Ever Wanted to Have an Understanding of Autism, Let’s Go.
Now there are very few things to watch on terrestrial television which address a good deal of the issues faced by those with Autism, and by their families to. So, you can imagine how fascinating and emotional it was when TV Presenter Chris Packham had his two-part documentary; Inside Our Autistic Minds, was shown on BBC 2. This was of course a repeat as it had been shown last year. I didn’t actually realize this and only made this discovery when they had Ken Bruce on the show, mainly because in his episode he was still on Radio 2 when now he’s on Greater Hits Radio.
Anyway, back to the programme. I actually found it as educational as I did entertain. Not only that but I found it to be insightful for my parents with whom I was watching it with.
In the first episode they were talking to a female stand-up and Ken and his wife whilst talking about their son. The son is Autistic and is also nonverbal. During the programme there was a moment when my mum turned and said to me “is that what it’s like for you?”, to which my reply was “yes, occasionally”. Both in that moment and after the episode had finished, I just wanted to give my mum a massive hug, mainly because we both found it a little bit emotional to watch but also to tell her that for as long as I’ve known her, she’s been a wonderfully supportive mum. And of course, my dad.
What I did notice though was that the episode led to a conversation, which in my view was much needed.
During the two episodes there was varying degrees of Autism that was seen. Some where the people were nonverbal, some where the slightest unplanned change in routines caused moments of anxiety, especially when those with the issues don’t know it’s coming.
Another thing we saw, and which I genuinely found interesting was around the whole concept of ‘masking’.
Masking is a process where those who do it learn how to behave in certain ways so as to blend in more with others. I openly admit that this is something that I have done a few times myself. Hand on my heart it’s not always easy and there are times I just don’t want to do it, not because I don’t feel uncomfortable with it but rather, I just can’t be bothered.
Other issues that were looked at was around time and sensory overload. Time is one which I am all too familiar with, sometimes it’s an Autism thing, other times it’s because I don’t want to hang around any longer than I can be bothered to. Sensory Overload is one that I do have an understanding of but even then, I do find myself questioning it on whether I am doing it because it’s part of my Autism or if it’s the racket just doing my head in.
For me, from my perspective, the two parter, I felt, dealt with the subject of Autism brilliantly and reminded me that that with each Autistic individual there is a person who has a mind, can think and is capable of observing the world. I think that it may have been in the first episode Chris made a statement that I genuinely believe makes a great deal of sense and should be taken into close account.
I can’t remember exactly what he said word for word but the basic gist of it was that if you see one Autistic person then you have only seen one person with Autism. If you see two then you have only seen two. If you see seven then you have only seen seven. In other words what he was saying was that we have to dispose of this ‘seen one you’ve seen them all’ attitude. For someone like myself who has High Functioning Autism/Aspergers, this is a statement that I have lived with for a long time and will continue to live with and abide by.
Now some of this attitude is from my own experiences of being Autistic, others I’m glad to say is what I have adopted. No two people on the spectrum are the same and never will be. The people who appeared on the programme all had varying degrees of the problem, and even I have met with people who are various places on the spectrum.
According to a survey about 1-2% of people in the UK are on the Autistic Spectrum, I am one of them. There’s supposed to be five different types of Autism
Asperger’s Syndrome, which is where I am
Rett Syndrome
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD)
Kanner’s Syndrome
& Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)
If you want to understand the Autistic Spectrum, be prepared to have your attitudes towards it challenged. Believe me, if you can alter your attitudes towards it, you’ll be doing a big favour for people like me and many others
https://www.nickransom.co.uk/news/inside-our-autistic-minds-launch
