I had tears in my eyes as I watched Amanda Baggs teach me more than I ever thought I was capable of being taught ....

Yes, I truly welled up as I watched Amanda Baggs (above) teach me more than I ever thought I was capable of being taught ....

Amanda Baggs has a powerful message for parents of autistic children--and all of the rest of us who understood so little about these wonderful, talented and thoughtful persons. Amanda types as a computer voice reads her words: "Listen to other autistic people. In fact, expose autistic children to a wide variety of autistic adults. It may be the autistic adults who do have either typing or speech who are far more equipped to be able to communicate with other autistic people."

Her smile ... her enthusiasm ... her wild gestures ... even her frustrations ... were beautifully portrayed to me late last night during a rerun of CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta's special on Amanda ("Finding Amanda") and others with whom he "interviewed."

Do you know an autistic adult?

Maybe you only think you know that person. My brother Richard in Connecticut spends one day every other weekend with his autistic nephew and I look forward to hearing what he has to tell me about the unusual and fulfilling times he must have with this wonderful young man.

I am so happy that I was allowed to meet 27-year-old Amanda Baggs at her home in Vermont last night. My life will never be the same.

To have learned so much about the advances in adult stem research only hours after watching "Finding Amanda" leaves me in awe of our wonderful human species. Thanks, God!