Portrayal of autistic people in films/TV

Am watching criminal minds with my autie DD and Dr Reid is quite clearly, though not expressly stated to be, autistic coded. We love the way he is clever and quirky but not made out to be utterly dysfunctional or to have a super power. My DD feels he’s what she aspires to be - functional, successful and a welcomed/loved member of an inclusive compassionate team. 🥰

Old thread but Abed from Community is my fave

Not rtft but also Newt Scamander in fantastic beasts is most likely nd?

I’ve just seen that a new series of Fisk is on Netflix. Has anyone watched it before? I think Helen Tudor-Fisk is possibly autistic coded. She’s definitely a bit like me - socially inept, no fashion sense and dog obsessed.

We liked this episode too. I have a 12 year old DS who is also autistic with behaviours that challenge - we’ve had the police come out a few times after reports of ‘a child in distress’. He also used to be a runner and one time when we lost him there was a huge police hunt with dogs and everything. He was eventually found asleep in a random persons garden.

We also like the episode where they are hunting the poo…Done that more than once! He’s not done that for a few years now though.

DS12 has actually made huge improvements over the past year. I think improvements in his communication have helped with the running away as he’s better able to express himself. I used to say he was like a giant toddler but now he’s more like a giant 5/6 year old.

He’s actually just survived his first year in mainstream secondary school (and only got suspended once 🤦🏻‍♀️)

Yes my husbands the same
Some of the things Rosie does like pinching the dummy off the baby I can well imagine my son doing .

In the middle not muddle!

I know this thread has gone off on a tangent, but @AutisticHouseMove I like Everything's Gonna Be Okay for a decent portrayal of autistic characters, it's written by a guy who was diagnosed with autism halfway through and wove that into his character, and all the autistic characters are played by autistic actors.
I also like A Kind of Spark - it's a children's book/ TV show, but again, all autistic actors and autistic writer. It also goes into some of the darker side of growing up autistic, especially in the book, and that comes into the second series of the TV show. The author, Elle McNicoll, has written adult novels as well with autistic characters.

There she goes, I like the episode where the police turn up because they think she's being kidnapped, then the social worker turns up too and the dad is just really abrupt. It's so funny but I bet some people are scared of laughing if they've never experienced anything like that. There is so much too which is upsetting. You kind of go through a full range of emotions watching it. My husband can't watch it, it's too close to thr bone for him.

Agree, 'high support needs', 'complex needs' etc now almost meaningless. I have a son similar to yours and another more 'in the muddle' (but still miles and miles away from mainstream ability). It is my biggest fear that someone will hurt them and I'll never even know.

There She Goes is the closest portrayal to my autistic children I've seen. The main character isn't actually autistic but has a SWAN, but it's so convincing. Some of the situations are exactly what have happened to us.

Fab, thank you for that. Sorry for the late reply, we've been having a bit of a day.

Surely in regards to your earlier post if he says he doesn't understand he cant habe capacity. Its crazy.

You are in such a difficult position. I wish I could help you. Did he have transfer from a paediatrician to adult services? Maybe it's worth talking to social care or local parents first and seeing if they have disability social workers (they're usually better for families with disabilities as they get its not all clear cut). They may at least start seeing how vulnerable he is. He still should have a right to education, has he just been off rolled? If he had an ehcp and it was ceased properly maybe you could try to get some support through that?

I know its all easier said than done because it's all a fight and youre prob physically and emotionally drained.

Def see if you have a carers service where you live that maybe the best start as you'll have someone to support you and they may know what to do and who to contact locally.

@Perzival I think the answer is yes, you can apply for UC but it will affect any benefits you get so have to weigh up whether or not you will be worse off. For us, we don’t get any benefits so we won’t be losing money by DS getting his own UC

This explains it…
contact.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/universal_credit_young_person.pdf

Thanks for this info, I really appreciate it. It’s so difficult navigating it all and you and @Perzival are really helpful

But thinking about it if you were told to apply at 18 then it could well apply if still in education. I’d definitely check

@Perzival I’m not sure if it applies if they are in education. I would’ve thought not.

Thanks for your advice about the learning disability register at the GP - I’ll look into that. I’ve found it really hard since DS turned 16 to get services to speak to me. DS has been allowed to disengage from everything on the grounds that he has capacity - although no formal assessment of his capacity has ever been done!

He refuses to take any medication whatsoever even when he is unwell but apparently has capacity to make that choice so there’s nothing I can do. He used to take melatonin to help sleep but now doesn’t and is often awake for more than 24 hours at a time. He was forced by CAMHS to have a blood test which showed electrolytes imbalances and vitamin D deficiency but then he’s never taken any of the supplements prescribed. He’s physically quite unhealthy and very underweight (BMI 15 but has capacity to choose whether he eats or not)

I have now been put on his notes at the GP surgery as being able to talk on his behalf but that was a right faff! They wanted DS to say to them ‘I give permission for you to speak to my mum’ which of course he wouldn’t say. After an awkward 5 minutes of the receptionist trying talking to DS, he turned to me and said ‘I don’t understand’ and the receptionist was finally like oh it’s ok I’ll just put down permission to speak to mum.

@SnowdropWhite with the uc if on pip at 16/17 does that apply if they're in education do you know please? Weve been told to not apply until 18. Thank you for posting this as ill get on it.

Yes, DS gets PIP and he got DLA (MRC and LRM) before that. I was made his appointee and applied on his behalf, they didn’t speak to him or see him at all. The money goes into my bank account. I cannot get him interested in the money at all.

It was very easy to get PIP I found, but we did have a lot of evidence with his EHCP and from CAMHS. We get enhanced rate for care but only lower rate for mobility which I disagree with (but didn’t want to fight as you get told your points can go down too and I’m not good at advocating). We get 10 points for ‘cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress’. For higher rate you need 12 points ‘cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without assistance’ which would also apply if he were to go anywhere. He can’t even tell you his address, I’ve tried to teach him many times (but he can tell you anything you want to know about Godzilla).

He also got zero points for reading and understanding which again I disagree with. Yes, he can read but he would need support understanding. The PIP assessor asked me if he can read a Roald Dhal book, I said he could - I guess that’s the benchmark! His award is until 2030 and he got more than 4 points in lots of areas so I wasn’t overly concerned by the government’s proposal to only award PIP if you get 4 points in at least one area (although obviously when he is reviewed his points could change and I fear we will have less evidence at that point).

I didn’t realise but you can actually get UC when you are 16/17 if you get PIP. So I’m in the process of trying to claim that for him. Once he gets UC he then has to have a work capability assessment and if they agree he’s not capable you get an enhanced amount of UC, if I understand it correctly.

@Glassmatt It could all change or be wrong as I'm still getting my head around things.

I do think the best place to get info is from other parents and thats with everything.

The school sound like they're trying to help of they want to update his ehcp to show more needs. It may be a really good opportunity to get the ehcp tight of it isnt already (all needs detailed in section b with provision to meet each one in f that is specified, quantified and detailed) if this is telling you to such eggs please ignore if not check ipsea and sossen websites.

The other thing we've had to sort out is wills and a disabled person's trust. If your child will inherit (possibly a share in a house) when you die you can have it put into a trust so it doesnt impact their benefits and can be used in addition to any support they get. Otherwise the la can look at using it to pay for support.

The other other thing is deputyship. This is like power of attorney when the person doesn't already habe capacity. There's one for finance and one for well being. You have to apply to the court of protection. The wellbeing one is harder to get and you may not need financedepending on circs.

Thank you so much, your info has been invaluable. I’ll be taking screen shots of these replies so when the time comes, I have your guidance.

It’s a sad state of affairs that you have to find this stuff out by those that have been through it, because no one tells you. My DS attends a special unit and has his EHCP review coming up and school are wanting to change it as they say he has more severe needs than originally assumed (I guess because he’s getting older and it’s becoming more apparent the gap is widening) he gets DLA now and mobility and I get Carers Allowance. I’m terrified for the future.

Financially... I'm just getting my head around most of this so if others know better or can correct me pls do, itll help me as well.

At 16- you need to apply for credits only esa for him to establish he cant work. You need to apply for his pip as well. You should get a letter before his 16th birthday to start the process. If you fill it in on time you get dla until pip decision is made. You also 'should' open an appointee bank account if he doesnt have capacity to look after his own money.

Also see the mencap link above about Dr's ld register. This is from 14.

If youre on uc you can keep him on your claim until hes 19 or leaves education (anything above a levels if that's appropriate and he comes off) and apply in their own right. You should have already established that he cant work at 16 to make it easier.

Of youre not on uc you can put a claim in for him at 18 (i think) as above with established whether he can work or not. I think though you have to do this in the Summer holidays before he starts a new course (same for the esa).

If he has a social care package at 18 they may start charging you/him for it. From what I've gathered diff LA's have different ways to work it out but generally it doesnt leave the yp much.

Also as he moves to adult services make sure you get a carers assessment in your own right. Look at local carers services (you maybe able to do that now).

I plan to keep my ds in education as long as hes happy to go as long as possible - hopefully up to 25. This is so he has somewhere to go and other people in his life other than just us, obviously to progress him as much as possible but to keep the ot/slt provision and anything else in section f of his ehcp.
ffwe're having to get ld formally dxd so that he can access some adult services. So if ld is applicable at whatever level thats something to think about.

Ofcourse the gov could change all this at a drop of a hat if they feel like it.

Just when you think youve got to grips with the sen system you have to get to grips with this. Im sure they make everything really hard and awkward so we give up.

No, I’m not saying you don’t have autism, I’m saying I feel like you describe at times and I don’t have it. I feel very overwhelmed not just a bit…..

Are you suggesting you don’t think I have autism? It’s a lot more than just not being able to do life admin very well or feeling a bit overwhelmed.

That sounds really hard for you both x there is nowhere near enough support out there.

My ds also has some echolalia, it's quite common apparently with autism and like yours he doesnt understand what he says - i like to hear him say it.

Camhs are awful arent they?! They shouldnt be able to do it as how do they know and if they'd see another yp without no dx they should see one with for the same thing surely.

I recently found our carers association and they've been amazing. Maybe see if you have one locally (i think you should). They maybe able to support you with a carers assessment and appointee bank accounts but even just a chat to see how you are every now and then.

I hope it's ok to say but I read on mencap that you could have your dx placed on the ld register at the GP without a ld dx (i know youve said he doesnt have ld but the amount of support he requires may put him in that group). You may want to do this or have the conversation so you can make appointments or get results or talk on behalf of your ds. They may not let you otherwise because he wouldn't have consented.

https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/health/learning-disability-register

He goes to a special school for autism. Also working on p levels and he gets hrm under smi (he has since he was three and had hrc on it's own before that). He will get a formal ld dx in the next few weeks as I've asked for it to be formalised for adult services. Our LA has a separate LD team in adults that can help with hospital appointments, community dentist/ optitions etc