Paddy And Christine McGuinness: Our Family And Autism

[discoland]

Did anyone watch this last night?
I have an autistic DS age 5 so found it really interesting to get an insight into other families and individuals with autism, really liked it.

I watched it last night. I have a child who may be on the spectrum and I work with children, many of them are autistic.

There were elements I liked. I liked their honesty, and I guess their target audience was people who don't know much about autism.

I didn't feel it showed anything new, but I liked that the children themselves still had their privacy maintained. I would have liked them to highlight more the struggles families face getting support for their children (and support for the families at home), but I guess these are struggles you don't have when you have money to access all the specialists you need.

I was uncomfortable with quite a bit of the language used - particularly when Paddy and Paul Scholes were talking about their children having things "wrong" with them. But it's not my place to police the language of those in the thick of it.

I watched it. I didn’t know anything about either of them before and haven’t seen him on any TV programme so I came from a neutral position.
I think that first and foremost raising awareness about autism is a good thing and more programmes exploring life with autism should be commissioned.
Secondly all the children and young adults in the programme should be commended for their bravery in talking and living in front of a camera. This must have been very challenging.
Thirdly he is bloody lucky to have Christine as his wife.

I've not watched yet but got it recorded to see over the weekend. As a late diagnosed woman with an autistic child (possibly children, we don't know yet!) myself it will be interesting to see another families perspective.

My adult autistic daughter picked up on Paddy's comment about awareness.
Generally there's awareness about the what was termed Asperger's profile and the severely disabled profile, but there's little awareness of anything in between those two.

Well done to the school in Sedgefield who are teaching all their pupils that different does not mean 'wrong' we could do with a lot more of that in schools.

I think their honestly was brilliant. Applaud them for that.

But I think it doesn't show any side at all to how much of a disability can indeed look and be completely obvious without any doubts or confusion.

My DS can't speak a word, can't understand a simple sentence like 'get the book'. He has no concept of any of these things. Lucky if he even responds to his name on the off chance. Runs off, escape hazard. Flight risk. Self harming since age 3 from hitting himself. Has severely harmed people. It's a big difference and I'd have liked to have seen that shown on the programme but I guess it's just one family's story x

I haven't watched it yet ,
These programs can only really show how Autism affects their family ,
Autism is such a huge spectrum and affects everyone differently .

@wiklowarrior

I think their honestly was brilliant. Applaud them for that.

But I think it doesn't show any side at all to how much of a disability can indeed look and be completely obvious without any doubts or confusion.

My DS can't speak a word, can't understand a simple sentence like 'get the book'. He has no concept of any of these things. Lucky if he even responds to his name on the off chance. Runs off, escape hazard. Flight risk. Self harming since age 3 from hitting himself. Has severely harmed people. It's a big difference and I'd have liked to have seen that shown on the programme but I guess it's just one family's story x

This is a really interesting conversation well worth having . I know they've done away with categorising autism and functioning labels are disapproved of (I do get why) and it's all just autism now. But I really feel to compare me, who got to my late thirties undiagnosed and is a fully independent adult doing all of the usual adult things including being a carer to my own autistic child with someone like your child does a huge disservice to him (and you, as his mum).

It might all be autism, but it's not the same. Not at all.

Mixed. I think it’s good to see autism in a more mainstream tv environment but I didn’t feel it was well put together. I understand wanting to give their kids privacy but you see scenes with hair brushing - yet they say it’s problematic. There’s quite a few shows/characters that seem to focus on “high functioning” without showing I suppose the darker side of things. I have two autistic children. The youngest can’t speak, has severe sensory issues, won’t engagement. And I felt like Paul Scholes and his son was a bit more relatable.

@Wellarentyouacleverdick Thank you for that reply

I'm also autistic but I'm extremely 'high functioning' and present a bit like Paddy's wife (can't remember her name just this second?)

Thing is, autism is tiring and stressful for me. And I'm like you, able to get to adulthood and go under the radar. Nobody really noticing unless extremely close me.

It's exhausting for me. Then I imagine my son, unable to speak a word or even recognise his own name. He's trapped a lot of the time and unable to communicate. How must it be for him?

I'm sorry but I'm definitely a different kettle of fish to him and I think that should be clearer. How can it not be? At least I have the OPTION to mask

[quote wiklowarrior]@Wellarentyouacleverdick Thank you for that reply

I'm also autistic but I'm extremely 'high functioning' and present a bit like Paddy's wife (can't remember her name just this second?)

Thing is, autism is tiring and stressful for me. And I'm like you, able to get to adulthood and go under the radar. Nobody really noticing unless extremely close me.

It's exhausting for me. Then I imagine my son, unable to speak a word or even recognise his own name. He's trapped a lot of the time and unable to communicate. How must it be for him?

I'm sorry but I'm definitely a different kettle of fish to him and I think that should be clearer. How can it not be? At least I have the OPTION to mask [/quote]
Which is why these shows can only ever show things from that families perspective,I'm not Autistic but my eleven year old son has severe non verbal autism ,he's oblivious to it bless him and he's very happy most of the time .

I just watched it and I thought it was awful. Totally bland and superficial and was really about Paddy’s journey in coming to terms with it and even at that it didn’t go in to any depth about how he did that.
It was really badly put together, nothing was gone into with any depth or insight but just skimmed over.
Paddy was really awkward at talking with people with autism (Christine was better) and the scene where he upset the girl with talking about her anxiety should never have been left in. It didn’t add anything to the story but would be distressing for her to watch back.
Totally pointless programme and a bit self indulgent - but they do have a book out so maybe there are looking to have more sales off the back of it.

I think it was a really interesting watch. As a parent of a child diagnosed, did I agree with everything? No, I didn't. However what's important to remember is this just shows one families journey with autism, it isn't going to be the same as anybody else's. I really respect how honest Paddy was when it came to his understanding and struggles of acceptance. He knows that he still has a lot to learn, and that can be difficult to admit. Awareness is never a bad thing, and I think this show shows exactly what we all know and that's that education is still lacking when it comes to neuro-diversity, and that we all, even those of us living either with it ourselves, or with children with it, still have a lot to learn and that acceptance is so important.

I enjoyed it but at the same time it just annoyed me even more at how the rich can get a diagnosis so fast, it didn't highlight at all that many of us have to fight for 5-10 years for a diagnosis and help.

One thing that really got me was the 2 women that came round one was a paediatrician and the other I can't remember but I found it amazing how much they focused on masking!!! Masking doesn't even exist in most NHS paediatricians vocabulary.

@Hmumoftw0

I enjoyed it but at the same time it just annoyed me even more at how the rich can get a diagnosis so fast, it didn't highlight at all that many of us have to fight for 5-10 years for a diagnosis and help.

I haven't watched it yet tbh ,but regarding how quickly a diagnosis is given my son was diagnosed at three years old after seven months of assessment,s ,I appreciate in his case it was very obvious ,and in lot of cases where the presentation is less clear it can take much longer ,I realise this probably isn't helpful to parents when they are looking for support though .

I suppose if you are able to pay private ,and your child's symptoms are more subtle it's helpful to get an earlier diagnosis but it's not affordable for many people .

I was far more interested to learn that Paul Scholes has a non-verbal autistic son. That's closer to my experience of autism.

@JenniferAllisonPhillipaSue

I was far more interested to learn that Paul Scholes has a non-verbal autistic son. That's closer to my experience of autism.

Mine too!

I found it very lightweight.

Paddy pretending he didn't know much about autism I found a bit ridiculous.

I wish they had spoken about the waiting lists for diagnosis. The lack of school support. The school they visited was lovely but this is so far from the reality.

I also did feel... They are a nice family but it's such a privileged position most parents with 3 autistic children would need a non working parent and this would be very stressful financially.

Even if you can afford to go private it's not instant this side of Covid. I'm on the waiting list for a private assessment and the list is a year long.

I did go private and it wasn't accepted by local authority who insisted on wasting resource and doing their own which was almost word for word the same as our private one. 🙄

It's a huge spectrum and there isn't enough support and tbh whatever support there is it's not one size fits all.

@doadeer

I found it very lightweight.

Paddy pretending he didn't know much about autism I found a bit ridiculous.

I wish they had spoken about the waiting lists for diagnosis. The lack of school support. The school they visited was lovely but this is so far from the reality.

I also did feel... They are a nice family but it's such a privileged position most parents with 3 autistic children would need a non working parent and this would be very stressful financially.

This is very true but hopefully all three children would get DLA at some rate ,but I realise it goes on care needs .

I have no experience of anyone with autism and I felt the programme was more about Paddy and his journey than anything else. Christine scoring high in 'the autism test' also muddied the water as it turned the spotlight on her as an individual and not on a family living with autism. I approve of the care that was taken to protect the 3 children's privacy but I felt the highly-edited clips of hair plaiting and rolling on the bed with Dad underplayed their autism and I couldn't see what issues/problems their autism were causing their parents. I also would have liked the programme to dig deeper and highlight the struggles of families with average incomes and time restraints in getting help.

I found Katie prices documentary much more informative and hard hitting and the autistic people who took part were treated with dignity.