(Okay, not very reflective. But it does get the point across, methinks. Yay for alternative methods of communication, and also yay for cats.)

It’s so fascinating when folks (eh, pardon my colloquialisms) Confuse perceptual reality with empirical reality, and then act as though false empirical data was supplied. It’s also frustrating- No one should have to explain their entire life story *just* to provide context.

(If this makes no sense, let me know. I haven’t slept in 24 hours, and while it typically takes longer than that for Sleep Deprivation to hit I never know.)

How is your experience with standard language? Was learning it hard/easy/pleasurable?

You know, I was taught that ‘language’ has to have a symbolic meaning, a message. What do you think about this?

When you feel your environment, are you communicating with it? How does that communication occur?

I know I’m ignorant but I can help but ask to know more. Sorry if I offend you in some way. Your video really made me see that I live in darkness in a lot of aspects, it was a real challenge to my view of language and communication.

Sorry for my bad english, it’s not my native language either.

Lots of autistic people I know seem to have been partially raised by cats though. :-)

I was sitting in a lecture today beside my boyfriend, and we were watching a documentary on gay black men. It was made by gay black men in the late 80’s. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0103099/) At one point an individual is narrating his expreience with interratial dating. I sat there and thought to myself “if anybody in this room were to regard my boyfriend and I, they would see what this man is saying.” Then I thought “This film describes our relationship in no way at all.”

Maybe people need to learn to ask questions. It may take longer, it’s worth the time though.

She also communicated with me vocally without using words, and with body language. Plus, of course, by typing.

You know how a cat will be napping on the bed, and then suddenly leap up and be looking out the window? And you go, whoa, what was that? Amanda kinda moves like that sometimes, which also points to her being part cat.

I love the picture by the way. ‘Cat in Bath With Banana Boxes’ would be such a great title for any kind of art installation!

Sometimes when I write about my own life, I read back over what I’ve written and find myself thinking, “Is all that really true? Am I really like that?” Because some of it sounds, well, self-contradictory. Like you, I find it impossible to describe my “functioning” level — this depends on the environment, the time of day, where I am, how tired I am, how much I’m attempting to do, etc. I have always been able to speak (at least in the sense of forming words and sounds) but this speech has not always been communicative — originally it was very echolalic, and sometimes it still is.

I have been in bizarre situations due to my inability to function consistently in a manner other people consistently think is “normal” — I can go from working contentedly on a project to curled up and whimpering because I heard a noise I couldn’t stand or because someone asked me a question before I had any words to answer it with. Sometimes I almost, almost wish I did not have such “variable functioning” because it makes it all the more difficult to explain changes in my demeanor and responses to stimuli. How can I explain that on some days I can have a verbal exchange, but on other days I might as well just type everything because that’s the only way the language is going to make sense? How can I explain that yes, I can work at a desk in a quiet area and perform as well as anyone else at my level of job experience, but I cannot drive a car, travel alone, or any number of other things that are expected of someone my age / position? It’s like I have to work twice as hard just to convince people that the variability is real — and not some sort of weird manipulative tactic, and not something I just “need to get over”. (Note again that this isn’t a “poor-me” statement…it’s a fact.)

I also know what you mean about the difficulty in relating one’s life story: lives are not neatly or easily described overall, simply because so much can happen in the space of a year, and certainly more in a decade or two. I do not fear being embarrassed or thought of as foolish, but I do feel some sense of fear of being misinterpreted because in any given writing or answer to a question, I cannot possibly provide all the context I have in my head.

The thing is, I was rather surprised to find out that other people tend to “fill in the blanks” when they hear stories: this is something I only learned about recently, and something I myself have never done. If someone tells me something all I know is what they told me. Any sort of “filling in the blanks” would feel like wild speculation so I just don’t bother.

Not that I’m complaining.

so… yeah. Even me who tries to understand, and who likes you, has a hard time not putting you into categories that you don’t belong in.

The wheelchair thing might be because I have only really known people who always need their wheelchair and can’t walk at all…

And I always did suspect that you were a cat. You have slipped up and admitted to meowing before, you know. :-) Anne has met you, I think she said you meowed.