Inactive Amanda/Amelia Baggs / witharoundsmoothstone / ballastexistenz - moonfaced malingering autistic "activist"/SJW

[Sweetpeaa]

Autism is actually somewhat of a smart choice in that it varies greatly from person to person. There are people who are non-verbal and need constant care (but may be able to communicate reasonably well with certain supports), doctors and scientists who are slightly eccentric and everything in between. And it's not necessarily obvious to the naked eye, although Amanda really made sure to stim and be as physically repulsive as possible for added effect.

Also, in the 1990s and early 2000s when Amanda first started her LARP, there was a lot less knowledge about the autism spectrum. I don't even know if people were using the term "on the spectrum" then. She could (and did) easily play on people's overall ignorance of the condition in order to sell them bullshit about how all autism doctors are quacks and therapy is evil. The internet itself was also very much in its infancy, so fact checking and "receipts" weren't really a thing then either. As public awareness of autism grew, her facade began to crumble and she had to switch to physical problems such as feeding tubes which had become and are still all the rage in the munchie community. I personally believe that it was these unnecessary invasive surgeries that eventually to her death from respiratory failure. Unnecessary surgery has a dangerous effect on the body, hence why it's called "unnecessary".

I think if she had started her scam in, say, 2006 instead of around 1996, people would have caught on much quicker.

She could never get a traditional Kanner's diagnosis of Autism. That's diagnosed between age 2-5. I didn't say she couldn't get on the spectrum - of course she could, but with Asperger's. If she never had trouble meeting developmental mile stones as a child she'd never be able to get the type of autism diagnosis she coveted so badly (''low functioning'' she called it).

 

[You's On Dat Ole Bullshit]

She could never get a traditional Kanners diagnosis of Autism. That's diagnosed between age 2-5. I didn't say she couldn't get on the spectrum - of course she could, but with Asperger's. If she never had trouble meeting developmental mile stones as a child she's never be able to get the type of autism diagnosis she coveted so badly (''low functioning'' she called it).

Exactly! Amanda knew that, but in 1995, few others outside of the medical community (and even some in there too) would have. That was exactly the type of misunderstanding of autism that she exploited for over a decade to keep the game going. A little knowledge, as they say, is indeed a dangerous thing.

 

[Sweetpeaa]

Exactly! Amanda knew that, but in 1995, few others outside of the medical community (and even some in there too) would have. That was exactly the type of misunderstanding of autism that she exploited for over a decade to keep the game going. A little knowledge, as they say, is indeed a dangerous thing.

She was able to fool people in the 2000's with her documentary and ''computer voice'' interviews.

Did you know she testified to a Canadian senate committee? Something something, disabled Autism advocacy rights blah blah blah. She really did get a good ''munch'' in the aughts out of all of this. I wonder if she was satisfied.

 

[Shanndog]

I think the fact Amanda started using the internet when she was very young is one of the biggest contribution factors in her absurd behavior. She learned about anonymity, about how people can be gullible and believe in anything they see on the internet, and for sure, she read about mental illness and autism online. She then put two and two together and realized how easy it would be to fake having an ''invisible'' mental illness like autism. As people have said, at the time she started with the fake bullshit, autism was little understood and people would %100 believe a fat girl with crossed eyes screaming blood murder and flapping around would be autistic without a second thought.

But then autism got ''mainstream'' and a lot of doctors and therapists knew what was up with it. So her facade began to crack more and more with each day. Which left her desperate and doing everything in her hands to be relevant again, til she died from probably some kind of complication from one of her many ''medical procedures''.

That would be tragic if she wasn't such an egoistic evil person.

yes, yes and yes ! agreed, that is so true, she started to fade into other disabilities mostly focused on physical and health issues as the 'tism'' fad wore off. amanda was very sick and she was genuinely a horrible person-- manipulative and rude as hell too in real life and in general !

She was able to fool people in the 2000's with her documentary and ''computer voice'' interviews.

Did you know she testified to a Canadian senate committee? Something something, disabled Autism advocacy rights blah blah blah. She really did get a good ''munch'' in the aughts out of all of this. I wonder if she was satisfied.

i remember that yeahs he traveled to canada as well as gave a number of presentations at conventions and advocacy groups, as well as flipped out going full sperg-tard and screamed , pulled her own hair at a speaking engagement on camera, in front of everyone, i just feel so strongly that was staged and purposeful so everyone could see just how ''oh so disabled she was ''

 

[You's On Dat Ole Bullshit]

i remember that yeahs he traveled to canada as well as gave a number of presentations at conventions and advocacy groups, as well as flipped out going full sperg-tard and screamed , pulled her own hair at a speaking engagement on camera, in front of everyone, i just feel so strongly that was staged and purposeful so everyone could see just how ''oh so disabled she was ''

Was the Canadian conference the same thing shown in the CNN piece where she had a tantrum and went outside to "chase shadows".

I can see why CNN soon took the video of her interview down. Not only was Amanda outed as a fraud, but it also shows that the show's research staff really dropped the ball. It isn't hard to do even a cursory search of Amanda's internet history and see that nothing checks out. The biggest clue is. and should have been, that NO ONE BECOMES AUTISTIC IN THEIR TEENS! The CNN transcript mentions something about her case being "without medical precedent". Yeah, that's because the shit can't happen.

Medicine and psychology are certainly not perfect by any means, but they're not just meaningless concepts that people can just push aside when they don't coincide with how they wish things were. Practitioners don't spend years in college and grad school to have some fat, hairy wannabe sped call them oppressors for not feeding into her bullshit.

 

[Shanndog]

Was the Canadian conference the same thing shown in the CNN piece where she had a tantrum and went outside to "chase shadows".

I can see why CNN soon took the video of her interview down. Not only was Amanda outed as a fraud, but it also shows the show's research staff really dropped the ball. It isn't hard to do even a cursory search of Amanda's internet history and see that nothing checks out. The biggest clue is. and should have been, that NO ONE BECOMES AUTISTIC IN THEIR TEENS! The CNN transcript mentions something about her case being "without medical precedent". Yeah, that's because the shit can't happen.

Medicine and psychology are certainly not perfect by any means, but they're not just meaningless concepts that people can just push aside when they don't coincide with how they wish things were. Practitioners don't spend years in college and grad school to have some fat, hairy wannabe sped call them oppressors for not feeding into her bullshit.

she had 2 videos, i had actually recorded them to share at a advocacy convention myself--- but when i found all the holes in her so called story and disabilities, and found out she was a fraud, i destroyed the tape and tossed it in the trash lol,

i remember having a conversation with amanda, she told me she ''did not want her video segments shared because '' they got so much wrong and mis worded a lot of things'' and i quote !

THANK YOU ! exactly, yeah no, medicine is not perfect, but still even in the 90s and early 2000s they knew then you dont '' become autistic, especially not in your teens and even actual autistics while it is possible to loose ground and regress, NO ONE, i repeat NO ONE regresses from high achieving thriving genius to to the point of becoming a drooling screeching blithering idiot .

hahaha i remember the chasing shadows bit... oooohh hohohoo yes, more, see ? look for disabled i am,i cannot help my eccentric weird childish behavior BULLSHIT ! lol


i agree

 

[AnOminous]

Practitioners don't spend years in college and grad school to have some fat, hairy wannabe sped call them oppressors for not feeding into her bullshit.

Unfortunately, these days, they fucking do. This is going to discourage quality people from having anything to do with these professions as even medicine becomes "client-driven" customer is always right bullshit instead of a profession with actual ethics.

 

[Shanndog]

Unfortunately, these days, they fucking do. This is going to discourage quality people from having anything to do with these professions as even medicine becomes "client-driven" customer is always right bullshit instead of a profession with actual ethics.

this ! 100 %

 

[Leonard Helplessness]

Unfortunately, these days, they fucking do. This is going to discourage quality people from having anything to do with these professions as even medicine becomes "client-driven" customer is always right bullshit instead of a profession with actual ethics.

A huge chunk of psychotherapy nowadays seems to be dedicated to making the client need more psychotherapy.

 

[You's On Dat Ole Bullshit]

Unfortunately, these days, they fucking do. This is going to discourage quality people from having anything to do with these professions as even medicine becomes "client-driven" customer is always right bullshit instead of a profession with actual ethics.

True. It certainly doesn't help that the very young people in their late teens and early to mid twenties entering med school right now are from this current generation that grew up with social media and feelings taking priority over facts and figures.

 

[Shanndog]

True. It certainly doesn't help that the very young people in their late teens and early to mid twenties entering med school right now are from this current generation that grew up with social media and feelings taking priority over facts and figures.

yes ! amen to both points, its scary really because medicine is in some ways becoming no longer medicine---- but more self-affirmation and ''acceptance'' and enabling folks to be a basket-case and just settle for that as ''it is what it is'' no , that is not what we are supposed to do as humans lol

 

[Sweetpeaa]

I heard on an ancient blog (like 2009-ish) that UCLA diagnosed Amanda with factitious disorder as a teen. That would have been right on the money there. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Shanndog]

I heard on an ancient blog (like 2009-ish) that UCLA diagnosed Amanda with factitious disorder as a teen. That would have been right on the money there. Can anyone confirm this?

yes it was noted on the Amanda baggs controversy page,

it is also noted here https://www.davidjsimons.xyz/deepthoughts/IDEAS_Autism.The_Strange_Case_of_Amanda_Baggs.pdf

this is interesting: i dont remember seeing this little blog... https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-438331.html

https://blog.donnawilliams.net/2007/07/03/putting-autism-on-trial-an-interview-with-amanda-baggs/

http://autismfraud.blogspot.com/2009/12/amanda-baggs-controversy.html

i wonder if the records from Stanford could be gotten a hold of since she is dead, plus with her being a fraud.... maybe they could waive the HIPPA rule ? i dunno

 

[Meowthkip]

i remember that yeahs he traveled to canada as well as gave a number of presentations at conventions and advocacy groups, as well as flipped out going full sperg-tard and screamed , pulled her own hair at a speaking engagement on camera, in front of everyone, i just feel so strongly that was staged and purposeful so everyone could see just how ''oh so disabled she was ''

Knowing that she was a munchie just makes this fucking horrifying how desperate she was to sell this to people.

 

[Shanndog]

Knowing that she was a munchie just makes this fucking horrifying how desperate she was to sell this to people.

oh i know man, her and the folks doing similar with her ad around her time frames just completely ruined any credibility real actual disabled voices were slowly starting to gain ;-( fuck this bitch, im glad we can all talk and hopefully get the real word out, i still really would love to sit and do a q and a with folks who knew her in the past, and get the real words out there as well as people who had experience working with amanda as a caregiver , id love to hear from them, and also see what their take is on everything, including their reactions to once they find out if they dont already know, that she was 100 percent faking the developmental disabilities !?

 

[You's On Dat Ole Bullshit]

Another interesting post from before Amanda went Hollywood. Again, the topic is deceptively in favor of respecting autistic people. But as usual, it's obvious that Amanda is trying to cover her own ass, perhaps even both of them.

Who can call themselves autistic?

autistics.org has put out an editorial on the letter A Danger In Speaking that was sent out by Tom McKean to various leaders in the autism community, urging them to get formal diagnoses to prove th…

ballastexistenz.wordpress.com

 

[DrainRedRain]

I heard on an ancient blog (like 2009-ish) that UCLA diagnosed Amanda with factitious disorder as a teen. That would have been right on the money there. Can anyone confirm this?

Funny thing is, if the munchies just straight up told people about their real mental illness, they would also get sympathy without getting caught in the end. Like, ''Oh god, I suffer from a mental disorder that makes me want to be sick all the time! It's called factitious disorder and my life is a living hell because of it because I only think about getting injured all the time! This really sucks!''

Joking aside, I know munchies won't admit or even acknowledge they have a problem, like with many narcissists. But the fact that they suffer from an mental illness while making up other illness is kinda hilarious but sad.

 

[Shanndog]

Funny thing is, if the munchies just straight up told people about their real mental illness, they would also get sympathy without getting caught in the end. Like, ''Oh god, I suffer from a mental disorder that makes me want to be sick all the time! It's called factitious disorder and my life is a living hell because of it because I only think about getting injured all the time! This really sucks!''

Joking aside, I know munchies won't admit or even acknowledge they have a problem, like with many narcissists. But the fact that they suffer from an mental illness while making up other illness is kinda hilarious but sad.

ill drink to that, yep, i agree, haha that would be funny in a way

yes these types of mental illness i have no sympathy for, the munchies , the ''BIID Transabled'' and the hoarders, i have zero sympathy for, because they are so incredibly narcissistic and self centered .

 

[You's On Dat Ole Bullshit]

I finally found the article about Amanda's encounters with pedophiles online on her family's home computer as a child! Thankfully, it's short. Even though I'm having my doubts about her allegations of childhood sexual abuse, I still think it's worth a read. I find it pretty disturbing that this was her go-to example for kids on the spectrum being given more freedom to learn by trial and error like other kids. Whether it actually happened or not (and it's certainly possible that it could have), there are so many other hypothethical scenarios she could have chosen. But then that wouldn't push the envelope enough, would it? And you know what pushing the envelope was for Amanda? Cardio!

https://ballastexistenz.wordpress.com/2007/01/09/how-much-can-we-learn-when-safely-supervised/

This paragraph seems to bolster DrainRedRain's contention (and mine) about one of the main problems being Amanda having constant easy access to the internet at such a young age when most other kids her age did not:

A part of the freedom of this was that I was not being directly observed. If someone had plonked me into a writing program or something, and observed what I was doing, I would have stopped doing it. I would not have experimented as wildly as I did, and I would not have come to as wide an understanding of a lot of things as I did. I would also not have had the chance to learn a lot of things in context that I was able to learn in a BBS environment. There’s even a chance that the written word would have become as useless to me as the spoken word did. I had to have the privacy to discover these things on my own or I would not have wanted to discover them.

 

[DrainRedRain]

This is some nice info

This paragraph seems to bolster DrainRedRain's contention (and mine) about one of the main problems being Amanda having constant easy access to the internet at such a young age when most other kids her age did not:

Yeah, sounds about right. Notice how she wrote ''There’s even a chance that the written word would have become as useless to me as the spoken word did."
This is some revealing stuff because:
1. She straight up says the spoken word ''became'' useless to her. Sounds like she ditched the act of speech entirely in favor of looking more mentally ill (read: autistic), at her own volition. She knew exactly what she was doing and how it would play out in a world where autism was still an obscure disability.
2. She learned from a young age that writing texts and posting them online would bring her more sympathy because back then, people believed that everything on the internet was true, especially if coming from someone suffering from an obscure mental illness that nobody knew how it worked exactly, not even doctors. So many people took her word, as a ''sufferer'' from said illness and then they put her as some sort of spokesperson for autism. Which backfired horribly on her later.

I had to have the privacy to discover these things on my own or I would not have wanted to discover them.

Also another interesting choice of words here. So she got exposed to the internet at an early age and saw all sorts of degeneracy and terrible stuff. Is learning about mental illnesses a thing she discovered ''accidentally'' too? Or was she just curious about it? Has someone shown her texts about autistic people and she decided she was one of them to gain sympathy from the good internet people?

I don't know, the way she wrote stuff always made me think maybe she was unconsciously trying to tell everyone what her real deal was. Like when someone wants to admit they're guilty but don't have the guts do to so so they just send mixed signals about it hoping someone will catch it and end with the lies and fakery. Maybe she let it slip without even noticing.

All I know is she was never honest with others and especially herself.