*In 1995, at 15 years old, and for considerable time (it’s believed about 1 year), Amanda Baggs publically claimed (to family, friends, acquaintances, doctors, and one (perhaps more) Internet discussion groups), and publically presented herself, as having Dissociative Identity Disorder, (formerly called ‘Multiple Personality Disorder’).
*Prior to this, Amanda Baggs had a verbal diagnosis on the Autistic Spectrum.
*From about 1996 through 1998, Amanda publically claimed and publically presented herself as having Schizophrenia.
*In June 1997, Amanda publically apologized for deceiving both herself, and others, with her claim of Dissociative Identity Disorder.
*In about 2000, at about 20 years old, she began publically claiming and publically presenting herself as having low functioning autism (profound non-verbal autism), though having the ability to communicate normally through typed-communication).
*In January 2007, she began publicizing her autism, and her typed-communication ability, through YouTube videos which she filmed and edited. In February 2007, the media company CNN became interested in Amanda due to her YouTube video, and did several written and television segments on her.
*In mid-2007, several former 1994-1995 classmates of hers from Simon’s Rock College stepped forward to CNN and on various Internet websites to express their confusion and shock at how Amanda was presenting herself. Each consistently testified to her being a relatively fully functioning student at 14-15 years old at Simon’s Rock College (which is a highly selective college for gifted pre-college-aged students). Each attests that she was a fluent verbal communicator, attended classes and took part in the class discussions at a normal level, ate in the cafeteria on a many times a day basis, was fully functional physically, had a boyfriend, had many friends and acquaintances, etc. Moreover, each attests to how she was not autistic in any sense, and that she never reported being autistic.
*Later in 1995, shortly before her withdrawal from Simon’s Rock College (SRC), several of her former SRC friends (one of which is now a neuroscientist, and another of which is now a Ph.D candidate in Psychology and has been a mental health professional for many years) attest to how she aggressively used LSD and psilocybin for about three months, and on a near daily basis. The SRC friends attest to how they observed her undergo psychotic behavior during and after this 3 month period, including exclaiming that she was an ‘elf’, digging in the school yard for what she believed to be a listening device implanted in the ground, suicide attempts and self-injurious behavior, aggression toward others, her report of auditory hallucinations and the witnessing of her behaving as if she was listening to and talking with auditory hallucinations, etc.