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Mel Baggs

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Amelia Baggs (born Amanda Baggs; 1980, California, United States) is an American autism rights activist. She reportedly does not speak and has been labeled as having "low-functioning" autism.[1][2][3][4][5]

Early life and education

A Campbell, California native, Baggs went to Center for Talented Youth summer programs as a child and, in the mid-1990s, was a student at Simon's Rock College in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.[6]

Activism

In January 2007, Baggs posted a video on YouTube entitled In My Language[7] describing her experiences as an autistic person, which became the subject of several articles on CNN.[8][9][10] She also guest-blogged about her video on Anderson Cooper's blog[11] and answered questions from the audience via email.[12]

About Baggs, Sanjay Gupta said:[9]

She told me that because she doesn't communicate with conventional spoken word, she is written off, discarded and thought of as mentally retarded. Nothing could be further from the truth. 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.

Personal life

On Baggs' blogs, she writes about other disabilities that she has been diagnosed and misdiagnosed with, including bipolar disorder, dissociative disorder, psychotic disorder, schizophrenia[6] and gastroparesis.[13]

Baggs lives in a public housing project managed by the Burlington Housing Authority in Burlington, Vermont.[14][15]

In June 2014, Amanda Baggs legally changed her name to Amelia Baggs and goes by Mel.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ Wolman, David. "yeah, i'm autistic You got a problem with that?" (PDF). Wired. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  2. ^ "Autism Movement Seeks Acceptance, Not Cures". NPR. 2006-06-26. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
  3. ^ "Interview with 'Asperger's Are Us‏'". Thesomervillenews.com. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
  4. ^ Erin Anderssen. "'Autistics': We don't want a cure". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
  5. ^ "Kindergartners Vote Classmate With Disabilities 'Off the Island'". Digitaljournal.com. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
  6. ^ a b Amy S.F. Lutz (2013-01-16). "Autism neurodiversity: Does facilitated communication work, and who speaks for the severely autistic?". Slate.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  7. ^ Baggs, Amelia. "In My Language" on YouTube. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  8. ^ Gajilan, A. Chris. "Living with autism in a world made for others". CNN, February 22, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
  9. ^ a b Gupta, Sanjay. "Behind the veil of autism". CNN, 20 February 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
  10. ^ Abedin, Shahreen. "Video reveals world of autistic woman". CNN, Anderson Cooper blog, 21 February 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
  11. ^ Cooper, Anderson. "Why we should listen to 'unusual' voices". CNN, Anderson Cooper blog, February 21, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
  12. ^ "Amanda Baggs answers your questions". CNN, Anderson Cooper blog, 22 February 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
  13. ^ Baggs, Amelia. "Feeding tubes and weird ideas".
  14. ^ Wolman, David (2013-03-28). "The Truth About Autism: Scientists Reconsider What They Think They Know". Wired.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  15. ^ "The Language of Autism". Well.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  16. ^ [1]

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