Is Stephen Quire on the autism spectrum?(Greatest Freakouts)

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There are a bunch of videos of a young male called Stephen Quire on a YouTube channel called wafflepwn, and apparently his brother is monetizing on his brother's behavior by uploading video recordings of him; in some cases his brother deliberately taunts him to evoke what he calls 'freakouts' (e.g. see the Christmas video). His channel is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/wafflepwn The famous video that started it all is this one: -

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YersIyzsOpc[/youtube]

Today I stumbled across this video of him getting a tattoo and suspected he is on the autism spectrum.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtkuvF7VbSQ[/youtube]

What do you think?

I was just looking through a few more of the videos and can't believe what I am seeing. I see a LOT of autism traits in Stephen and I find his family's complacency shocking.

When I seen the title of this video I knew from other videos that he would not understand the authority of the police officer (common in autism) and that something bad would happen, but this was just horrible and beyond what I expected: -

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEi7LdqgyO0[/youtube]

I can only assume that if he is on the spectrum then nobody in his family knows about it -- otherwise they would most likely not have called the police and would surely have explained to the officer that he was on the spectrum and was aversive to being touched and may not understand his authority. Actually allowing this to happen strikes me as neglect or abuse.

Anybody?

I'd say there's some spectrum traits. And that there is some cruelty.

This topic came up here two years ago when the first video was posted and became viral which resulted in a lot of media inquires....

The whole thing is nothing more than schtick with Stephens brother essentially playing straight man to Stephen's antics.

A quick google search will affirm this. Nothing to worry about, just watch and enjoy.

Are you saying this is acting? I really really doubt that, there are at least 15 videos and they all depict the same behavior that is just too spontaneous and consistent.

I've watched all of these videos ages ago, but Autism never entered my head. There are countless other mental disorders besides Autism - it could be all kinds of things. It sounds like he has an anger problem, or it could even possibly be ADHD (because not all ADHD people are hyper and happy). It sounds like he has got something, but it doesn't necessarily have to be Autism all the time.

And no - it is not acting.

No, it's all acting

let's take a look at the police video. Having working around police in the past, there's a lot about this "officer" that stands out.

1. He's missing a two way radio that should be where the badge is
2. He's missing his two extra ammo clips on his duty belt
3. He's missing his expandable baton
4. He's missing his taser
5. A police officers duty belt is wider that what this guy is wearing
6. Handcuffs are stored in a holder, not looped through the duty belt
7. Police issued pepper spray comes in a much larger container than what this guy has

and....

8. An officer would throw aside any weapon after using it on an antagonist, lest they get a hold of it.

It's acting. Stephen himself went on Tosh.0 and confirmed it.

that police officer seemed a bit unrealistic.

He's a bloody good actor then.

I looked into this and apparently his mom also suggested it was acting.

I'm not convinced that's the whole story. I think they're trying to give him some dignity by claiming it's acting, but my intuition and logic tells me that he's for real. It's possible they may have created some artificial scenarios to elicit his behavior just to make money on YouTube, but that doesn't mean his behavior is normal off-camera -- I don't believe that at all.

I see in most of the videos very predictable patterns of behavior that are characteristic of autism, for example: -

- Requiring routine and being upset at unexpected changes (such as cancelling his WoW account or taking away his internet connection)
- Having an aversion to being touched (frequently he remarks 'get away from me' or 'don't touch me', consistent with sensory hypersensitivity in autism)
- Very direct and honest in communication (for example calling the tattoo artist a weirdo and complaining about his uncleanliness, or telling the chat show host his show was 4/10 and mediocre)
- Difficulty with understanding authority (for example challenging the police officer physically when he was called to the home)
- Difficulty with eye contact (for example in the happy audition he avoids eye contact with the interviewer)
- Misunderstanding the intentions of others (for example when he felt the interviewer was implying that he was gay and pushed him over)
- Freakouts (very much consistent with 'meltdowns' in the autism community)

This is similar to what my meltdowns look like. Fortunately these don't happen much with me, but when I am REALLY disturbed about something, I do this. (Except I don't shove a remote up my arse). Things that can trigger this sort of manic behaviour off:-

-Heavy snow sweeping this part of England has been forecasted
-Somebody in my house has got a sick bug
-There are rioting near where I live
-When I think too deeply about me being The One with AS and nobody else around me (I've got to think very very deeply about it to result in this manic behaviour)
-A close relative has died (OK, a close relative hasn't died yet but I know this will be my reaction if it does happen - GOD FORBID!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!)

Ps - Stephen Quire is cute.

Here is what I think:
I agree these look very much like he has autism or asperger's. Stephen's behaviour is very consistent and disturbing across all the videos. Too consistent in fact to be faked. If it's real, it is extremely irresponsible and possibly criminal of the parents, as it would constitute abuse. If it is fake, it would imply an intimate knowledge of what it means to be autistic this way. I find it hard to believe that two teenagers would have enough experience and knowledge to keep the ruse up over 15+ videos (plus as it has been suggested: retakes). And, if it is fake it would be equally irresponsible to dupe the entire family (sister, sister's family, grandma) and members of their community (float video). Especially when there is the risk that someone could get hurt. It would be in the category of intentional public mischief. And would the parents really be in on the mischief? Are the rewards really that high?

Last edited by ninjr on 17 Nov 2012, 8:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I thought it was for real.
Why would he act. What is the point of doing that?

I completely agree. Some people are suggesting that the family is being paid. That perhaps the advertising ads are the source of money for the family or for the teenage boys. If only it were that easy to make money on the internet...

[quote="ninjr"]Here is what I think:
I agree these look very much like he has autism or asperger's. Stephen's behaviour is very consistent and disturbing across all the videos. Too consistent in fact to be faked. If it's real, it is extremely irresponsible and possibly criminal of the parents, as it would constitute abuse. If it is fake, it would imply an intimate knowledge of what it means to be autistic this way. I find it hard to believe that two teenagers would have enough experience and knowledge to keep the ruse up over 15+ videos (plus as it has been suggested: retakes). And, if it is fake it would be equally irresponsible to dupe the entire family (sister, sister's family, grandma) and members of their community (float video). Especially when there is the risk that someone could get hurt. It would be in the category of intentional public mischief. And would the parents really be in on the mischief? Are the rewards really that high?[/quote]

Yes, I believe the rewards are profitable. Look closely at both videos. In the 1st one while he's in the room screaming & yelling; he never purposely attempts to injure himself by hurling on a soft bed & carpeted floor, and hitting his head with a malleable object. Even the remote-to butt routine was for observers. In the 2nd video notice his frivolous smile/smirk as he turns his head to his right as he cover his face with his hand while being tattooed.