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

[SharkiraSharkira]

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?

You don't see many that feature girls either.

I think it’s the same with other neurological conditions OP eg Tourettes. They only ever feature those who swear, it’s more ‘entertaining’, never mind the fact only 10% of people with TS swear. Never mind the 90% for whom it’s motor tics and it’s associated conditions, OCD, ADHD and how hard life can be.
So the general public just come away thinking TS is a swearing condition.

Meant to say "girls on the spectrum"

Yanbu.I saw a stage play though with a non-verbal autistic adult who still lived with his parents (he wasn't a main character) and it was very interesting, if a little painful for dh and I who are currently in a bad situation with our own disabled son.

Moveit sorry if I came across as negative. I love my son too, he has brought a joy into my life I never knew was possible. I love his differences, but understand also his limitations. I prefer to focus on the positives, but am wary always that the negatives have to be addressed and dealt with.

A fantastic film that shows a non-savant, semi-independent woman with autism (crap description I know!)

Snowcake with Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman... A beautiful film

Here it is in its fabulous completeness

YADNBU although you could say the say about any severe disability.

I'd like to see a TV program made about the book "Skallagrig", for instance.

My Left Foot for instance. Yes ok he had a talent, but he wasn't your usual sanitised disabled person.

I think this is true about Downs Syndrome as well, OP. Stories that make the news are indeed inspiring- of people who are exceeding the limits that people put on them years ago, so holding down part-time jobs, having relationships, living sometimes independently, sometimes with support. Acting, taking part in the disabled olympics. And these things really are worth celebrating.

But that leaves behind a lot of people whose children or as adults aren't going to be doing any of these things, and people often don't want to hear about others- who may be non-verbal, sometimes aggressive/moods/feeling frustrated, may have autism and Downs syndrome or co-existing conditions, and just don't have that happy ending thing going on, even though they may have enjoyable/happy aspects to their lives as well.

It must get very frustrating to be a parent and have people continuously say to you 'you never know, your little Bertie could be an actor like the one on telly' when they are incontinent and non-verbal and the chances of them living and working independently are, frankly, nil.

I don't know what the answer is except to widen out the portrayals.

My son has an aspergers diagnosis so he is classed as 'high functioning' he is not a genius, head bangs out of flustration, hurts himself, hurts me, struggles to maintain friendships, has suicidal thoughts and just about manages to hold it together at school. But he is capable of going to the toilet, washing himself etc autism is hard for all involved whether your high or low functioning im surprised by reading some of these post how stereotypical people are!!!!

I really like everything Louis Theroux does but his 'Extreme Love:Autism' documentary was brilliant.

I agree with you OP.

Autism diagnoses have become so mainstream, the spectrum is so broad, that actually I believe low functioning autistic children/adults have gotten lost in the mix.

Totally agree OP, I grew up with autistic sister who also has moderate learning difficulties, but the autism label always made people assume that they had some sort of savant gift lurking somewhere. It doesn't portray the life long difficulties but also the sweetness of autistic people as they tend to be quite guileless.

Agree with summerswallow that the challenges of downs syndrome not portrayed either.

I agree. I'm a late fifties woman with an ASC. I'm intelligent, but have been bullied most of my life because I don't 'get' what's acceptable, normal and am easily manipulated. I still struggle with the social mores and tend to guide conversations toward my specialities. I don't have a super power though and am so bored with people asking if I'm good at maths. I have worked in an academic/medical setting and there are many Autistic philosophers, literature specialists, historians, doctors, scientists. The minute you mention AS or an ASC you have to be scientific, logical, emotionless and preferably male!

YANBU at all OP. I just wish there were more TV programmes about all people who are not NT.

DS is 'high functioning' (a term I loathe) & it was great to see Chris Packham last night and I hope lots of NT people watched it, as it gives some insight into ASD, but a lot of DS's difficulties are different, so it was just one person's experience.

DS is at a school for pupils with all sorts of additional learning needs and it would be great to see more recognition for those people. Selective mutes, unselective mutes, severe dyslexics, severe dyspraxics, stutterers etc.

I'd like to see more about those with physical difficulties too, so blindness, deafness, CP etc and not just paralympians.

The world is a better place for people who are not NT and not physically typical either. We need to get better at recognising that and understanding the issues and what support could help make their lives easier.

Firstly, apologies that this is a bit off topic but as a number of posters have mentioned that they have mid-range functioning dc's I thought it might be relevent. My young adult ds is mid-range, after leaving college it took two years with much effort from him and me to find employment. There were many raised hopes which were soon dashed but eventually he got a part-time job shelf stacking in a discount store and 18 months later he is still there.
During the time we were searching I came up with an idea that if the government were to introduce a scheme where employers could claim back a percentage of the wage they were paying a disabled person, from the inland revenue, then that might encourage them to offer work to people with ASD and other disabilities. I wrote to my MP who passed the details on to George Osbourne, (chancellor at the time) who wrote back a snotty letter which just told me about the wonderful things the Tories were already doing for disabled people.
If you think my idea might work would you consider writing to your MP and making a similar suggestion? If enough of us did then maybe we could get something changed.

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.

A poor choice of words on my part but how would this be "entertaining" ? It would form part of a documentary surely, or you would have an incontinent headbanger as a side character in a drama, because they could hardly take the title role as a surgeon etc.

So many comments to reply to!

I'm not massively keen on the high functioning/low functioning label tbh because I think it sort of implies that someone who is hf is only mildly affected by their ASD which isn't always the case. My ds does not (and probably never will) have suicidal thoughts, anxiety, OCD behaviours etc. He does not care what he looks like or the fact that he doesn't really have any friends. This is not true for a lot of hf autistic people.

But on the other hand, ds is only semi verbal, doubly incontinent, has a special needs pushchair, has a helmet to stop him hurting himself. He has no sense of danger so cannot really be left unsupervised.

It is such a varied condition that sometimes two people with the same diagnosis barely resemble each other! As such this makes it difficult for film/tv producers to accurately portray it to the extent where they make everyone happy.

I'm just sick of seeing the same ASD stereotypes perpetuated in the media - the good doctor was the one that inspired this thread - as I saw he advert and I just felt quite angry! Like, 'ffs yet another programme featuring someone with ASD who is a genius/has a special talent/has a superpower/is basically like everyone else so if you weren't expressly told they have ASD you would never know'. It's immensely annoying and frustrating because it's just so far from my experience.

Stuff about people with hf autism is still very valuable and we should definitely still have them. It would just be nice to see a range. It would be really nice for other people outside my own family to see what lf people with autism are like and how it can affect them and those around them. Yes it might be less entertaining, more depressing and so on, but don't they deserve representation as well? That goes for all severe disabilities actually tbf.

I'm glad that disabilities are more 'visible' in society now but it still feels a bit like we are only 'allowed' to see a very sanitised, 'safe' version that isn't too difficult to watch or deal with emotionally.

I just think to never give the more severely affected any exposure does no one any favours - it just means that when someone does meet someone lf, they are completely shocked!

What role do you think a low functioning person could take in a drama or TV series?

A poor choice of words on my part but how would this be "entertaining" ? It would form part of a documentary surely, or you would have an incontinent headbanger hmm as a side character in a drama, because they could hardly take the title role as a surgeon etc.
A poor choice of words indeed.
Programmes do not have to be entertaining. Chris Packham's programme last night was informative, gut wrenching, interesting, none of it was entertaining.

What role do you think a low functioning person could take in a drama or TV series?
A role written specifically for them and filmed taking their needs into consideration?

There was a program on channel 4 once about a drama workshop for kids with asd. The mother of one of the lower functioning of the group felt quite out of place and upset at how different her son was and how different her challenges were compared to the other parents.

Functioning labels are a misnomer.
I am supposedly high functioning, as are my DS and DD. My other DS is supposedly lower functioning. I say supposedly because these are labels imposed by the neurotypical community to try and pigeon hole the spectrum and that just isn’t possible as it’s so huge.

We all have challenges. They’re different but just as disabling in different ways. I’m still able to express myself in type long after I’ve gone non verbal through stress.

DS doesn’t have some of the issues the other three of us do as he’s oblivious to issues.

I feel that ‘high functioning ‘ as a label minimises the struggles an individual on the autistic spectrum has. There are way higher expectations which in itself causes more stress.

I’m loving the fact that programmes like Chris Packham’s are being made, it’s a huge leap forward. But I do agree the diversity of the spectrum needs to be highlighted too.

jay55, I can understand that. If DS were in a room with severely autistic young people, he would be out of place, even though he is also autistic. I went to see a school specifically for those with autism & knew that DS would not fit in there, because he wasn't autistic enough - which sounds nuts.

I can run, but I would be out of place with olympian sprinters!

We are all on a spectrum for all of our abilities and sadly the focus is always those who are reasonably comfortably in the middle, or those with genius characteristics - physical & mental.

Hopefully, we will see more programmes like the one about Chris P last night & the recent one where physically disabled people went on a trek in the far east and gradually people will get more understanding.

I agree completely Gilead.

Programmes don't always have to be 'entertaining' to be compelling, thought provoking, eye opening and worth watching. I have watched many films/tv shows, both fictional and documentaries, that have been all of the above.

Lots of stuff mentioned on here that I haven't seen, thank you for those! I will definitely give those a watch

I'm not sure Sloe. Off the top of my head you could do a drama about..maybe a single mother with several children, one of whom has low functioning autism, and her struggle to get her child the support they need, fight with the authorities to get a school place, maintain employment with lack of appropriate childcare, cope with child's extreme behaviours (lack of sleep etc), maintain a good relationship with her other children, etc etc.

Quite a lot of scope there to show the ups and downs of a life lived with a severe disability.