New and being interviewed on Radio 4

Deleuze,

Thank you for both your constructive and positive comments which I very much value.

 I had only just been diagnosed when the programme was recorded and although you rightly identified the scope of disability which falls within ASD, fortunately from where I am within the spectrum, although I feel that I may come across as odd, I certainly don’t feel disabled and feel that it would be dishonest to describe myself as such, against the broader scope of ASD.

 I apologise if appeared that there was an element of naivety but the objective of this radio programme was to capture my thoughts soon after my diagnosis and the researcher I felt rightly discouraged me from undertaking any further in-depth research.

 Although you liked the social and married life aspect of the interview, ironically I would not have put so much focus on this the credit for this must go to Jenifer Tracey who interviewed me and had done much of the research which went into this programme.

 Although I now have senior management position, I too have had more than my fair share of workplace knockbacks and if there is an area ASD I would like contribute to, that would be challenging negative ASD perceptions within the workplace.

Hi Narra,

Thanks for posting this, my wife and I listened to your interview repeated last night on Radio 4.  It was good to hear someone with ASD talking frankly about their experiences.

I can't say I agree with appropriating historical figures into the ASD fold nor with comparing ASD with the social acceptance of homosexuality - though this does raise questions about how we understand disability.

It was good to hear you discuss so openly your thoughts on ASD, although I got the feeling that you overstated the positive ascpects of life on the spectrum: disability is created by external social factors arising from a society's failure to take into account an individual's physical or congative developmental difference/impairment; however, this does not mean that the difficulties experienced by an individual 'fitting into' a society come with positive 'trade offs.'  It is wrong to suggest that IT or Computer Science are wholelly 'autistic' disciplins, especially considering that such a great many ASD individuals are unemployed, as this has the tendency to mystify autism.  Moreover the personality traits and skills associated with such disciplins are shared both between NT and ASD people (the research that scientists and mathematicians share an overly large proportion of the ASD population is contentious).

It was very interesting to hear your discussion on your social life and marriage in light of ASD, I felt that this was the most valuable part of the interview.  This is the primary motivator for me in pursueing diagnosis, to help my relationships with those people around me.  I very much agree with why you wanted to pursue clinical diagnosis - it is so important to understand as fully as possible who you are and what that means for those around you.  Then people with ASD can hope to have as positive lives as possible, free from the disadvantages set by a NT dominated society.

I can't overstate how important it was for a successful person with usual family and life experiences to openly talk about their experience of ASD.

Thank you and welldone on the interview!