Via Burnt Out Adjunct I read about Amanda Baggs’ description of her interaction with her environment is as viable a mode of expression as spoken language. Wary of waxing utopianist about the benefits of technology, the assistive tools used by Ms. Baggs and others who might not otherwise be able to communicate their thoughts to others (i.e., where technology tools serve as vehicles for translation) are examples of the connective powers of ICT. Other research on autism indicates that there might be lessons to learned about how we, meaning all humans, learn to use language. It has been noted that at the same time autistic people have difficulty learning language, autism might also create problems grasping the social functions of language. In fact, pragmatic
function of language is the most challenging aspect of learning a language to grasp, and while many of us take for granted our interpretation of nonverbal and tonal clues to language, these are also especially nuanced. When contextualized accordingly, though Baggs’ video contains sounds and motion that we may not have access to interpreting without her key, they are no more concrete than the nonverbal and tonality of “normal” communication.