Rethinking Language

At first I was a bit confused as to if she was communicating. Although I do not have many encounters with people who have autism, from watching this video I have a better understanding of the way people with autism communicate with their environment. As stated by the woman in the video, this video was intended not to be a freak show but in fact “as a statement on the existence and value of many different kinds of thinking and interaction in a world where how close you can appear to a specific one of them determines whether you are seen as a real person or an adult or an intelligent person”. At times, we find ourselves placing the disorder first before addressing the individual. For example, “the autistic girl is playing” is not the correct way to address the girl because according to People First Language, we should respect the fact that they are people too. I was proud that she spoke out against these wrong doings and continues by saying, “we are even viewed as non-communicative [i]f we don’t speak the standard language”. Who are we to judge what is considered "normal"? Why is it that we always need a concrete answer or definition as to what literacy and language are that we view her native language as insignificant?