BBC CASUALTY: He's gone and we just move on (no notice needed)

[AnImaginaryCat]

New thread. New era. New series.

I think they threw that storyline in there to appease the masses who have been questioning is Dylan autistic or not. I love that they've essentially stuck 2 fingers up at everyone with this answer.

Yes I'm glad we don't know with a slight lean to suggesting that he wasn't diagnosed with ASD. People can be slightly different to peoples perception of 'normal' without being autistic.

I think I agree that they put the storyline in because so many people come to the conclusion of autism.

I also think they left it ambiguous on purpose so people could decide themselves.

I hope they keep it that way honestly. I prefer to just leave that there and didn't think there was a need to bring it in here

I thought it had zoomed in on text that said he was - did I misread it? I'll need to watch that bit again because it sounds as if I've completely misinterpreted it.

Yep, I've completely misinterpreted it! I saw 'confirm' and 'Autism results' and took it to mean that his diagnosis had been confirmed, but it was just an oddly worded covering letter.

I think page 2, which we didn't see, was more detailed test results and diagnosis. But I think with a larger screen than mine and a little more time, you could have read all page 1.

There was nothing on the page they showed other than saying the results are on the following page.

Or on the other hand people can be autistic without it being a defining or limiting characteristic. It’s just part of who they are. I think it reads both ways.

A note of reality is that no one gets sent their diagnosis in writing like that!

Very behind due to holiday

So was rima and she feels terrible guilt over the calpol lady 🥲

A note of reality is that no one gets sent their diagnosis in writing like that!

That might depend on the health area. I seem to get a text, an email and a letter for a good few of my appointments etc. It seems overkill.

Sorry, I’m chuckling at the idea of reality in Casualty 😂

Well, I know! But no, you’d be told your diagnosis in person, usually at the end of the assessment. Not via a written report some time later.

Yes, this is what struck me, and it was clearly a device to avoid sharing the outcome.

I don’t think there is a “lean towards no diagnosis” at all, as a PP suggested, in how it was presented. I think it was entirely neutral - whether he is, or isn’t, isn’t anyone else’s business unless he wants it to be.

On a personal level, I can’t decide if it’s a positive thing - that he controls his circumstances and privacy - or if it’s a lazy way of not pissing off the more ableist viewers who think a diagnosis would undermine him as a character or mean there’s something “wrong” with him.

(And I have seen those, and other disappointing views, expressed on various platforms. They are entirely different from posters who might think he isn’t autistic, without engaging in negative rhetoric - it’s entirely reasonable to hold views on him as a character that don’t cross into ableism.)

I looked into assessment for autism, but didn't go through with it in the end. It wouldn't stop me being me, and my main reason for doing it was to get my manager off my back, and he was the one who needed to change (and treat everyone equally), not me. I think Dylan is probably similar in that now Patrick is gone, it doesn't matter. He's still Dylan.

Apparently that was the end of that story block. So we resume on Daturday a few months down the line with new characters.

Are we not going in to a break from Casualty with the Euros and Olympics it normally disappears for a couple of months and reappears in September?

We are not. It's on next week on bbc 2.

I got told in a letter that I was autistic, from what i’ve seen most people do. You don’t get told straight after your assessment is finished, they’ve got to write up reports & their findings (that can take weeks) and then they’re usually sent to you by letter.

And I think Dylan is autistic, they wouldn’t have done this storyline the way they have if he wasn’t - The whole point is Dylan can be autistic and a great doctor and Patrick couldn’t be further from the truth when he said Dylan couldn’t be because he was autistic.

Oh, that’s interesting. I’ve only gone through the process with children but they tell parents on the spot in the ADOS in my experience. And my own ADHD diagnosis was made in my last assessment interview. Written reports for all followed of course. I’ve never heard of anyone not being told like that so experiences must vary wildly!

Ah yes, it must vary! I wonder if it depends on the area, but probably more likely as you say people just have different experiences.

There was a LOT in that episode.

Rash, Tariq, Rida, domestic abuse, Teddy, sexual assult, Dylan.

Have to say didnt like how Tariq left Rash on his back when he vomited. But i did Iike how Stevie asked about Dylan's results.

Yes we thought Tariq's first aid skills were a bit lacking, would recovery position not have been better if he was being sick. and would he not have stayed on the line to 999 until ambulance had arrived. Also Rash seemed not to have taken off his jacket.

I said the same thing about him needing to be in the recovery position (but only to the dog, because my DH is too squeamish to watch anything medical).

Glad it's not disappearing for a summer break - I was expecting it to. New clinical lead on Saturday?

Also no diagnosis letter, whether confirming autism or not, is that short. You normally see several pages of history, test descriptions, results and analysis.

Indeed. Another two characters allowed to leave without giving any notice. Also they don't seem to have any sort of whistleblowing protection policy.