Autism: The Misunderstood Child *****
“I just want to encourage others who feel hopeless, to instead feel hopeful.” These are the words of Kathy Winters, the woman who made this delightful short video entitled Autism: The Misunderstood Child, a dedication to her son Ayden who was diagnosed with Autism in January 2008. Yes, it is essentially just a collection of pictures but it is a collection of pictures that is full of heart, accompanied by a beautiful and inspirational piece of music, statistics and facts about Autism and a superb poem by Kathy that truly comes from the heart, detailing both the plight of her son’s Autism and the wonder that comes from it as well. This short film may only be a homemade video but it is a well made one and one that conveys plenty about what it is like living with Autism and what it truly means to love some who has the condition. Kathy says this of Ayden: “He is special, not because of his limitations, but because of his heart” – simple words that perfectly say why individuals with Autism truly are special. And the closing words – “It’s not hopeless if you love them and believe in their potential” – say so much. If everyone saw this video, perhaps there would be less ignorance in the world about what it means to have Autism.
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This is a follow up to my previous post which contains the full film of Autism: The Misunderstood Child and can be found here: http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/10/short-film-autism-misunderstood-child.html
Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Short Film: 'Autism: The Misunderstood Child'
The original source for this video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ5JXeGghkc
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Autism: The Misunderstood Child is a very sweet short video that I came across made by a woman as a dedication to her Autistic son. It is both honest and insightful.
A full review of this video will follow shortly.
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Friday, 8 October 2010
'Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism' Film Review
Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism *****
I am a man living with Aspergers Syndrome, a form of Autism. And with this comes a range of difficulties, feelings and emotions. Yet, the nature of Autism is such that no two individuals diagnosed with it will ever be completely the same and thus I am unable to fully appreciate how the condition affects others who have it. This is particularly true of the opposite sex. It has been established that females with the condition experience a very different set of problems resulting from it, problems that I am not fully able to understand, and also that many women can slip through the cracks, going completely undetected – hence a key reason why so many fewer women are diagnosed than men. After watching this short video, Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism, however, I am much closer to such an understanding than I was before.
“This video describes the feelings often faced by girls with Asperger Syndrome”
- Laura Paxton
Just like other short videos on Autism that I have reviewed, this film features a succession of still images – intercut with text segments – set to music and just like every one of the others it also manages to put across a unique (uniqueness is something that is very much synonymous with Autism) perspective and the manner in which it paints the struggle of girls and women with Autism proves very effective, the imagery (both photos and artwork that illustrate the points being made) used being both hauntingly beautiful and heartbreakingly sad at the same time, the words used to describe the feelings being very eloquent and poetic, and the musical accompaniment being suitably enchanting and appropriate to the mood the film is trying to create. While the film is very short it successfully says a lot about key feelings being experienced by females with Autism – the lack of understanding of social cues, the desire to have friends and fit in, the feeling of loneliness, the fantasy worlds that girls with the condition often lose themselves in, the “special interests” they comfort themselves with, the “social vortex” they get lost in, the way they imitate others in an effort to fit in, the fact that the condition can affect anyone regardless of culture and the stress and exhaustion that can result from the condition – and if you watch this beautifully made video you are sure to have a greatly improved understanding of the difficulties faced by girls and women with Autism with afterwards. I certainly did.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a follow up to my previous post which included the full film of Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism and can be found here:
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/10/short-film-feelings-of-girls-and-women.html
I am a man living with Aspergers Syndrome, a form of Autism. And with this comes a range of difficulties, feelings and emotions. Yet, the nature of Autism is such that no two individuals diagnosed with it will ever be completely the same and thus I am unable to fully appreciate how the condition affects others who have it. This is particularly true of the opposite sex. It has been established that females with the condition experience a very different set of problems resulting from it, problems that I am not fully able to understand, and also that many women can slip through the cracks, going completely undetected – hence a key reason why so many fewer women are diagnosed than men. After watching this short video, Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism, however, I am much closer to such an understanding than I was before.
“This video describes the feelings often faced by girls with Asperger Syndrome”
- Laura Paxton
Just like other short videos on Autism that I have reviewed, this film features a succession of still images – intercut with text segments – set to music and just like every one of the others it also manages to put across a unique (uniqueness is something that is very much synonymous with Autism) perspective and the manner in which it paints the struggle of girls and women with Autism proves very effective, the imagery (both photos and artwork that illustrate the points being made) used being both hauntingly beautiful and heartbreakingly sad at the same time, the words used to describe the feelings being very eloquent and poetic, and the musical accompaniment being suitably enchanting and appropriate to the mood the film is trying to create. While the film is very short it successfully says a lot about key feelings being experienced by females with Autism – the lack of understanding of social cues, the desire to have friends and fit in, the feeling of loneliness, the fantasy worlds that girls with the condition often lose themselves in, the “special interests” they comfort themselves with, the “social vortex” they get lost in, the way they imitate others in an effort to fit in, the fact that the condition can affect anyone regardless of culture and the stress and exhaustion that can result from the condition – and if you watch this beautifully made video you are sure to have a greatly improved understanding of the difficulties faced by girls and women with Autism with afterwards. I certainly did.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a follow up to my previous post which included the full film of Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism and can be found here:
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/10/short-film-feelings-of-girls-and-women.html
Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Short Film: 'Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism'
The original source for this video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNFLe2FLKj4
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Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism is a delightful short video that effectively conveys the feelings, emotions and difficulties experienced by females diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. It is a very beautiful and emotive piece of work that conveys its messages quite eloquently.A full review for this film will follow shortly.
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Sunday, 3 October 2010
'I Love Somebody with Autism' Film Review
I Love Somebody with Autism *****
“Open your eyes. And experience the magic. I will get there when you believe.” These are the words that open I Love Somebody with Autism, another delightful homemade movie about Autism, this time relating more specifically to one person with the condition – a young boy called Jonathan, whose imagination is very much the subject of this film. The film is essentially just a sequence of images set against the rather delightful music of Mariah Carey’s When You Believe but there is something really magical about the way it has been put together. The film isn’t so much trying to put a wider message across as show how gifted and artistic Jonathan is, the film consisting of drawings that he has done (even opening with his own versions of movie studio idents for Disney, Paramount and THX) intermingled with some photos of himself making some of his artistic creations. There is real passion on display in the images and the film successfully puts across that Autism isn’t all bad for Jonathan, presenting him with gifts as well as difficulties. The film is very well edited and put together and the chosen music is a perfect accompanying piece. Simply put, I Love Somebody with Autism is a delightful short film and one that, while being about Jonathan, is relevant to anyone with Autism as such gifts and abilities can be found in any individual diagnosed with the condition and a greater recognition of the positives that come from Autism as opposed to all the negatives is something that the world could really do with developing.
The closing words from the film that appear below say everything that needs to said. Jonathan isn’t viewed as a burden by his family but rather a unique individual who should be treasured not excluded.
“To our dearest Jonathan.
We are so proud of you despite your disability you’re among the luckiest special child with gifted artistic hands & an excellent photography memory.
You will have difficulty expressing yourself but your work of art speaks for you...
I know someday your prayers will be heard because you are Blessed and God loves you dearly.
We all wish you a HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
We Love You,
Papa, Mama, Joan & Joshua.”
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This is a follow up to my previous post which contains the full film ofI Love Somebody with Autism and can be found here:
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/10/short-film-i-love-somebody-with-autism.html
Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)
“Open your eyes. And experience the magic. I will get there when you believe.” These are the words that open I Love Somebody with Autism, another delightful homemade movie about Autism, this time relating more specifically to one person with the condition – a young boy called Jonathan, whose imagination is very much the subject of this film. The film is essentially just a sequence of images set against the rather delightful music of Mariah Carey’s When You Believe but there is something really magical about the way it has been put together. The film isn’t so much trying to put a wider message across as show how gifted and artistic Jonathan is, the film consisting of drawings that he has done (even opening with his own versions of movie studio idents for Disney, Paramount and THX) intermingled with some photos of himself making some of his artistic creations. There is real passion on display in the images and the film successfully puts across that Autism isn’t all bad for Jonathan, presenting him with gifts as well as difficulties. The film is very well edited and put together and the chosen music is a perfect accompanying piece. Simply put, I Love Somebody with Autism is a delightful short film and one that, while being about Jonathan, is relevant to anyone with Autism as such gifts and abilities can be found in any individual diagnosed with the condition and a greater recognition of the positives that come from Autism as opposed to all the negatives is something that the world could really do with developing.
The closing words from the film that appear below say everything that needs to said. Jonathan isn’t viewed as a burden by his family but rather a unique individual who should be treasured not excluded.
“To our dearest Jonathan.
We are so proud of you despite your disability you’re among the luckiest special child with gifted artistic hands & an excellent photography memory.
You will have difficulty expressing yourself but your work of art speaks for you...
I know someday your prayers will be heard because you are Blessed and God loves you dearly.
We all wish you a HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
We Love You,
Papa, Mama, Joan & Joshua.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a follow up to my previous post which contains the full film of
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/10/short-film-i-love-somebody-with-autism.html
Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Short Film: 'I Love Somebody with Autism'
The original source for this video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPoKVsw1I9Y
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I Love Somebody with Autism is a delightful homemade movie about a young boy called Jonathan who has Autism and whose gifts make up for the difficulties the condition creates for him to an extent. The movie is a compilation of images that he has drawn set to music.
A full review of this film will follow shortly.
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Sunday, 26 September 2010
'Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger's Syndrome' Film Review
Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger’s Syndrome *****
“Those of us with Asperger's syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism, often are accused of being “stoned”, or flirtatious, or are told our eyes are beautiful, innocent, or child-like. This video represents the eyes of Asperger's syndrome, wonderful and beautiful. Such a depth to these eyes, and I believe these eyes are indicative of our inner selves. This is a project which I have taken somewhere around 6 months to complete. After endless hours of collecting the photos, editing them, and working them into this video, the end result has surprised even me. I feel so close to all of you who contributed. Thanks so much to all of you who participated in this project and made it possible. After viewing this video, I think it is evident that there is “something about those aspie eyes”. You are all beautiful!”
- Mia Sansom
Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger’s Syndrome is something rather different to the kind of stuff that I normally review but has a certain magical quality and relatability to me personally that I felt almost compelled to comment on it. The above quote by Mia Sansom, the woman who made the film, explains what her purpose was in making what is not so much a film but in some ways more an art project, albeit one that serves a greater purpose than that of art alone, coming with a message that many can learn from.
“The eyes in this video represent Asperger’s Syndrome or high-functioning Autism. Many say that these eyes have a certain innocence, beauty or magic about them. You decide...” These words start off this short video, which consists of images of the eyes of individuals with either Asperger’s Syndrome or high-functioning Autism accompanied by an enchanting piece of music – a piece of music that really does make this video seem magical. Again, I am not in a position to offer the most objective review of the film given that I have Asperger’s Syndrome myself but I am in a unique position to offer an Aspie perspective on this film and in this regard I must say that I found it to be absolutely delightful. You may wonder what purpose exactly could a film that is just four and a half minutes of photos of people’s eyes offer. Apparently, quite a lot, as these eyes convey more emotion and create a greater sense of magic than what you might find in a full length movie at times. People with Autism Spectrum Disorders are sometimes accused of being emotionless robots (for lack of a better term) and not having feelings but this is far from the truth and this film really helps to show this. Simply looking into the eyes shown in this film reveals a sense of loneliness and isolation but also a certain magic and wonder, something that many with an Autism Spectrum Disorder might be able to relate to and that I certainly can. Additionally, there is a perception that people with Asperger’s are all the same and this film also helps to disprove this as the eyes shown here are as diverse as you could ever expect to see. In reality, those people with Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism are probably the most unique individuals who you will ever encounter, there perhaps being far more diversity between different individuals with Autism than between neurotypical individuals in many cases. There is a real eloquence in which this video simply and effectively puts across the emotion, the uniqueness and the enchantment of Asperger’s Syndrome. Simply put, Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger’s Syndrome is an enchanting video that really does feel quite magical and as well as being quite beautiful also has something to say about Asperger’s Syndrome, something that anyone with Asperger’s should be able to relate to and that anyone without could probably learn from. The video ends with the words “Aspie Eyes...Diversity is Beautiful.” I couldn’t put it better myself.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a follow up to my previous post which contains the the full film of Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger's Syndrome and can be found here: http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/09/short-film-aspie-eyes-beautiful-eyes-of.html
Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)
“Those of us with Asperger's syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism, often are accused of being “stoned”, or flirtatious, or are told our eyes are beautiful, innocent, or child-like. This video represents the eyes of Asperger's syndrome, wonderful and beautiful. Such a depth to these eyes, and I believe these eyes are indicative of our inner selves. This is a project which I have taken somewhere around 6 months to complete. After endless hours of collecting the photos, editing them, and working them into this video, the end result has surprised even me. I feel so close to all of you who contributed. Thanks so much to all of you who participated in this project and made it possible. After viewing this video, I think it is evident that there is “something about those aspie eyes”. You are all beautiful!”
- Mia Sansom
Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger’s Syndrome is something rather different to the kind of stuff that I normally review but has a certain magical quality and relatability to me personally that I felt almost compelled to comment on it. The above quote by Mia Sansom, the woman who made the film, explains what her purpose was in making what is not so much a film but in some ways more an art project, albeit one that serves a greater purpose than that of art alone, coming with a message that many can learn from.
“The eyes in this video represent Asperger’s Syndrome or high-functioning Autism. Many say that these eyes have a certain innocence, beauty or magic about them. You decide...” These words start off this short video, which consists of images of the eyes of individuals with either Asperger’s Syndrome or high-functioning Autism accompanied by an enchanting piece of music – a piece of music that really does make this video seem magical. Again, I am not in a position to offer the most objective review of the film given that I have Asperger’s Syndrome myself but I am in a unique position to offer an Aspie perspective on this film and in this regard I must say that I found it to be absolutely delightful. You may wonder what purpose exactly could a film that is just four and a half minutes of photos of people’s eyes offer. Apparently, quite a lot, as these eyes convey more emotion and create a greater sense of magic than what you might find in a full length movie at times. People with Autism Spectrum Disorders are sometimes accused of being emotionless robots (for lack of a better term) and not having feelings but this is far from the truth and this film really helps to show this. Simply looking into the eyes shown in this film reveals a sense of loneliness and isolation but also a certain magic and wonder, something that many with an Autism Spectrum Disorder might be able to relate to and that I certainly can. Additionally, there is a perception that people with Asperger’s are all the same and this film also helps to disprove this as the eyes shown here are as diverse as you could ever expect to see. In reality, those people with Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism are probably the most unique individuals who you will ever encounter, there perhaps being far more diversity between different individuals with Autism than between neurotypical individuals in many cases. There is a real eloquence in which this video simply and effectively puts across the emotion, the uniqueness and the enchantment of Asperger’s Syndrome. Simply put, Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger’s Syndrome is an enchanting video that really does feel quite magical and as well as being quite beautiful also has something to say about Asperger’s Syndrome, something that anyone with Asperger’s should be able to relate to and that anyone without could probably learn from. The video ends with the words “Aspie Eyes...Diversity is Beautiful.” I couldn’t put it better myself.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a follow up to my previous post which contains the the full film of Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger's Syndrome and can be found here: http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/09/short-film-aspie-eyes-beautiful-eyes-of.html
Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Short Film: 'Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger's Syndrome'
The original source for this video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqGhDPhaRrc
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Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger's Syndrome is another delightful video about Autism that I have come across while scouring the internet. It shows images of the eyes of Aspereger's Syndrome accompanied by some very enchanting music. That may not sound like much, believe me, there really is something quite special about this video.
A full review for this film will follow shortly.
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Saturday, 25 September 2010
'Taste on Autism' Film Review
Taste on Autism *****
Taste on Autism is an 8 minute animated short film by Ben Htoo that was created for his individual Major Project for Raffles Design Institute in December 2009. It tells the story of an Autistic boy and a neurotypical girl who first meet as children. The girl immediately takes a liking to the boy but when she tries to get his attention by touching him, unaware that he is Autistic, he responds angrily, prompting her to run off. Many years later, they encounter each other again. He is a customer at a burger restaurant and she is a waitress there. Another incident prompts another angry response. When she learns that he is Autistic, however, she develops a whole new understanding of him and gets him a job working at the restaurant. Still, he seems to be a very sad individual and only when she asks him to go with her to a special learning centre for Autistic people do things change. He learns to cope with his Autism in ways he never could before and a romance begins between the two, him being truly happy for the first time in his life as a result of their relationship, the new found friendships with others around him and a whole new confidence that was missing in his life before. Eventually, he becomes truly independent although the ending is also tinged with sadness.
As an individual with Autism myself I am perhaps not best qualified to provide a truly objective review of Taste on Autism. What I can do, however, is provide an Autistic perspective on the film. While the film occasionally perpetuates the image of Autistic people as being angry and dismissive, it also offers some insight into why this is the case, making clear the fact that certain things that many take for granted, such as unwanted physical contact, can be very upsetting for individuals with Autism and that a negative reaction that many result is not reflective of the individual being angry or unpleasant, rather just a misunderstanding of the rules of social interaction that most take for granted. Ben Htoo seems to have some understanding of Autism as the film is very respectful and honest in the way it portrays its central character and his difficulties. The man is not unpleasant, he is just lonely and all it takes for him to feel happy is acceptance and understanding of who he is and what makes him special. The story is both inspirational and sweet, being the very kind of thing that really could happen and for me it really did inspire feelings of happiness and even a tinge of sadness at the end, and I am sure it will for you too, whether you have Autism yourself or not.
There is an almost magical quality to the film with the music, provided courtesy of Associated Production Music and Walt Disney Records (you may well have heard it before elsewhere), having a very enchanting essence, capturing the mood perfectly and emphasising the emotion that is being portrayed quite effectively through the visuals. The animation is simplistic but quite beautiful and works well with the story that is being told and the decision to portray much of what is going on visually rather than through dialogue – there is no dialogue at all – is an inspired one, with the images being utilized portraying what is going on in a simplistic yet effective way that individuals with Autism should easily understand and relate to, bypassing the awkward aspects of interaction that those with Autism find so hard to understand. This is a particularly good touch. Simply put, Taste on Autism is a perfect representation of Autism. It shows that those of us with Autism are people with feelings and that all we really want is to be accepted by the world that seems so alien to us. A truly magical and enchanting short film, this not only portrays Autism in a positive light but is also a very well made piece of animation and a very enjoyable one to watch, whether you are Autistic yourself or not. At a short running time of only 8 minutes, it won’t take up much of your time to watch and you may just feel a bit more enlightened about Autism for doing so.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taste on Autism is an 8 minute animated short film by Ben Htoo that was created for his individual Major Project for Raffles Design Institute in December 2009. It tells the story of an Autistic boy and a neurotypical girl who first meet as children. The girl immediately takes a liking to the boy but when she tries to get his attention by touching him, unaware that he is Autistic, he responds angrily, prompting her to run off. Many years later, they encounter each other again. He is a customer at a burger restaurant and she is a waitress there. Another incident prompts another angry response. When she learns that he is Autistic, however, she develops a whole new understanding of him and gets him a job working at the restaurant. Still, he seems to be a very sad individual and only when she asks him to go with her to a special learning centre for Autistic people do things change. He learns to cope with his Autism in ways he never could before and a romance begins between the two, him being truly happy for the first time in his life as a result of their relationship, the new found friendships with others around him and a whole new confidence that was missing in his life before. Eventually, he becomes truly independent although the ending is also tinged with sadness.
As an individual with Autism myself I am perhaps not best qualified to provide a truly objective review of Taste on Autism. What I can do, however, is provide an Autistic perspective on the film. While the film occasionally perpetuates the image of Autistic people as being angry and dismissive, it also offers some insight into why this is the case, making clear the fact that certain things that many take for granted, such as unwanted physical contact, can be very upsetting for individuals with Autism and that a negative reaction that many result is not reflective of the individual being angry or unpleasant, rather just a misunderstanding of the rules of social interaction that most take for granted. Ben Htoo seems to have some understanding of Autism as the film is very respectful and honest in the way it portrays its central character and his difficulties. The man is not unpleasant, he is just lonely and all it takes for him to feel happy is acceptance and understanding of who he is and what makes him special. The story is both inspirational and sweet, being the very kind of thing that really could happen and for me it really did inspire feelings of happiness and even a tinge of sadness at the end, and I am sure it will for you too, whether you have Autism yourself or not.
There is an almost magical quality to the film with the music, provided courtesy of Associated Production Music and Walt Disney Records (you may well have heard it before elsewhere), having a very enchanting essence, capturing the mood perfectly and emphasising the emotion that is being portrayed quite effectively through the visuals. The animation is simplistic but quite beautiful and works well with the story that is being told and the decision to portray much of what is going on visually rather than through dialogue – there is no dialogue at all – is an inspired one, with the images being utilized portraying what is going on in a simplistic yet effective way that individuals with Autism should easily understand and relate to, bypassing the awkward aspects of interaction that those with Autism find so hard to understand. This is a particularly good touch. Simply put, Taste on Autism is a perfect representation of Autism. It shows that those of us with Autism are people with feelings and that all we really want is to be accepted by the world that seems so alien to us. A truly magical and enchanting short film, this not only portrays Autism in a positive light but is also a very well made piece of animation and a very enjoyable one to watch, whether you are Autistic yourself or not. At a short running time of only 8 minutes, it won’t take up much of your time to watch and you may just feel a bit more enlightened about Autism for doing so.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a follow up to my previous post which contains the full film of Taste on Autism and can be found here: http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/09/short-film-taste-on-autism.html
Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Short Film: 'Taste on Autism'
The original source for this video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n80_S1Gn7UM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taste on Autism is the first of many delightful videos I have found about Autism while scouring the web and that I will be aiming to post on here in the near future. It is an 8 minute short animated film that is basically about a romance between a woman and a man diagnosed with Autism. A truly delightful film.
A full review for this film will follow shortly.
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Monday, 2 August 2010
'Reality Checked': Behind the scenes of 'Reality Check'
Reality Checked - Behind the scenes of Reality Check from Jack Green on Vimeo.
Almost a month ago I posted a film called Reality Check on my blog, which featured a segment about a character with Autism.
Reality Checked goes behind the scenes of that film, featuring interviews with all the major players behind the film, me included, and provides a few views about the film's presentation of Autism.
Robert Mann BA (Hons)Sunday, 1 August 2010
'Dustbin Baby' nominated for Emmy award
'Dustbin Baby' nominated for Emmy award Article from The National Autistic Society
Dustbin Baby, a BBC drama featuring a teenager with Asperger syndrome, has been nominated for an International Emmy Award.
Adapted from the novel by Jacqueline Wilson, Dustbin Baby starred 14-year-old Lizzy Clarke, who was the first actress ever to play the part of someone with Asperger syndrome on TV while actually having the condition herself. Lizzy performed alongside Juliet Stevenson and Dakota Blue Richards.
Dustbin Baby told the story of teenager April (played by Dakota Blue Richards) who sets out to discover where she came from and, along the way, discovers where she belongs, having been abandoned in a dustbin as a baby. April goes back to the world she left behind - one of foster and care homes - and remembers and revisits the people who shaped her life, including the character played by Lizzy.
The 37th International Emmy Awards will take place Monday, November 23, 2009 in New York, hosted by Graham Norton. Dustbin Baby is nominated in the Children and Young people category - we'll let you know if they take home the award on the night.
The original source for this article was on the National Autistic Society website - http://www.autism.org.uk/ - but, due to the site being rebuilt recently, a direct link to the article is currently unavailable.
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This post is a follow up to my other recent posts which can be found here:
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/07/mother-of-british-teen-actress-with.html
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/07/dream-comes-true-for-lizzy.html
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/07/fame-for-actress-with-asperger-syndrome.html
This post is a follow up to my other recent posts which can be found here:
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/07/mother-of-british-teen-actress-with.html
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/07/dream-comes-true-for-lizzy.html
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/07/fame-for-actress-with-asperger-syndrome.html
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Mother of British teen actress with Asperger's says disabled actors should play disabled characters
Mother of British teen actress with Asperger's says disabled actors should play disabled characters Article from The Observer - November 15, 2009
By AMELIA HILL
The mother of the first actress with Asperger's syndrome to play a fictional character with the condition has launched a campaign to stop actors "playing disabled".Lizzy Clark (pictured) was 14 when the BBC asked her to play the part of Poppy, a teenage girl with Asperger's, in the television film Dustbin Baby, starring Dakota Blue Richards and Juliet Stevenson. Based on Jacqueline Wilson's novel of the same name, the film has been shortlisted for an International Emmy, a British Academy children's award and the Bafta Kids' Vote awards. The award ceremonies will take place next week.
Lizzy's mother, Nicola Clark, has said that employing actors who are not mentally disabled to play characters with neurological impairments should stop. It is the "blacking-up of the 21st century", she said. "We need to break down these barriers. They're unacceptable and indefensible in a modern-day society, especially when there are so many good, disabled actors who are both ready, eager and able to take on these parts."
Lizzy, who had never acted professionally before her part in Dustbin Baby, said: "My Asperger's made some things on the film set difficult at first, like dealing with the sudden noise of the storyboard, but I was soon so focused on acting that I didn't notice anything else.
"It is not just mentally disabled actors who lose out when non-disabled people are employed to act them. Audiences think they are getting an authentic portrayal of a mentally disabled person, but they're not. It's not like putting on a different accent or learning what it was like to be raised in a different era. You can't understand what it is like to have a mental disability unless you've really lived with it. When non-disabled people try to portray us, they tend to fall back on stereotypes that have done our community so much harm in the past."
According to Independent Television Commission research, 79% of viewers would not mind if a disabled person read the evening news. Six in 10 say that disabled people should appear in a wider variety of roles, including as presenters. There are, however, signs that the tide is slowly turning in favour of Clark's "Don't play me – pay me!" campaign. EastEnders recently introduced David Proud, who was born with spina bifida, as Adam Best, the first character in the show to use a wheelchair in real life.
The move is part of a series of measures by the BBC intended to raise the profile of disabled actors and performers. Next week it will start a nationwide search for disabled actors and performers for drama, comedy and children's shows. It will also launch an online directory of disabled talent, with the support of the acting union Equity and Spotlight, the casting directory. "Innovations like this are promising, but I would question whether disabled actors will be used in greater numbers simply because their contact details have been made easier for directors and producers to find," said Clark. "Society regards people with mental disabilities with such extreme stigma, and attributes them with such insulting and misleading stereotypes, that most casting directors would not even consider employing someone with a mental disability."
Clark is setting up a forum for all mentally disabled actors, where they can be encouraged and supported. The forum will also generate publicity through public events and debates.
In another sign that Clark has launched her campaign at a turning point, Channel 4 will next week launch Cast Offs, a comedy drama about the making of a Survivor-type reality TV programme featuring physically disabled characters. Created by Jack Thorne, who has written for Shameless and Skins, Tony Roche, who has written for The Thick Of It, and Alex Bulmer, the programme features thalidomide victims, dwarfism and the face-disfiguring cherubism, a rare genetic disorder.
Clark wants to see a similar commitment to how mental disability is portrayed. "At the moment mentally disabled actors only appear on our screens in plot lines revolving entirely around their disability, and generally only in scenarios where they need to be rescued from something to do with their disability by a non-disabled protagonist… We want to see disabled actors playing parts where the least interesting thing about them is their disability."
Clark expects a long battle. She points to the decision by the British Board of Film Classification to warn viewers that the comedy Special People featured disabled people. "Giving the film a 'disability theme', as though we have to be warned away from disabled people, was bizarre," said the film's director, Justin Edgar.
© Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
The original source(s) for this article can be found here:
http://media-dis-n-dat.blogspot.com/2009/11/mother-of-british-teen-actress-with.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/nov/15/disabled-actors-television-campaign
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This post is a follow up to my other recent posts which can be found here:
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/07/dream-comes-true-for-lizzy.html
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/07/fame-for-actress-with-asperger-syndrome.html
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Dream comes true for Lizzy
Dream comes true for Lizzy
Article from Shrewsbury Chronicle - September 18, 2008
A 14-year-old autistic girl from Shrewsbury is trailblazing the way for other sufferers after winning the role of a character with the condition in a television adaptation of a popular children’s book.
Lizzy Clark, from Copthorne, has always wanted to act, but after being bullied at school lost her confidence. She is now over the moon after being selected for a part in a television adaptation of a Jacqueline Wilson novel, Dustbin Baby, which starts filming tomorrow.
Nicky Clark, Lizzy’s mum, discovered the opportunity on the national autism website which she browses regularly because both Lizzy and her sister Emily, 11, suffer from autism which is a brain development disorder.
“We saw the audition on the website and they were looking for a girl between 12 and 15,” she said.
“Lizzy had never done a professional audition before so I made a short film raising awareness of autism and I sent a link through to the director. We had a call and she was invited to London. She didn’t think she’d done very well and was really nervous about it, but I thought she’d done fantastically well.
“They said they were delighted with her, it’s really exciting and great for Lizzy. She’s always wanted to act but has been bullied at school and lost her confidence.
“It’s a UK first that someone with autism is actually playing someone with autism, it’s such a fantastic outcome and it’s very good for her self-esteem.”
A spokesperson for Adcote School where Lizzy goes said: “We’re all really pleased she’s been given the part, we’re all thrilled for her and think it’s very good they’ve chosen someone like Lizzy.”
© 2010 Shrewsbury Chronicle
The original source for this article can be found here:
http://www.shrewsburychronicle.com/2008/09/18/dream-comes-true-for-lizzie/
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This post is a follow up to my other recent post which can be found here:
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/07/fame-for-actress-with-asperger-syndrome.html
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Article from Shrewsbury Chronicle - September 18, 2008
A 14-year-old autistic girl from Shrewsbury is trailblazing the way for other sufferers after winning the role of a character with the condition in a television adaptation of a popular children’s book.
Lizzy Clark, from Copthorne, has always wanted to act, but after being bullied at school lost her confidence. She is now over the moon after being selected for a part in a television adaptation of a Jacqueline Wilson novel, Dustbin Baby, which starts filming tomorrow.
Nicky Clark, Lizzy’s mum, discovered the opportunity on the national autism website which she browses regularly because both Lizzy and her sister Emily, 11, suffer from autism which is a brain development disorder.
“We saw the audition on the website and they were looking for a girl between 12 and 15,” she said.
“Lizzy had never done a professional audition before so I made a short film raising awareness of autism and I sent a link through to the director. We had a call and she was invited to London. She didn’t think she’d done very well and was really nervous about it, but I thought she’d done fantastically well.
“They said they were delighted with her, it’s really exciting and great for Lizzy. She’s always wanted to act but has been bullied at school and lost her confidence.
“It’s a UK first that someone with autism is actually playing someone with autism, it’s such a fantastic outcome and it’s very good for her self-esteem.”
A spokesperson for Adcote School where Lizzy goes said: “We’re all really pleased she’s been given the part, we’re all thrilled for her and think it’s very good they’ve chosen someone like Lizzy.”
© 2010 Shrewsbury Chronicle
The original source for this article can be found here:
http://www.shrewsburychronicle.com/2008/09/18/dream-comes-true-for-lizzie/
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This post is a follow up to my other recent post which can be found here:
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/07/fame-for-actress-with-asperger-syndrome.html
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Fame for actress with Asperger syndrome
Fame for actress with Asperger syndrome
Article from BBC Shropshire - September 16, 2008
A Shrewsbury teenager appeared alongside Dakota Blue Richards in BBC One's 2008 adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson's Dustbin Baby. Lizzy Clark plays a girl with Asperger Syndrome - even more remarkable given that she also has the condition.
Fourteen-year-old Lizzy played the part of Poppy, a teenager with Asperger syndrome, in the BBC TV adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson's children's book Dustbin Baby. It was Lizzy's first professional acting role.
Lizzy also suffers from Asperger syndrome, offering her a unique take on her new character.
The syndrome is a relatively mild form of autism. Lizzy said that because it's subtle, people don't see her as autistic: "They see me as someone who's a bit strange and not very easy to get on with, although I do have lots of friends who love me and support me."
In Dustbin Baby, the local teenager appeared alongside household names like Juliet Stevenson, and star of The Golden Compass, Dakota Blue Richards. Jacqueline Wilson, president of the Shrewsbury Bookfest, is one of the UK's most popular children's authors and Lizzy is a big fan.
It was Lizzy's mother, Nicky, who saw an advert for the role on an autism website: "I think it's incredibly positive that the BBC chose to find an actress who has the same condition as the character."
Being on set was the best experience of Lizzy's life. She said: "At first it was a bit intimidating," being with such big stars as Juliet Stevenson and Dakota Blue Richards, but after a while, she said you, "stop noticing the cameras".
Nicky Clark says getting the role has been a huge boost to Lizzy's self-esteem. She said: "It was lovely for Lizzy; it was lovely for people with autism... to show that anything is achievable."
Article from BBC Shropshire - September 16, 2008
A Shrewsbury teenager appeared alongside Dakota Blue Richards in BBC One's 2008 adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson's Dustbin Baby. Lizzy Clark plays a girl with Asperger Syndrome - even more remarkable given that she also has the condition.
Fourteen-year-old Lizzy played the part of Poppy, a teenager with Asperger syndrome, in the BBC TV adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson's children's book Dustbin Baby. It was Lizzy's first professional acting role.Lizzy also suffers from Asperger syndrome, offering her a unique take on her new character.
The syndrome is a relatively mild form of autism. Lizzy said that because it's subtle, people don't see her as autistic: "They see me as someone who's a bit strange and not very easy to get on with, although I do have lots of friends who love me and support me."
In Dustbin Baby, the local teenager appeared alongside household names like Juliet Stevenson, and star of The Golden Compass, Dakota Blue Richards. Jacqueline Wilson, president of the Shrewsbury Bookfest, is one of the UK's most popular children's authors and Lizzy is a big fan.
It was Lizzy's mother, Nicky, who saw an advert for the role on an autism website: "I think it's incredibly positive that the BBC chose to find an actress who has the same condition as the character."
Being on set was the best experience of Lizzy's life. She said: "At first it was a bit intimidating," being with such big stars as Juliet Stevenson and Dakota Blue Richards, but after a while, she said you, "stop noticing the cameras".
Nicky Clark says getting the role has been a huge boost to Lizzy's self-esteem. She said: "It was lovely for Lizzy; it was lovely for people with autism... to show that anything is achievable."
The original source for this article can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/content/articles/2008/09/16/aspergers_actress_feature.shtml
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Another success story showing that a person with Asperger's Syndrome can achieve great things in life, Lizzy Clark really is an inspiration to both those with the condition and their parents. She shows that while many things may be out of reach for us Aspies, if we focus on trying to achive the one thing that we love doing and that we are truly great at we can not only find a great job and/or career but also find a place in the world where we truly feel that we belong.
Having seen Dustbin Baby myself I can honestly say that Lizzy Clark really does have a terrific talent for acting. The idea of having someone with Aspergers Syndrome play a character with the condition is an inspired one as it allows the actor to draw from their real life experiences for the part and Lizzy's portrayal of Poppy really captures the essence of a character who may seem a bit odd and may not fully understand the world around her but makes up for it with heart and a refreshingly innocent attitude.
I wish Lizzy Clark all the best and hope that she continues to do well as an actress.
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Sunday, 25 July 2010
How do autistic children survive as adults?
How do autistic children survive as adults?
Article from The Sunday Times Magazine - August 16, 2009
By CAROLINE SCOTT
Very few people outside his family seem to understand Peter’s needs. At 11, an educational psychologist said, “I’m happy to tell you that Peter is among the top 2% of the population,” which, since Peter was unable to get anything down on paper, made his parents feel worse rather than better. “His teacher used to say, ‘If only I could find the starter button.’” At secondary school, homework involved standing next to his mother, Ann, who would say, “Why? What? When?”, then quickly type what he said. “He knew all the answers. But his thinking was, ‘Why are they asking?’ It made no sense to him.”
Peter’s contextual memory is so bad he doesn’t remember this, but Ann, who works full time at a local college, vividly recalls the late-night battles. Peter couldn’t stand the crossing of the boundaries between school and home: “They are two separate entities and I didn’t like the lines being blurred,” he says. Because he didn’t conform, he was labelled uncooperative and lazy. Only his maths teacher seemed to get him. He told his parents: “Peter is Peter. We should encourage him to be himself, not change him.”
But being Peter has not been easy. Asperger’s was not recognised or routinely diagnosed until the early 1990s. Peter says he thought he was going mad. Ann remembers ringing round, trying to get some support for him, and being told it was her problem. She needed to let go. Then, when the Griffins’ youngest child, Stephen, started school, Ann went in to see his teacher and watched aghast as Stephen collected hundreds of rubbers and lined them up under a chair. “I said, ‘Do you think he’s like Peter?’ And his teacher said, ‘I think he’s much worse.’ ” Stephen’s severe autism was diagnosed at eight, at which point the penny dropped and Peter, then 19, got his diagnosis.
“Michael, our second boy, is what we call neuro-typical,” says Ann. “He was sociable, able, all the things Peter and Stephen weren’t. He was our touchstone. We kept saying, ‘Thank God for Michael, because we know we’re not bad parents.’ ”
Stephen Griffin is clear-skinned and luminously good-looking, an 18-year-old with the guilelessness of an eight-year-old. His passion is racing cars. He can tell you the name of every Formula One champion back to 1950, yet he doesn’t understand that a bus that takes him one way will also bring him back. The rest of us assume an awful lot about the world, based on knowledge we have gathered and processed. People on the autistic spectrum assume nothing: just because a traffic light turned from red to green last time, it doesn’t mean it will do so again. It makes every step a perilous one.
With his mother’s help, Stephen got a handful of GCSEs — Ann took two weeks off work and together they learnt about the Chinese revolution and the life of plants. But since his statement of special needs ended at 16, he has had no transitional support. Apart from taking an animal-care course at college — the idea being that through caring for animals, he would learn about taking care of himself — he has been stuck at home, watching racing on TV. He has a normal IQ but is profoundly autistic. If you say, “Would you like to work in a shop?”, he will say “No”, because he has no way of knowing if he’d like it. And anyway, one shop is not the same as another.
Support for Stephen has been patchy and fairly pointless. “I want to help him move towards work,” says Ann. “But the courses available to him seemed designed purely to keep him out of his bedroom for a year.”
Last year, as part of its I Exist campaign, the National Autistic Society (NAS) commissioned the largest ever UK survey on the experiences of adults with autism and their families. It identified a fundamental problem: nobody — not government nor health authorities nor primary care trusts — knows how many autistic adults there are in England. No wonder, then, that so many don’t have access to the services they need. The National Audit Office, crunching the figures it has on children, estimates that there are half a million people with autistic-spectrum disorders in the UK, of whom around 400,000 are adults, ranging from the mildly affected to those who will need lifelong care. A recent study suggests that autistic adults cost the economy around £25.5 billion a year, 36% of which is accounted for by lost employment. The government is now committed to developing a national adult-autism strategy, which includes the appointment of a full-time autism specialist within the Department of Health, and training for social and healthcare professionals. Every parent has his or her own professional horror story, from the GP who thought Asperger’s was a childhood syndrome — “Do they think kids magically shed ASD when they’re 18?” asked one parent incredulously — to the social workers who repeatedly lump young adults with ASD (autism-spectrum disorder) together with those who have mental-health or severe learning difficulties.
Dedicated teams within local authorities will now be tasked to ensure that every 14-year-old with a statement has a transition plan. This is a statutory requirement set out in the SEN (special education needs) code of practice, yet at present only 34% of children with ASD have them. The consequences of getting things so badly wrong are huge. Currently, only 15% of adults with ASD are in full-time employment, and they report that their experiences at work are marred by misunderstandings and inadequate support.
Peter Griffin still shares a bedroom with his 25-year-old brother, Christopher. Christopher has a long-term girlfriend, and their brother Michael, 27, is married. Does Peter see himself married one day? “Oh dear,” he says. “Hmmm. Yes and no.” My questions on this subject are relayed through Ann. Peter is keen to answer, but points out that I’m looking at all this from a neuro-typical point of view. “I’ve never had a girlfriend, so how can I know if I’d like one?” Do you have friends? There is a long pause. “Not really, no. It’s difficult. To develop. To maintain?”
He says working out the basics of social etiquette has been “like learning times tables”.
He lacks instinct. It’s just about okay until there’s a nuance in the complex web of communication, and Peter has no idea if something has happened or what. “Before I ask a question, I like to know the answer so I have an idea of what to expect.” I can see how tricky this must be.
“It’s just much safer to do nothing rather than risk making a prat of himself,” says Ann.
Because no appropriate support exists for Peter, the Griffins are having to define it. After a disastrous year at Leeds University — “He slept all day, played computer games all night and ran up thousands of pounds of debt” — Peter got his degree in astrophysics at the University of Hertfordshire, where he had a “buddy” provided by the Disabled Student Alliance.
Did the physics department all tend towards the, um? “Do you mean, were they all Aspies? Of course they were!” says Peter.
His dad, Laurence, who works in IT — “a very Aspie profession” — acknowledges that a genetic link is likely. “If there were 100 people in a room, one of them would have Asperger’s.”
“No, no!” says Peter. “You’d never get the Aspie in the room!” And they all fall about laughing.
Ann has explored the idea of Peter working as a teaching assistant. He did an eight-week programme with a council-run scheme called Work Solutions. “He was very, very motivated. They said, ‘We’ll allocate someone to work with you in a few weeks.’ ” But three months went by and nobody phoned. Peter’s mood plummeted. His conclusion was: “I don’t know anything is happening, so I’ll assume nothing is happening.”
Robyn Steward, a 22-year-old with Asperger’s and associated difficulties, from dyspraxia to tunnel vision — she lists them for me — has no truck with the idea that “You’re autistic, therefore you must be a genius”. “At school everyone was expecting Rain Man. Well, I’m rubbish with numbers.” Robyn was isolated, stressed and unable to learn because she was bullied all the time. She was 12 when she was told she had Asperger’s. “I was sat on my mum’s bed. I remember the bedspread?”
Robyn has now learnt to make eye contact, but not to break it. We are eyeball to eyeball for nearly two hours. She has worked hard to understand how neuro-typical people feel:
“It’s like you have a jar in your head and you have emotional tokens which swoosh round, so you’ve got a constant flow. With people on the autistic spectrum, the jar gets full really, really quickly and then it explodes and they get scared and they don’t know what to do.”
When Robyn’s jar gets full, she paints. Her tiny kitchen is crammed with paintings, “111 in all”, many of them consisting of black swirls with primary-coloured gashes. A particularly dark one was painted after a row with a musician friend, also autistic. “He asked me if I thought he was a genius. I said no. I didn’t mean it horribly — I was just being honest. He said, ‘Well, you’ve got an IQ lower than 70 and you’ll never get a boyfriend.’’’
Robyn has had one neuro-typical and one Aspie boyfriend. “I don’t think we feel differently to neuro-typicals. It’s just that we’re less good at interpreting feelings — ours and other people’s.” Robyn finds strong feeling — whether hunger, anger or affection — frightening and confusing, and it’s mostly this that has scuppered her relationships. Physical problems, she says, can be overcome. “I hate anyone hugging me. But one friend squeezes me gently round the waist while I look away.” The biggest problem is finding a connection and maintaining it. “During my teens I was practically a recluse because people were so horrible to me. I didn’t learn the things I should have done. Now I’m in my twenties, I find it easier to say, ‘I’m not very good at this,’ because I know neuro-typicals don’t find it easy either.”
Robyn’s experiences at school were so bad, she says, that “I thought I’d be a homeless drug addict by the time I was 21.” She was sent to social-skills classes: “Ate biscuits — pretty useless really.” But at college, thanks to a proper transition and good learning support, everything went right.
She is now a self-employed mentor for Aspie children, with referrals coming from SENCOs (special-needs co-ordinators) and parents. “I get them to draw while we talk, so they don’t have to look at me. They often haven’t a clue about their own condition. I think, ‘How does a kid get to 12 without anyone understanding them?’ ’’
Robyn does a very good job of appearing neuro-typical, yet she is often driven to the edge of reason just trying to get it right. During a spell working for a computer store, customers’ imprecision left her so frustrated that she banged her head on a wall hard enough to give herself concussion. She needs to know what’s coming, what’s certain, rather than what might be. She is not an order freak — she quite likes mess — but worries about shopping and food all day. She is hypersensitive to colour and texture. “I can’t go into Waitrose — I can’t stand the shiny floor.” Breakfast has to be two Weetabix lined up, with the milk to exactly the same level. “Sometimes I get so panicky I have to phone my friend Bill [a mentor] to find out what I want for my dinner and he says, ‘It sounds as though you’d like a jacket potato.’ He keeps me safe from the world.”
Robyn says that when we meet again, she won’t remember my face, but she has memorised my earrings and shoes. “Life would be easier for people with ASD if others made more of an effort to understand,” she says. And it doesn’t seem too much to ask, since Robyn has no choice but to spend her life trying to get her head around us.
The Asperger’s community, which by its very nature is pretty inflexible, is highly vocal on the subject of inclusion. People with ASD want what the rest of us want: jobs, homes, independence. But the wider community, uneducated in such things, doesn’t know if it wants them, and Aspies themselves are divided as to whether they want to put up with us. Part of the problem is that the autistic spectrum is so broad. Emma Cantons, mother of Robbie Petre, a 20-year-old with high-functioning autism, says it ranges from “the man in the office who doesn’t mix, and is fixated with balls of elastic bands, to those who will never live independently”. Of the group whose slogan is “Autism isn’t a disability, it’s just a different way of being”, she says: “The logic is so delightfully autistic. Trust me — if it stops you fitting into society, it’s a disability, and it’s lifelong.”
As a child, Robbie had floor-bashing tantrums that would last for two hours. “The gap between him and other children widened until there came a point where I couldn’t pretend everything was okay.” He was diagnosed with dyspraxia at 7 and autism at 11. “He had one friend who, when Rob was in the middle of a screaming fit, would say, ‘D’you want to do some Lego?’ Or, when Rob ate with his hands, ‘Come on, mate, use your fork.’ But that is so rare. In the main, the world has absolutely no patience with people like Robbie.”
Robbie is fortunate that he has had an engaged social worker and fantastic care. After he pushed his sister down the stairs, social services listened. “It sounds terrible,” says Emma, “but I thank God he can be violent, because it’s the only reason we’ve had the help we have.” Since he was 16, Rob has had a 52-week residential placement, currently at Ruskin Mill, a working farm community in Gloucestershire. Sitting in her south London garden, Emma has no doubt that, for him, the decision has been the right one. “Robbie doesn’t need reminding to pay his bills — he needs care.”
She sums up the fear and uncertainty of his world very neatly: “I might bring out a cup of tea in a minute or an elephant might drop from the sky. For Robbie, those two things are equally possible. And the gap goes on widening. I think, ‘Woo-hoo, Rob walked to the bus stop on his own.’ Then you realise other 20-year-olds are backpacking in Peru. But within the context of Rob, he’s doing fantastically well. At one point I saw no future for him at all, because I thought he’d kill himself. It is a Greek curse to possess the intelligence to see what you can never have.”
Rob can stay where he is until he is 21, and after that the future is uncertain. “My big sorrow,” says Emma, “is that it can’t go on for life.”
Polly Tommey’s vision for a supported autistic community would perfectly accommodate Rob, with his “islands of ability surrounded by great abysses of difficulty”. Polly, a former actress, formed the Autism Trust two years ago. She publishes The Autism File, a forum for parents of children with ASD, and is trying to raise £10m to build the first outreach centre where autistic adults can be supported to work. She talks at 90mph of rolling the idea out nationally and globally: “America is interested. Dubai wants one?”
Calling on the help of friends in advertising, she launched a billboard campaign: “Dear Gordon Brown, I can save you £508m a year. Please call me”. It hit the spot: Brown invited her to No 10 to discuss better training in the private sector and the creation of a multi-party autism coalition.
In the Tommeys’ bedroom — her husband, Jon, is a clinical nutritionist — four computers compete for space with tumbling piles of files and laundry. E-mails to Polly’s dressing room-cum-office go like this: “Dear Polly, I have a 21-year-old son with autism and urgently need advice and help?” She is driven — “We cannot afford to lose these young people to a life without a purpose” — yet is clearly exhausted and often defeated by the number and desperation of the calls she gets. “I don’t do this through choice. I cannot ignore the need.”
Her own son, Billy, now 13, was so profoundly affected by autism and attendant gut problems that he spent the year between 18 months and 2½ screaming. “He’d bang his head for 12 hours a day.” She recalls getting on a train and sitting between two compartments, crying and crying as people climbed over her. “I was desperate. I know how that feels.”
She is realistic about Billy’s future. “He has full-blown autism. He will never be independent. People say, ‘Oh, Polly, you shouldn’t say that.’ But it’s true. If he lived in the community, he’d be a liability. Not fair on the public. Not fair on Billy. But that doesn’t mean he can’t lead a useful and productive life with the right support.”
The trust’s centres will include a residential wing for those who need it, a working farm and a business centre with mentors and PAs. “Autistic people have amazing brains — I haven’t met one who can’t do something — but aspects of life need to be managed for them.” Polly gets calls from grandparents looking after grown-up boys their own children can’t cope with, and from weeping mothers who talk of suicide.
One writes: “I hope destiny brings a pill which will wipe us out together?” She tells a ghastly story about a 25-year-old on a nine-month waiting list to see a counsellor, whose anxiety reached tipping point. He put a noose round his neck and hanged himself.
There are pockets of good practice: local authorities in Liverpool, Newham and Oldham have dedicated teams to support autistic adults. And in Sunderland, Paul Shattock has established inspirational residential colleges for autistic adults. “In the right environment — low stress, low sensory stimulation — you’ve got a chance to make a real difference,” he says. ESPA colleges, which take a mix of long-term residential and day students and have a waiting list of hundreds, have their own charter of rights; paramount is “No decisions about us without us”.
Paul points out that there’s a lot of money to be made in autism. “Nightclub owners”, as he calls them, “buy a house, fit it out and fill it with five or six autistic adults. That’s not acceptable. But neither is the other option: the vast majority of autistic young people who end up stuck at home with ageing parents, doing nothing”.
The NAS hopes that the national adult autism strategy, due at the end of this year, will “hold local authorities legally responsible for providing support for autistic adults and ensure they have clear routes to diagnosis, assessment and support”. Which all sounds marvellous, but a plethora of legislation and statutory guidance already exists that is supposed to do the job. Unless local authorities are held to account, this new guidance may not be worth the paper it’s printed on. Amanda Batten, the NAS’s head of policy, says: “We do not underestimate the challenge. We’ll keep a very close eye on it and we’ll go to court if we have to.”
Tribunal-weary parents know that local authorities’ quibbling over semantics has become so entrenched in some areas, it could almost be considered policy.
Amy Brosnan, an ethereal 19-year-old lodged somewhere between childhood and adulthood, was diagnosed with autism at 11. There was a lot of “holding down” at her first school, which Amy remembers as “all fear and no learning”. Since she turned 12, she has been at home; she has had no suitable education at all. And now, her mother, Cathy, believes, she has no future.
Cathy sifts through files of letters, evidence of a systematic failure even to acknowledge Amy’s needs. “Local-authority psychologists assess you down. Then, when you get a statement, you fight for every aspect of the provision.” Cathy has been to tribunal three times, the last time over a school that Amy could have attended until she was 21. The local education authority vacillated for so long that she lost the place.
Amy, so anxious about my visit that she has barely slept, looks sad and lost. She sits and listens, head on one side, occasionally getting so upset that she has to leave the room. She loves taking photographs, and when I leave she gives me a shot of a landscape that shows real ability, but Cathy believes Amy’s confidence and self-esteem are now so low that she will need one-to-one care for the rest of her life. It’s a tragedy and makes no financial sense, since the cost to the country of looking after Amy will be far more than that of supporting her properly in the first place. “I really hope the Autism Bill works for the kids who are coming through now, because it’s too late for us,” says Cathy.
One in three autistic adults suffers mental-health problems, and for each of those, not one but several lives are shattered. So many parents talk of the difficulties in securing a diagnosis, or of getting one — but much too late, when their child has dropped out of college or employment or suffered an emotional breakdown. Janette Robb’s 30-year-old son, Danny, was only formally diagnosed two years ago. “My son has spent 75% of the past five years in psychiatric hospitals, much of it due to lack of support within the community.”
Rosie Cousins, whose adult son has become addicted to prescription drugs, is filled with fury at the years of botched diagnoses and, ultimately, with grief over what might have been. Her plea is simple: “I love him dearly,” she writes. “I don’t want his life’s journey to be a worthless one.”
Autism lowdown
Autism is a lifelong developmental disorder that affects how a person communicates and relates to others. It is often referred to as an autism-spectrum disorder (ASD)
The Austrian psychiatrist and physician Leo Kanner described the classic autistic syndrome in a seminal paper in 1943
Autism is estimated to affect more than half a million people in the UK today; about 133,500 of them are under 18
Scientific studies suggest a genetic link: it was recently found that mutations in genes involved in brain connections may increase a child’s risk of autism
ASDs appear in 1 in 100 children; of these, 40% wait more than three years for a clear diagnosis, others longer still
Boys are four times more likely than girls to develop autism disorders, which are a lifelong disability
One or, at most, two in 200 people with an ASD — the ‘autistic savants’ — have an extraordinary talent
Copyright 2009 Times Newspapers Ltd.
The original source for this article can be found here: http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article6794806.ece
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Stories like these are the everyday reality that people with Autism, Aspergers Syndrome or other Autism Spectrum Disorders have to live with. And the sad fact is that it wouldn't take a whole lot for individuals diagnosed with any of these conditions to live the normal lives they desire. Something as simple as being diagnosed early enough and being offered the necessary help without having to fight for it every step of the way would really make all the difference. This is something that I can particularly relate to, not being diagnosed till I was 14, after a so-called expert called in to look into my case during my time at primary school said my solitary behaviour was due to a phase I was going through and was something that I would grow out of. Some expert...not only did I not get diagnosed till I was 14 as a result of their failure to notice signs that must surely have been quite obvious but also my parents, especially my late mom, had to fight to get the help I needed and as a result many of the difficulties that could potentially have been overcome will now be with me for the rest of my life. If this help was available without all the hassle then surely I and others like me would be a whole lot better off. At least I can consider myself lucky in some ways though. While I find many things difficult in day to day life at least I have developed some measure of independence and have achieved many things to be proud of. Stories like that of Amy Brosnan truly break my heart as, due to the failures of others, she will not be able to experience any of the freedoms that come with living independently. I just hope that measures are put in place soon to ensure that the future Autistic adults of the country are in much better position to live out their lives than we are today
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Short Film: 'Reality Check'
Reality Check from Jack Green on Vimeo.
This is a film I worked on as part of a group project for my Bachelors Degree in Creative Studies at Bangor University. I am posting it here because one of the stories within the film is about a character with Autism.
Reality Check is a short film consisting of three different stories based around perceptions of reality.
The first Jigsaw is about how a man with Autism views the world.
The second Mobile is about a man who becomes convinced that he is living the events of certain films.
The third and last Coma is about a woman who is unsure of whether she is dreaming or awake.
I mainly did camera work but also played a small part in the second story (sorry for that - I know I can't act).
The real talents behind the film are Jack Green, David Pallant, Rhi McCrorie, Iain Williamson and Tom Ensor.
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Saturday, 26 June 2010
'My Name Is Khan' Movie Review
The following is a review I have written for the movie My Name Is Khan. It was released in cinemas in February.
My Name Is Khan ****½
With Asperger’s Syndrome becoming far more widely recognized by the people of the world, more films featuring characters with the condition are starting to appear. Last year saw the fantastic American indie film Adam tackle the issue of Asperger’s and relationships. Now we have something very different in the form of My Name Is Khan. Coming out of the Bollywood filmmaking stable - even though it is not a Bollywood film in the traditional sense, this not being a musical in any way and actually being something of an international production, with dialogue being in Hindi, Urdu and English and, due to the multinational nature of the story, featuring American actors as well as Indian ones - My Name Is Khan focuses more on some of the negative preconceptions that can arise due to a lack of understanding of Asperger’s and how those with it are affected by the condition as well as dealing with the issue of changing racial perceptions in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. My Name Is Khan is literally the first Bollywood movie I have ever seen so my knowledge of the background of this huge area of filmmaking is limited but, based on the evidence of this film, it is not hard to see the appeal.
Rizwan Khan (Shahrukh Khan) is a Muslim from the Borivali section of Mumbai who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a form of high-functioning Autism that complicates socialization, prevents him from fully understanding the world around him and causes him to display behaviours that many would consider to be odd. After the death of his mother, he moves to San Francisco to work for his brother there and it is here that he meets Mandira (Kajol), a Hindu single mother with whom he develops a bond and eventually marries. Things go well in Rizwan’s life for some time as he, Mandira and her son Sameer (Yvaan Makaar) live the dream but after the tragic events of 9/11 everything changes. With racial hatred towards Muslims growing, tragedy strikes their family and Mandira, blaming Rizwan for what has happened forces him away. Misinterpreting her sarcastic suggestion for him to meet the US President to say “My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist” as a genuine request, Rizwan sets out on an epic journey to do just that, following the President as he goes on tour around the country. Along the way, he gets detained by authorities who mistake his disability for suspicious behaviour, helps apprehend some genuine terrorists, forms new friendships, shows what true heroism is and inspires the entire nation – all so that he can win back the love of Mandira.
At the start of My Name Is Khan, a disclaimer reads “The protagonist in this film suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of Autism. While the film endeavours to depict the character as authentically and sensitively as possible, it is a work of fiction and hence certain creative liberties have been taken in the portrayal of the condition.” While it doesn’t reflect on the quality of the performance by Shahrukh Khan, this disclaimer is apt as the performance is certainly not one of the more restrained portrayals of a character with Asperger’s Syndrome, in fact being quite an over the top one. While “certain creative liberties” may have been taken, however, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the performance doesn’t ring true to life. While the portrayal isn’t the most restrained and perhaps doesn’t reflect the majority of people with Asperger’s, as someone with the condition myself, I can say that there almost certainly are people out there just like Rizwan. And it is the depiction of Rizwan that truly makes the film work. Shahrukh Khan is superb in the central role (as is Tanay Chheda who portrays the young Rizwan), perfectly displaying the mannerisms and eccentricities of an individual with Asperger’s. He perfectly captures all the different facets that can be found in people with Asperger’s in real life, from the difficulty in maintaining eye contact to the discomfort with physical contact, and the way he takes everything literally at face value to the manner in which certain sights and sounds trigger anxiety attacks. All of this rings true and all of it I, and probably many other with the condition, can personally relate to. The strong central performance, along with well written dialogue and a strong plot, ensures that we do truly believe in the character, his life and his journey, everything he says and does seeming completely plausible – the way he freaks out over things that most people take for granted; the way he interprets everything literally, such as Mandira’s suggestion that he meet the President; his inability to understand basic social cues; the way his behaviour gets misconstrued and the way he fails to comprehend why he is treated in a certain way. The relationship between Rizwan and Mandira also convinces, thanks to a terrific chemistry of sorts between a perfectly paired Khan and co-star Kajol (who delivers a very strong performance in her own right). The nature of Rizwan having Asperger’s means that he is unable to express his emotions openly (something which is represented in the film through him writing his feelings down in a diary, which we hear as voiceover narration) but even without us seeing the emotion on screen, there is still a certain spark between Khan and Kajol when their eyes first meet that makes us truly believe in them as a couple. Even though the relationship seems to progress very quickly, it never fails to seem organic and we really can buy that they are falling in love with one another. This delightful love story at the heart of the film is the driving force for the entire plot and for a good while, the film is happy and cheerful, reflecting the joy of Rizwan and Mandira’s life together, the film tending towards the comic during this period, with a sweet and quirky sense of humour akin to what you would expect from the better films that the romantic comedy genre have to offer. When the events of 9/11 come into the film, however, things take on a much different, darker tone, the comic being replaced by the tragic and in a way that seems completely natural. Suddenly, an easy to watch film becomes much harder going (although still worth sitting through). You see, this film isn’t just about Asperger’s Syndrome, it is also about the changing attitudes towards Muslims following the tragic events of 9/11. With Rizwan, the fact that he is a Muslim is every bit as important to the plot as the fact that he has Asperger’s Syndrome. Without either one there would be not film but together they set the stage for his epic journey. In this regard the film also succeeds, painting an all too realistic picture of the racial hatred that erupted in America post 9/11, even if it doesn’t have much to say that hasn’t been said before and, ultimately, it is the Asperger’s aspect that prevails in the end. If the film falls short of being perfect, it is because the long running time (2 hours 34 minutes) combined with the hard subject matter that arises post 9/11 make for a film that is occasionally hard to watch and the climax of the film tends towards the saccharine, abandoning the realism that has been the order of the day up to that point in favour of an unbelievably happy ending where the best of humanity prevails and love conquers all. This isn’t to say that it is a bad way to go out as it ensures the film ends on a high note, just that given some of the harder stuff that has come before it is somewhat difficult to really buy into it. Additionally, the manner in which the film shifts between languages, with a character one moment speaking English and the next speaking Hindi or Urdu (those unfamiliar will have difficulty discerning which is which) often proves confusing, especially when a character is speaking in these languages to people who shouldn’t be able to understand them yet clearly do. So, My Name Is Khan falls somewhat short of being a masterpiece but nonetheless proves to be a very compelling and very well made film that is inspirational, moving, heartwarming and epic. A very powerful movie going experience indeed.
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My Name Is Khan is available to buy on DVD on Monday 28th June 2010.
Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)
My Name Is Khan ****½
With Asperger’s Syndrome becoming far more widely recognized by the people of the world, more films featuring characters with the condition are starting to appear. Last year saw the fantastic American indie film Adam tackle the issue of Asperger’s and relationships. Now we have something very different in the form of My Name Is Khan. Coming out of the Bollywood filmmaking stable - even though it is not a Bollywood film in the traditional sense, this not being a musical in any way and actually being something of an international production, with dialogue being in Hindi, Urdu and English and, due to the multinational nature of the story, featuring American actors as well as Indian ones - My Name Is Khan focuses more on some of the negative preconceptions that can arise due to a lack of understanding of Asperger’s and how those with it are affected by the condition as well as dealing with the issue of changing racial perceptions in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. My Name Is Khan is literally the first Bollywood movie I have ever seen so my knowledge of the background of this huge area of filmmaking is limited but, based on the evidence of this film, it is not hard to see the appeal.
Rizwan Khan (Shahrukh Khan) is a Muslim from the Borivali section of Mumbai who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a form of high-functioning Autism that complicates socialization, prevents him from fully understanding the world around him and causes him to display behaviours that many would consider to be odd. After the death of his mother, he moves to San Francisco to work for his brother there and it is here that he meets Mandira (Kajol), a Hindu single mother with whom he develops a bond and eventually marries. Things go well in Rizwan’s life for some time as he, Mandira and her son Sameer (Yvaan Makaar) live the dream but after the tragic events of 9/11 everything changes. With racial hatred towards Muslims growing, tragedy strikes their family and Mandira, blaming Rizwan for what has happened forces him away. Misinterpreting her sarcastic suggestion for him to meet the US President to say “My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist” as a genuine request, Rizwan sets out on an epic journey to do just that, following the President as he goes on tour around the country. Along the way, he gets detained by authorities who mistake his disability for suspicious behaviour, helps apprehend some genuine terrorists, forms new friendships, shows what true heroism is and inspires the entire nation – all so that he can win back the love of Mandira.
At the start of My Name Is Khan, a disclaimer reads “The protagonist in this film suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of Autism. While the film endeavours to depict the character as authentically and sensitively as possible, it is a work of fiction and hence certain creative liberties have been taken in the portrayal of the condition.” While it doesn’t reflect on the quality of the performance by Shahrukh Khan, this disclaimer is apt as the performance is certainly not one of the more restrained portrayals of a character with Asperger’s Syndrome, in fact being quite an over the top one. While “certain creative liberties” may have been taken, however, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the performance doesn’t ring true to life. While the portrayal isn’t the most restrained and perhaps doesn’t reflect the majority of people with Asperger’s, as someone with the condition myself, I can say that there almost certainly are people out there just like Rizwan. And it is the depiction of Rizwan that truly makes the film work. Shahrukh Khan is superb in the central role (as is Tanay Chheda who portrays the young Rizwan), perfectly displaying the mannerisms and eccentricities of an individual with Asperger’s. He perfectly captures all the different facets that can be found in people with Asperger’s in real life, from the difficulty in maintaining eye contact to the discomfort with physical contact, and the way he takes everything literally at face value to the manner in which certain sights and sounds trigger anxiety attacks. All of this rings true and all of it I, and probably many other with the condition, can personally relate to. The strong central performance, along with well written dialogue and a strong plot, ensures that we do truly believe in the character, his life and his journey, everything he says and does seeming completely plausible – the way he freaks out over things that most people take for granted; the way he interprets everything literally, such as Mandira’s suggestion that he meet the President; his inability to understand basic social cues; the way his behaviour gets misconstrued and the way he fails to comprehend why he is treated in a certain way. The relationship between Rizwan and Mandira also convinces, thanks to a terrific chemistry of sorts between a perfectly paired Khan and co-star Kajol (who delivers a very strong performance in her own right). The nature of Rizwan having Asperger’s means that he is unable to express his emotions openly (something which is represented in the film through him writing his feelings down in a diary, which we hear as voiceover narration) but even without us seeing the emotion on screen, there is still a certain spark between Khan and Kajol when their eyes first meet that makes us truly believe in them as a couple. Even though the relationship seems to progress very quickly, it never fails to seem organic and we really can buy that they are falling in love with one another. This delightful love story at the heart of the film is the driving force for the entire plot and for a good while, the film is happy and cheerful, reflecting the joy of Rizwan and Mandira’s life together, the film tending towards the comic during this period, with a sweet and quirky sense of humour akin to what you would expect from the better films that the romantic comedy genre have to offer. When the events of 9/11 come into the film, however, things take on a much different, darker tone, the comic being replaced by the tragic and in a way that seems completely natural. Suddenly, an easy to watch film becomes much harder going (although still worth sitting through). You see, this film isn’t just about Asperger’s Syndrome, it is also about the changing attitudes towards Muslims following the tragic events of 9/11. With Rizwan, the fact that he is a Muslim is every bit as important to the plot as the fact that he has Asperger’s Syndrome. Without either one there would be not film but together they set the stage for his epic journey. In this regard the film also succeeds, painting an all too realistic picture of the racial hatred that erupted in America post 9/11, even if it doesn’t have much to say that hasn’t been said before and, ultimately, it is the Asperger’s aspect that prevails in the end. If the film falls short of being perfect, it is because the long running time (2 hours 34 minutes) combined with the hard subject matter that arises post 9/11 make for a film that is occasionally hard to watch and the climax of the film tends towards the saccharine, abandoning the realism that has been the order of the day up to that point in favour of an unbelievably happy ending where the best of humanity prevails and love conquers all. This isn’t to say that it is a bad way to go out as it ensures the film ends on a high note, just that given some of the harder stuff that has come before it is somewhat difficult to really buy into it. Additionally, the manner in which the film shifts between languages, with a character one moment speaking English and the next speaking Hindi or Urdu (those unfamiliar will have difficulty discerning which is which) often proves confusing, especially when a character is speaking in these languages to people who shouldn’t be able to understand them yet clearly do. So, My Name Is Khan falls somewhat short of being a masterpiece but nonetheless proves to be a very compelling and very well made film that is inspirational, moving, heartwarming and epic. A very powerful movie going experience indeed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Name Is Khan is available to buy on DVD on Monday 28th June 2010.
Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Sunday, 16 May 2010
I'm normal . . . I'm just programmed differently
I'm normal . . . I'm just programmed differentlyArticle from Cambridge News Online - April 17, 2009
By ALYSON BRADLEY
Emma Thomson, who is living with Asperger's syndrome, has published a book detailing her experiences in her bid to help others understand and cope with the condition.SHE has been arrested for a bomb hoax, expelled twice from school, sectioned in a mental hospital, and admits some days she wakes up with suicidal thoughts.
But Emma Thomson has learned to live with Asperger's syndrome and, despite the daily struggle to deal with society's ignorance of her condition, the 21-year-old from Eaton Socon is doing a media course at Bedford College, sings karaoke in a village pub every Thursday and has established an online support group for fellow sufferers.
Emma blogs on the website nearly every day and, remarkably, has just written a self-published autobiography chronicling her teenage experiences dealing with Asperger's.
"I know that I'll never really fit in because I'm an outsider and there have been people who have said nasty, spiteful things to me because I'm different, but I use those comments to improve myself," says Emma.
"There are still bad days but sometimes you even forget that you're not like the neurotypicals that you hang around with. I've lived my life in bitterness and anger for years because I wanted to be normal, but now I've realised I have to make the best of who I am."
Around quarter of a million people in the UK have Asperger's syndrome - a mild form of autism, which affects the ability to relate to people.
More common in men than women, the syndrome is a lifelong condition for which there is no cure. Medication is available to help with some of the side-effects of the condition, like anxiety or or depression.
Experts say it is a "hidden disability" which affects social skills, ability to read body language and sensory sensitivity. Sufferers often have a narrow psychological range and obsessive interests.
"I'm actually offended when people call me autistic because I'm not on that part of the spectrum," says Emma, chatting via email because this is the easiest and most fluid way for her to communicate.
"The best way I can explain it to someone who knows nothing is it's like being drunk. There's a mass full of sights and sounds. People and places just seem to come at you in major ways. It's like having an abstract brain.
"I am technically a normal person, just programmed differently socially. I do get sensory issues and even though I have sensitivity to noises of a certain pitch, I'm still able to participate in karaoke on Thursday nights at a local pub."
Emma is frank about the problems of living with her condition.
"I know that I can get on people's nerves a lot but it's not like I ever mean to actually annoy them," she says. "I sometimes try too hard because I know I have to compensate for my lack of social capacity."
For Emma, the most testing times were during her school years. The National Autistic Society says 25 per cent of children with an autistic spectrum disorder have been excluded from school at least once. Emma was expelled from two different schools in Leicestershire and was also forced to leave another two colleges.
"The schools thought I was thick because of the way I acted socially. I was intelligent but couldn't show it so was put in the bottom sets, and these had the bullies in them so I got targeted worse because of that."
Emma found salvation through her love of music and performing. "I became a different person when I was either singing or acting in school performances," she says.
"When I walked on that stage, I became a different person." An enthusiastic singer, she even auditioned for X Factor in 2006.
"I had the confidence to audition," she recalls, "and although I got nowhere, it was much fun."
To cope with the bullying, Emma also began chronicling her despair in letters to sympathetic teachers. But her obsessive nature rang alarm bells at a college she had turned to after being expelled from school.
"The college gave me an ultimatum saying if I emailed this tutor one more time about anything, I'd be kicked out."
Emma devised a plan in revenge at her exclusion, tipping off a UK airport that the tutor with whom she had become obsessed was carrying a bomb on to a flight. She was subsequently found out and arrested.
After years of misunderstanding and bullying, Emma was diagnosed with Asperger's when she was 16 by the Birmingham Forensic Mental Health unit. The authorities finally took action five years ago when she downed excessive amounts of painkillers and then got in her car and drove from Somerset to Leicestershire. She was arrested while driving and sectioned at Milton Park Hospital in Wyboston, Bedfordshire, where she stayed for a year before moving to residential home Oakley House in Eaton Socon, which cares specifically for adults with Asperger's.
"Although my past has been terrible, I wouldn't be as understanding and accepting as I am today (Thursday, 16 April) if it hadn't all happened," says Emma. "I've learned to cope in the world that I live in now but it's taken a long time."
With the right support and encouragement, Asperger's sufferers can lead full and independent lives, which is what Emma is now aiming to do. She set up the website http://www.assupportgrouponline.co.uk/ for Asperger's sufferers when she was 17, and chronicles her experiences on a blog most days.
"If I hadn't been so open about my life since I started the website, I don't think it would have helped other people with the same condition. I sacrificed my privacy to help others really," she explains.."I care about people, which is the reason why I run the website regardless of the problems in my life."
Emma receives around 50 emails a month from other Asperger's sufferers.
She says: "People have said it is so nice to see someone writing from a personal perspective rather than a professional one."
Emma's autobiography, Tortured Soul, has been selfpublished and is available online from www.lulu.com.
"I have always found it easier to communicate in writing," she says. "I'm going to get my autobiography published properly eventually."
As she matures, Emma has adopted a matter-of-fact approach to life and her condition. "I don't think it's worth placing the blame on anything because it happened and now I just have to deal with it because I have no choice.
"You can either accept it as a gift or a curse."
If you don't want to live your life in denial and bitterness then accept it as a gift."
I fight the challenges my disability makes me face with people daily, with all the strength I have inside me and I won't ever give up fighting for things I believe in."
Copyright © 2009 Cambridge News Online
The original source for this article can be found here:
http://asplanet.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110&Itemid=155
Emma Thomson's book, Tortured Soul Part 1: A Female Aspies Story, can be purchased from here:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/tortured-soul-part-1-a-female-aspies-story/2871080?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/9
The support group founded by Emma Thomson, Aspergers Support Group Online, can be found here:
http://www.assupportgrouponline.org/
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Emma Thomson's story is a sad but all too realistic and common one. Her experiences perfectly demonstrate the lack of understanding and tolerance that the neurotypical world has for those afflicted with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome. She has experienced a harsh life simply because those around her fail to understand or accept her the way she is. And I guarantee you that she is not alone in this. Many people in the UK and around the world suffer because of a lack of understanding and acceptance of Autism and the difficulties it creates for those people that have it. While I personally cannot fully relate to Emma's experiences, not having experiences anywhere near the level of difficulties resulting from my condition as she has, I nonetheless sympathise and empathise (as much as is possible for someone with Aspergers anyway) with her plight.
In many ways she is something of an inspiration for people with Aspergers Syndrome. While she has professed to having thought about killing herself, she has managed to go on with her life and has done much to help others with her condition to go on with their lives. Support groups like the one she has created offer valuable resources to people with Aspergers to communicate with one another, exchanging ideas, offering one another advice and forming friendships, all things that make it that little easier to cope with the difficulties posed by Aspergers. Emma's example is one of bravery and determination and shows us that no matter how hard things get we must persevere. Aspergers may create many problems but it also creates perhaps some of the most interesting and unique people you may ever met. Without us I suspect the world would be a duller place and it's about time the world began accepting us as we are. Then, maybe we could be truly accepted and experiences like those of Emma could be avoided.
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Autistic couple in Az subject of film
Autistic couple in Az subject of filmArticle from Arizona Daily Sun
By BETSEY BRUNER.
Jerry Newport and Mary Meinel just published Mozart and the Whale: an Asperger's Love Story, a memoir of their life together. They both have Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.
FLAGSTAFF - Jerry Newport and Mary Meinel joined their two families of birds when they married on Jerry's birthday in 1994.
"The birds got along very well," Jerry said. "They all have double-digit ages."
Besides their 13 birds - five cockatiels, six parakeets, one dove and a cockatoo - the two share a condition, Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism that affects millions of Americans.
Asperger's and other forms of autism are complex developmental disabilities that make social interaction and communication difficult. Maintaining personal relationships can also be daunting, and isolation often sets in.
After their first marriage, a separation in 1997, a divorce in 1999 and a remarriage on Valentine's Day 2002, the couple is still together, refusing to give up in the face of many challenges.
"Mary wasn't sure what kind of future we had, but she was sure we were better off together in some way than we were separate, and she's right," Jerry said.
Today, the Newports live in Flagstaff and have added Wolfie to the family unit, a fluffy-white poodle mix they got at a local animal shelter.
Their story was the inspiration for the 2005 movie, Mozart and the Whale.
Starring Josh Hartnett as Donald (Jerry) and Radha Mitchell as Isabelle (Mary), the movie had a short run in Spokane, Wash., where it was filmed, and was released in DVD at the end of 2006.
"Donald is a very good interpretation of me when I was a young person," said Jerry, who grew up in Long Island. "I was a young person who was obsessed with fitting into society and never quite could."
The movie's title comes from the costumes they wore to celebrate Halloween - Willy the Whale for Jerry, and Mozart's sister, Maria Anna Mozart, for Mary.
Reversing the usual cycle of movie based on book, the Newports have just published a memoir, Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger's Love Story.
The book was co-written by People magazine writer Johnny Dodd and is moving up fast in book rankings based on sales, Jerry said.
People with Asperger's syndrome can be high functioning if a bit eccentric.
"A lot of people would say to us, 'You're just a little off,' " said Jerry, 58, who started an autism support group in Long Beach, Calif., where the couple met in 1993.
Asperger's syndrome was named in honor of Hans Asperger (1906-1980), an Austrian psychiatrist and pediatrician, who described his young patients as "little professors."
The Newports are savants who can perform remarkable feats in specialized intellectual areas, Jerry at math and Mary at music.
With unique personalities, the Newports have become celebrities in the world of autism, featured twice on 60 Minutes.
Because they often have a foot in two worlds, the conventional and the autistic, people with Asperger's are of special interest to people studying autism.
"It's a different culture," said Susan Marks, a special education professor at Northern Arizona University. "Adults with Asperger's are able to provide us a window as to what a child who has autism is experiencing, but is unable to speak. They can tell us what the sensory experience is."
With a degree in math from the University of Michigan, Jerry is a whiz at the subject.
During an interview, he took less than a minute to calculate he was 21,333 days old.
"I started off as a 7-year-old, discovered for being able to do things like square roots in my head, with as many decimals as people wanted," he said.
Because of their difficulties communicating socially, people with Asperger's may not be able to earn a living in their areas of interest.
Jerry works part time for Friendly Cab in town, where he said he is treated well and is becoming a good driver.
Mary, 52, who was born in Tucson, worked in Hollywood as an actress and doesn't consider her form of autism a disability.
"I always considered it a plus," Mary said. "That's where the savant comes from."
Inspired by Russian composers, she bought a synthesizer to compose Neoclassical music.
Another passion is sewing. Mary said she wants to fashion an updated version of her Mozart costume from some new red brocade fabric.
"I'm just bound and determined to cash in on life, to live it to the fullest," she said. "You should have a lot of dreams and see how many of them you can fulfill. You should do what you'd rather be doing."
Copyright © 2010 TucsonCitizen.com
The original source for this article can be found here:
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/39363.php
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This is another article that I have found about Jerry and Mary Newport.
I have posted other articles about the couple previously which can be read here:
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2009/11/star-trek-spot-aspie.html
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2009/11/when-jerry-met-mary.html
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2009/11/mozart-and-whale-interview-with-jerry.html
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2009/10/against-odds-love-story.html
Additionally, content about the movie 'Mozart and the Whale' which is based on their lives can be found here:
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2009/11/mozart-and-whale-movie-trailer.html
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2009/11/mozart-and-whale-movie-stills.html
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2009/11/mozart-and-whale-movie-poster.html
Robert Mann BA (Hons)
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