Dan Bergmann on his autism, and a breakthrough lesson

Dan Bergmann just earned his degree from Harvard Extension School, and was one of the speakers at this year's commencement:

When I was twelve years old, I suddenly learned to think, all at once, on a single day. Before that day almost no one would have thought that I would ever understand the world around me. I made meaningless noises, waved my arms, and shouted "cookie" when I wanted a cookie. I did not understand the children's books that were lovingly read to me, and had no clear sense of time or death or the other building blocks of this thing we call the human condition.