am at a loss for words! There are no words to accurately articulate your beauty, culture, and beautiful language!!! I want to say thank you so much for posting this video! Please keep posting...you are teaching me so much! ~Chelle

[@nemof]

Thank you for this wonderful video. It tells me something I always held to be self evident, but it's great to see that it is so. We communicate with others and the word on a bewildering number of levels, and if others think that what you are doing isn't a form of communication then that is their loss. I would be very exited to see more videos like this!

[@lbryar1]

I am so happy to see that you are opening so many people's eyes to such an important matter. You're an inspiration. I would love to hear more of your opinions. Keep doing what you're doing.

[@ostrogodo]

Please, tell us more. This is the best thing i ever saw. In many ways. And thanks the internet with de free content...I would NEVER see such thing here in Brazil. Thanks again anda again

[@13ShawtyBoo13]

You make perfect since. I often wonder: people who do not understand other peoples way of communication and think that the language they cannot understand is the wrong one, yet the other person who is in fact participating in the language the other person cannot understand, if they merged their intellect minus the confusion and comprehended both understandings, what would make of it? But, I am in appreciation to you for sharing some thought, intellect, and wisdom to whomever chooses to watch.

[@JohnPritzlaff]

This video is very informative. It opens my attention to a whole world that I previously had no knowledge of. Thank you.

[@Serge165]

You have said what I have been trying to say for years exactly in that way. Even if I can speak, that matters not, it's only ONE form of language. Your language is not words or symbols, its sensory, it is beautiful

[@stutrek]

I have found your videos very interesting. This one made me wonder why most people don't communicate with their environment the same way. It took a while, but I think I figured it out: Most of the time I don't have anything to say to water or any of the other things in my environment. Just like a person, if I don't have anything to say I'll simply not talk.

[@askmisscris]

this is a beautiful video - it really shows how restricted humans are to only accepting one form of communication and although your body may not tell us "I am a thinking person," your words prove that you are. I loved this. Thank you.

[@kenrg]

There are so many interesting concepts in this video, and ways of thinking that are new to me, yet should be so obvious. Very much a life and mind changing video.

[@dearmat23]

Thank you so much for limiting your mode of communication briefly to translate for us all the vastness of your interaction with life. Love, Mat x

[@moonglow38]

also just so you know, I have an L.D. myself much worse then my son's and because I wasn't dx in school and didn't get the help I needed, school became a living hell for me. It crushed my self esteems, I grew up thinking I was stupid and worthless because I couldn't learn like the other kids. I didn't want to see this happen to my son. While he still struggles in some areas, he can now read above his grade level and school doesn't make him cry anymore.

[@Ms.Jinxie]

what a fabulous expose on what happens and how we have missed the boat in our approach to people we perceive as having disabilities. As someone with a severe mental condition caused by extreme trauma as a child I must agree with you that the outside world does not understand and prefers to fear us, instead of to celebrate our different abilities and our shockingly sane ways of thinking and coping with the world around us. Thank you for being brave and for sharing your world with our world.

[@lascaux1]

Amanda, Your video is artistic and enlightening. To the degree your insights and values are understood, you are making the world a better place for us all. Best wishes, Kristi

[@SpyguyTech]

Your interaction with your world is amazing, and I think that your insight is the first step to creating a world where we all can appreciate and embrace these interactions with out world and society. Although not from autism, I know many who have suffered massive strokes and other devastating damages to their brains, and it is amazing to meet these people and understand how they communicate with their surroundings. I hope you will continue to spread your message, and help the world understand.

[@24KZone]

I watched this video after seeing your story on CNN last night. You are a beautiful soul. It is good that you can share a glimpse of your experience, your constant communication with the universe. I believe we are all musical, vibrational frequencies of source energy. It is a beautiful symphony when we are in harmony, but discordant when we are not. In this video you seem to be dancing to the beautiful symphony of the universe.