If you were getting interviewed...

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As an autistic, what would you appreciate from the interviewer if you were getting interviewed on how life is like for you?

I'd appreciate being able to conduct the interview in written instead of spoken language.

^ Agreed. Or knowledge of the questions beforehand so I'd have time to think out my answers.

I'm not autistic, but I agree with the two previous posters about it being in writing with questions in advance.

If the interview is to be spoken, for a radio show for example, then it would be helpful to agree in advance that the interviewer wouldn't interupt when you're speaking. That often seems to happen in talk shows, and I find it really annoying to listen to, and I hate being interupted myself when speaking because I might lose the thread of what I'm saying, or not have got to the point yet, and it's rude.

It may be that the interviewer would need to interupt at some point, then perhaps it would be better to use a prearranged and agreed signal instead.

Are you going to be interviewed, Amarikah?

Don't really care if it wasn't live. If it was I'd want to talk to the interviewer first so I could apprehend their understanding of autism and whether it goes beyond the dictionary definition or a google search.

As part of my advocacy, I've been on TV a few times and in the newspapers dozens of times.

The advantage to being interviewed on the spot without having time to formulate your answers is that your true emotions and your true feelings come through. Also, you have a sense of urgency to say the most important things right away because you know the reporters' time is limited. So there is no speechmaking or posturing or acting.

Some reporters will cut you a break if you tell them you are nervous. During my last TV interview, the reporter said we'd do a "dry run" with the camera off. So she interviewed me while the camerawoman stood beside the camera.

Thing was, they had been recording the whole time, and as it turned out, it was for the best because I've never had a TV interview where I'd looked more natural and where my answers flowed naturally.

Just an agreement that the interviewer should ask the question he wants answered and not expect me to figure it out.

I think that's because they don't have the time, although I too would like longer discussions with fewer if any interruptions. A half hour monologue would just be boring though.

All I can do, is answer the questions as truthfully as I can. Due to many job interviews in the past, I have learned and taught myself how to make it look like I was making eye contact with the interviewer, but yes, I woudl answer to an interviewer about life as such.I have been denied jobs due to my aspergers in Red Deer recently.I have been rejected by so called friends once they realized I was too wierd to hang out with them and called a creep and slandered against.

I have the opposite problem. I find that if I don't plan exactly what I'm saying ahead of time, then I end up rambling on about all the unimportant stuff, and wasting everybody's time (like at a podcast I did recently).

To be honest, I much prefer performance and interviews and televised stuff NOT related to Aspergers. It's so much easier and less awkward.

The thing is, I'll be the one interviewing autistic children and adults in India. I'm autistic myself, so I'm trying to see the viewpoints of other autistics so I can get more opinions than my own. Only got one experience of autism in me.

Also, when it comes to these types of interviews, no rambles are unimportant. I'm in psychological anthropology, meaning that everything that a person would say in an interview would have some degree of importance. The more genuine talking, the better.

Thanks for the opinions, please keep them coming!

I have been interviewed for a tv program. While t hey told me the general gist of the questions, they refused to be specific because they wanted the flexibility to have a flow of conversation. This was too hard for me and I would not do it like that again. I want specific questions. Also, they edited the program so that it made things sound very different from the actual statements I made. Next time I would not do it unless they allowed me to approve the end product. Seeing very few would do that, I doubt that I will do another media interview.

I'd prefer the use of "neutral" if not positive terms and language where possible when talking about the condition. Also, I'd want to know in advance how and for what agenda my words were going to be used, and see the final product once it had been edited for approval.