My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

AIBU?

To wish that, just for once, there would be a programme made about low functioning autistic people?

206 replies

SharkiraSharkira · 17/10/2017 23:35

I admit this is a sensitive subject for me as I have a 'low functioning' autistic child but....

I think it's great that ASD is becoming more well known and more understood, so to speak. People know more about it, are willing to talk about it. They are happier to portray it in TV and movies. This is all good as it gives the condition more exposure.

However. It always seems to be the same kind of autism portrayed. The high functioning ones. The ones who are savants or gifted at something. The ones who can have relationships, jobs, and live independently. This was all triggered by an advert for a new drama I saw who's main character is a brilliant doctor/surgeon who happens to be autistic.

But I can't recall ever seeing a programme or film (admittedly I haven't seen them all) that shows the other side of autism. The ones who headbang or are incontinent. The ones who cannot live independently or have a job, ever.

I'm not saying that programmes about higher functioning ASD are bad, just that it would be nice to see on screen a situation/person that relates to ASD that is vaguely familiar. So many of them, as a parent of someone who is severely affected, just don't resemble my experience at all. They may as well be different conditions entirely.

Aibu to wish that for once producers/filmmakers etc would show the other side of autism?

OP posts:
Seeingadistance · 17/10/2017 23:42

No, you're not being unreasonable.

DixieNormas · 17/10/2017 23:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wobblywonderwoman · 17/10/2017 23:46

I agree. It is hugely positive to show the strengths asd can have but the difficulties are immense. I think that was a big factor in getting rid of the term 'aspergers' at diagnosis.
Flowers

arethereanyleftatall · 17/10/2017 23:46

Yanbu.

Cakescakescakes · 17/10/2017 23:47

I whole heartedly agree OP. My DS is somewhere inbetween so sort of falls between the cracks I think. People seem to have two ideas of what autistic children are like - either the super gifted high functioning genius with a specialist areas of knowledge etc or the child with very severe autism, non verbal, SLD etc.

My son is in between - very limited verbal ability, can’t write or ride a bike, several years behind emotionally and socially, yet is funny and affectionate (when not having a mega meltdown 😜). I’ve never seen an autistic kid like him on TV.

GlitterGlassEye · 17/10/2017 23:54

I think it would be nice to see. I have a distant relative who has 5 degrees, all professional, science, maths, engineering based. But unfortunately has always lived at home, never had a job or a relationship and this may be why a programme has never been made. He’d never agree to it.

campion · 18/10/2017 00:08

I see where you're coming from as I often wish they'd make a programme about high functioning ASD people who are not in relationships,don't have a job,don't live independently and don't accept their diagnosis (and cause their parents a whole lot of stress and anxiety as a free extra). Who still dominate the household into
adulthood and are,at best,tricky to deal with.

Thing is,it wouldn't make uplifting viewing,rather like discussing the downside of dementia, so the ones they focus on are all resolutely positive.

You may guess I have some experience here and I get v fed up with it too! My Ds is super bright in some ways but it hasn't really helped him to succeed in any of the above-not for want of support. The programmes make it look as though we've been doing it all wrong-how else to interpret it -so I just feel annoyed and frustrated if I watch them. Fantastic for the subjects concerned-success against all the odds and all that. Bit less fantastic on this sofa.

Not a positive response but I do empathise though I realise you're in a different situation.

SweetCrustPastry · 18/10/2017 00:22

So I heard a guy on the radio saying that he really objects to the term "high functioning" and he has a point. No-one asks if you are a high-functioning neurotypical person, or a high-functioning blind person, or a high functioning left-handed person.
I saw that earlier but have just watched the Chris Packham thing and he looked at a range of people young old, dependent, independent and most importantly highlighted the impact on his family and the
shocking prospects for employment for most people who are autistic.

MrsOverTheRoad · 18/10/2017 00:26

YANBU. They take the most "saleable"aspects of Autism and show those because they're "inspiring".

Producers are notoriously lacking in imagination and guts...they think we can cope with watching a drama about a child "with issues" only if that child doesn't do anything people might find hard to watch.

Oh it's fine to watch a child actor show a meltdown as long as the child is easy on the eye and then does something marvelously "savant -like"

It's similar to the whole race issue where people of certain races are portrayed as "a bit magical" or something.

OP I hear you.

GrockleBocs · 18/10/2017 00:29

Yanbu. We had a reminder recently that some of the posts on our autism support group were making LF parents feel a bit shit and that's true. I know it's a spectrum but it can feel like totally different disabilities depending on the function.
Telly is a bit hopeless at doing inconvenient disability. Or indeed divergence. Disability is mostly a plot device rather than a mundane incidental bit of someone's life.

MrsOverTheRoad · 18/10/2017 00:29

Dixie that's nonsense. Of course it would be interesting if it were well-written.

Many, excellent dramas have been made about all kinds of challenging subjects.

Slavery
Rape
Child abuse

They're hardly glam subjects are they!?

What makes a drama compulsive, is the window into another world which it offers. The way people might cope...or not cope with the challenges they're given.

How the issues affect the family and how the love that family feels for their child is just as strong as the love another family feels for their neurotypical child.

AuntieRoberta · 18/10/2017 00:31

It's a really old programme - 1980s - but "St Elsewhere" had such a character. His father was Chief of Staff or something like that at the titular hospital , and also was a single parent whose wife had died. A lot of care for the child who was probably 10/12 at the start of the series fell on his slightly older sister.

If I remember correctly, the character was non-verbal and didn't respond when anyone, for example, tried to hug him. I remember it as quite heartbreaking at times.

An interesting side note: one of the main characters was a youngish Denzel Washington.

DrCoconut · 18/10/2017 00:42

Cakes, my DS is in between too. He's nearly 19 now and totally incapable of leaving home. He needs help with day to day living. He's at college and in a class for students with SEN having tried a more mainstream group unsuccessfully. He's about 14 developmentally and very vulnerable but he is also quite witty and really wants to be independent. He can walk to and from college now but when I see other people's kids going off to uni, joining the army etc it really shows just how far he has to go to catch up. Yet I'm grateful that he is not more severely affected too.

hendrick · 18/10/2017 00:45

YADNBU. I find it hard to watch a lot of programmes about autism now, because they remind me how far behind my DS is, not just behind NT people but even those on the spectrum. I'm autistic and I'm HF in some ways, but I've never held down a job and struggle to live independently.

There's a great film called The Black Balloon which is a great drama with an autistic character and it shows the meltdowns etc. The Louis Theroux documentary covered some real challenges too. But I think the public like being entertained with the quirks of high functioning autistics and they relate to them more because they feel they're more like them. I do feel it's damaging in some ways because people get an impression of autism as something that is easily overcome, and can't understand it if you say your child is never going to manage to do certain things, as if they could just be like those people if you/they tried a bit harder.

PeachMelbaPud · 18/10/2017 00:48

Yanbu.

GirlInASwirl · 18/10/2017 00:51

I agree OP - more should be available about ALL diagnoses on the spectrum. Considering it is so prevalent in the population; I can't think why has not been done before - and isolation felt by families with children/adults with the condition is totally unnecessary.

It's about recognising contributions of others in the household, part of campaigning for better support services, starting wider community discussions and ultimately helping every person succeed.

I feel frustrated that all support services in my area are focussed on children and low functioning adults. My partner was diagnosed with PDD (NOS) last year (at age 39). Just because someone is high functioning does not mean that they just fly through life and are appreciated for their 'genius'. In trying to 'cover up' his Autistic traits he has also developed Oppositional Defiance Disorder and other mental health concerns. All of which mean that he can be extremely challenging to be around - drives me insane!

I would love to see realistic high functioning characters on TV - warts and all. No comedic portrayal (I can't enjoy Big, Bang Theory' anymore) or 'heroes in waiting' - just sensitive and clever writing about the subtle things that grate on families everyday.

potatoscowls · 18/10/2017 01:02

unfortunately autism is only really ever discussed in the following circumstances:
-this person was nice to an autistic child, wow how amazing they are
-this autistic person is awkward and rude but a rocket scientist
-this autistic person thinks they can date, har har har
and a bunch of stuff about how everyone is so amazing for accommodating an autistic person in their lives, wow they're so patient and kind and giving....
Never any notion of autistic people actually, like, having feelings and not just being an opportunity for everyone else to virtue signal...
sorry, it's late and im feeling ranty ;)

citychick · 18/10/2017 01:17

hi OP
Louis Thereux (sp?) made 2 programmes for Netflix.
one about families whose children have autism and one on dementia.
both very harrowing and made in USA.
do u think that's what you are looking for?

DixieNormas · 18/10/2017 01:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Yourownworstenemy · 18/10/2017 01:44

If you're talking about the Chris Peckham programme i thought the same, I found it very interesting as it was but I often feel like programs like this group all asds together and the fact is from one end of the spectrum to the other is a huge difference!

I found it a little hard to swallow when the doctor at the aba school said he would cure autism and this upset Chris and the guy at the big firm that employed some asd people, this may not be something they would chose as 'high functioning' but it certainly might seem appealing to the parents of a child who will never speak or be able to use the bathroom appropriately, never want a cuddle, be unable to cope with life outside of 1 room, who physically harms themselves to the point of hospitalization etc, I felt that was a little insulting tbh

WanderingTrolley1 · 18/10/2017 02:18

Yanbu.

MrsOverTheRoad · 18/10/2017 02:43

Dixie why not? Do you imagine the entire film or series would focus on those aspects? Hmm

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

BitOfFun · 18/10/2017 02:53

I completely agree. It's frustrating, because obviously we love our children, and they can inspire joy and empathy in us- I would have thought that would be a great tooic for drama.

Piewraith · 18/10/2017 02:59

It's difficult because if someone did do that the response would be "How dare they! This show is making autistic people look bad. Dont they know people with autism aren't all like that, how ignorant and disablist".

I have read a few articles like this and those are always the comments.

toffee1000 · 18/10/2017 03:12

I agree OP. However I still think the prevailing public perception of autism is that it is a terrible thing; the whole MMR shit came about because parents didn't want their child getting it, because it was perceived as a terrible problem that would totally change all concerned's lives. Even if the person is high-functioning they still struggle with simple everyday things like going shopping, having relationships etc so documentary-makers want to try and reassure parents that they can, with support, get over/cope with these difficulties and do fairly well in life, give the parents hope. Although, of course, this again only applies to HFAs... People generally like to see "the underdog" have a happy ending. It is rather cack-handed however. It's a spectrum. Of course there are kids who are incontinent and non-verbal and so on.
Documentaries also tend to have some sort of storyline, e.g. "Max finds a girlfriend" or "Louise gets a job" etc, again linked with the idea of "the underdog" getting a happy ending. It's pretty insensitive, yes. They could do some sort of documentary covering six months/a year in the life of Bob who is "low-functioning", but again with these things there is usually some sort of 'story'. It'd be representative of those with low-functioning children, but it would also worry parents of children who have just been diagnosed, who are already worried about how their child would cope in life, seeing that kind of documentary may just depress them. Tough shit I guess though; there are enough shows about HFAs. Parents deserve a balanced view, to give hope in the case of HFA and to prepare them/give reassurance that they're not the only ones in the case of LFAs.

The point about curing autism: I totally get that. But some may also see it as, if you could cure autism/do some kind of embryonic selection thing, that implies that some lives are less worth living than others. It brings up a whole ethical dilemma: you find a cure, it works, then parents may want embryonic screening to see if the child would be born with the condition, and so on. The problem with autism is that you don't know immediately how severe it will be; sometimes it may appear pretty severely at a young age but the child eventually improves somewhat, the child may end up high-functioning, you just don't know.
It's a fucking difficult one, I agree. I suppose the onus would be on the parents of low-functioning children to do a blog or whatever about their child's life, but trying to find the time to do that whilst parenting the child would be nigh-on impossible for many. Plus there'd be the added stress of filming; if the child can barely cope with everyday life as it is, having a whole load of strangers descend with cameras and whatnot would only be detrimental.

I do like that ASD is getting more coverage, especially when it affects girls and women. It's been a slow, slow process. I don't know what we can do to persuade filmmakers to show the low-functioning end and why it would make good TV, or if we can.

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.