UK Did u watch 'Autistic me' on bbc 3?

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Did any one watch it? if you did what did you think did you see some simulartys? i asked my parents to watch it and i was disapointed as it had no effect on them at all, they couldnt compare it to me at all
dicuss...

for those of us not in the UK nor having that channel.... can we get it on youtube?

I watched it and I have a lot of similar characteristics to Tom and Oli but I am nothing like the guy with Aspergers. I think it was good but I think they could have focussed on some positives as well as the struggles. They also could have interviewed a girl on the spectrum because girls and boys have different social pressures on them.

I think even if you're not in the UK you should be able to watch it on BBC iplayer:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... tistic_Me/

I didn't watch it myself yet.

Wish there were girls in it though because AS is really different in girls so I don't know whether I'll be able to relate that much.

Enjoy,

Sam x

if anyones interested watch (or d/l from?) bbciplayer NOW. cos its going to be be removed in 23hours.

It says that it's available in the UK only.

I wasn't sure whether there would be a way they could restrict it to the UK or not but clearly there is, grr.

It's possible to download the programs from the BBC so maybe someone in the UK with an unlimited download limit (unlike me) could download it and post it on a send-space?

I watched it last night, but the program wasn't that meaningful to me because all 3 of the people in it are teenage guys and I didn't relate to them that much.

I'm female and pretty intelligent (a lot of people think I'm a genius!) but with very little emotional development so I use my intelligence and any stimulating substances I can find to try to disguise my inadequacies with varying degrees of success.

It was ok when I was younger because I actually believed that I would grow up to be like everyone else but since I found at that it is going to take a long time to develop emotionally and I will never be like everyone else I just feel destroyed most of the time.

I think it's strange too because there's no way I could be filmed like that because I am so so so uncomfortable making eye-contact with cameras.

Everyone's different I suppose.

Sam x

yeah i watched that. it was kind of interesting but i think it could have definitely foccused more on the positives. i felt sorry for tom, his mum and the rest of his family just did not get it. one particular part was where his girlfriend did not turn up and he was in his room and people kept pestering and touching him. poor guy

I got so frustrated watching that bit. I wanted the mother and his siblings to just leave him alone. If he didn't have autism would they barge into his room, his private space like that? They were getting all p****d off about his behaviour afterwards and I thought, well that's because you're annoying him!

I thought personally that the programme foccussed a little too much on the negative. Like others, I thought it would have been better to have a girl in it. Girls are so different to boys anyway, having autism doesn't change that. It would have been nice to have seen young people who had all become successful, y'know because then life wouldn't feel so pointless!

The ironic thing is though, people who are autistic, high-functioning and successful are less likely to be diagnosed. It tends to be the negative aspects such as aggression, frustration and depression that lead to diagnosis in the first place.

I thought that all of the parents in the film were really molly-coddling and in a way that made me glad that I was not diagnosed when I was younger because although I have done lots of dangerous and bad things being free I think I would have been very resentful of being treated like that. I think Tom's parents in particular aggravated his situation and there probably would have been better ways they could have handled him.

I thought that they didn't really show the special skills of the guys in the film either. I saw that the one guy was good at history and drumming but with the AS guy it wasn't clear what his special skills are. Maybe if he's on WP he can let us know.

When I am successful, I will buy some designer sunglasses to wear (so I can't look at the camera) and make a vid

It was quite interesting. It certainly reflected a limited view of what it's like to have Autism, but then again, it was only about three people. Tom reminded me a bit of how I used to be, in that he was so obsessed with appearing to be "normal", or like most kids his age. I also agreed with what the AS guy (I can't remember his name) said about sometimes wishing he didn't have AS. His and Oli's problems certainly raised some issues that I think I need to consider for the future, and some of them I might not have thought of otherwise, so it was sort of okay for me. There were good things and bad things.

I wished I didn't have AS before I even knew what AS was...

Then once I found out what it was I was devastated... And still am, and still often wish that I didn't have it...

Truthfully, I just faked being a teenager when I was actually a teenager in chronological age. I knew at the time that I wasn't developing in the same way as the other girls in my year but I never told anyone because I was too embarrassed for anyone to know. Like Tom, I found that alcohol made me feel normal so I drank a lot but then everyone else matured out of drinking all the time and then...

A part that really hit home for me was the scene with the teenager at his older brothers party. His body language, expression and awkwardness contrasted against the party-goers behaviour and being completely oblivious to his discomfort and unable to connect with him (especially his own brother)

Those brief narrative-free moments said as much as 1/2 the rest of the film combined imo.

Yeah, that was Tom, the one who said he liked to drink because it made him feel normal and more confident. I did a similar thing at my sister's 21st party and the worst thing is that people had video cameras and on the film you could see that I was wondering around on my own, drunk, in my own world whereas if it hadn't been filmed people probably would have been too drunk to notice. I think Tom probably felt left out because when his bro went over and included him he was kinda ok. It's just difficult being in those kind of situations because if no one is paying you attention and you're left alone you don't really know who to approach or what to say or do.

I watched the program it was good but it didn't show any of the positive only the negative and the mums need to give the boys more freedom I like the guy who played the drums and liked history but they didn't show any of that.

Too right!

I think that Tom's Mum treated Tom as his emotional age instead of his intellectual age.

My parents always used to try to stop me doing what I wanted to do when I was a teenager and I rebelled to the max because of it.

I think it's better to have some freedom, make mistakes and learn from them because otherwise you end up blaming your parents for your problems instead of taking responsibility.