baffling

We were talking about languages today and I learned about a language that is made up entirely of whistling. I don't know what it's called and I don't remember where it's spoken. It's related (?) to Spanish. Not sure how this works. Anyway. So I heard a clip of it. And then I started wondering. I can't really whistle. Not like those people. In this culture, a kid that doesn't know how to whistle would not be able to communicate. He would be considered retarded. Hmm. What does that say about the kids that our culture considers retarded for not communicating the way that we communicate? Are they capable of communicating in some other, equally intelligent, but different way? So they could actually be just as (if not more) intelligent than you or me, they just don't know how to speak the way we do?

whoa. This stuff blows my mind. This is beyond a cultural mindset. The concept of such a different mode of communication is hard for me to grasp.

My brother dug this video up a while ago. It's about the way that autistics think and communicate and function. It was fascinating to see that what goes on in this woman's head - who by our standards would be called severely disabled - is actually quite sensible and highly intelligent.