Louis Theroux - Extreme Love : Autism.

Post Reply New Topic

Did anyone else think that (some of) the parents were extremely selfish?

Also, I thought it was sad when the 19yo said "I'm not gay". He was a homosexual, if I ever did see one.

just watching it. i like louis. the parents of the Joey (start 8:00) do exactly the wrong thing as far as i can see! they pin him down when he's having what i'm guessing is a meltdown

I enjoyed the programme and it was very interesting.

The parents of the twins were my least favourite people in the show (the mum really). She was so negative. I'm not denying that life for her must be very difficult, but she has to make the most of what she has. Dwelling on the dreams she might have had is not going to solve anything and will not help the children's self esteem. There's also the probability that the kids are much more intelligent than she thinks. Speaking like that about them, in front of them, is not nice and the look she got from her son at the patio door confirmed for me that he understood exactly what she was talking about.

I felt uncomfortable watching the restraining technique, used on Joey, too. I don't know anything about the subject, so I feel unqualified to comment. But, leaving him alone in his room to have his meltown/tantrum seemed much more reasonable and what we've done with her daughter.

It's just that he sounded a bit camp, but that alone would be no reason for me to suspect he's gay. It was quite funny the way he cringed and almost refused to allow himself to even say the word "gay" at first though. Couldn't have helped him much if people already thought he was gay by his tone.
Just because he sounded camp though wouldn't convince me he was gay, many autistic people have odd tones and ways of speaking, and to sound camp and effeminate is common among autistic men really. Take that Bradley guy for example, he sounded very pixie like but I wouldn't just assume he was gay either. It's just part of the condition most of the time.

_________________
THINGS I LIKE
Parasaurolophus, Plesiosaurs, Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs, Music, Tuna, Chocolate milk, Oreos, Blue things

Parasaurolophuscolobus. Parasaurcolobus. Colobusaurolophus.
....And Nunchucks are my friends.

Why are some of you picking on the autistics, your no different from being bullied either.
Whilst I agree that some of the parents may not have used the right solution at first, they are in a learning process since they have not dealt with this before.

I found the programme quite depressing. I feel so sorry for the parents.

I was impressed by the school and the level of support they provided. Things like structured break times, teaching facial expressions and strategies for coping with negative emotions, and work-related skills to prepare the students for employment. It would be nice to see something similar in the UK, these things could be introduced into mainstream schools as well so more people with autism would be able to cope in that environment and combine the advantages of going to a mainstream school with the benefits of autism-specific support.

I really like the mock village they had in the school, that's a great idea.

I liked the 19 year old actually (Nicky?). He seemed like a nice guy. Funny too. He did come across as gay to me, but like others have said, that doesn't mean he is. I wouldn't be surprised if he was though.

One thing I noticed was that all the parents seemed pretty religious - believing in a "miracle" because her son started speaking, praying to God because their kid's autistic etc. America seems so much more religious than over here.

I thought some of them seemed pretty selfish too, as if they expected their kids to come along and make their life complete. It's not a child's duty to give its parents the perfect life, or to life up to its parents' expectations. It was sad to see one of them talking about her son like that while he was stood there looking up at her. I guess she just assumed he was unable to fully understand what she was saying. I'm not sure about that though.

The fake street with the shops seemed like a great idea for preparing teeangers for work. I liked that.

Nicki didn't come across as anything to me apart from autistic. It's more common for autistics to not behave in gender stereotypes. So maybe he is, maybe not....I couldn't tell from this video alone.

I really liked the soundtrack. If anybody knows which tracks have been used for this documentary...feel free to post their names here.