"Am I Autistic" on Channel 5 (can stream)

Yeah, that kinda defeats the object, if you're constantly focusing on the discomfort of the electrodes.

Wildlife expert and autistic person, Chris Packham did a programme on BBC about autism. The title escapes me. It didn't have "autism" in it, but it did have Packham's name in it, I sure.

He spoke with ex-Radio 2 DJ Ken Bruce and his son, who is autistic and mute. His story was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

Edit: the programme was called Inside Our Autistic Minds (guess I was wrong on both counts lol) and it's on BBC iPlayer

Yeah, I mean we were supposed to listen to the female voices, but the male voices distracted me. That said I heard no "gorilla" guy until they played it again and pointed it out with subtitles.

Plus, I thought the answer to the wrapping paper question was red, but it was silver.

Like they said, 50% of autistic people hear "gorilla" (so that's only half the focus group), as opposed to 20% (I think) of NT people. So, it's not conclusive, but it's a good indicator, I guess.

I heard the gorilla bit when they told us about it, and watching the programme again I was able to hear it the first time around too, although possibly not every time. It's tonally similar to the men talking, which I think is partly why it hides quite well - if just the women had been talking, gorilla-man would have been clear I think.

Yeah I just watched it again and realised she has ENS (Excessive Nodding Syndrome). Blame it on her lack of presenting experience and a producer/director who perhaps wanted to cue people to listen (like a laughter track cues them to laugh?). I suspect a lot of those nods were added post-production, adding to the feeling of fakery.

And yes there were a few bits of 'wacky' music that you could take offence at, but a lot of the music was neutral (I thought) and that neutral music could have been used throughout.

Overall I don't think the programme was aimed at autistic people, but intended to get NTs to understand what the S in ASC means.

I've been watching it in bits. I agree, the music did my nut in: very distracting.

I was a little concerned because the sound test (party planners), I never heard "I'm a gorilla" voice! I'll watch the rest tonight.

Did anyone else hear "I'm a gorilla" on that test?

PS: the Simba mattress sponsor ads annoy me too. The voice asks, "Are you sitting comfortably?" and the woman lays on the bed.

"Am I sitting comfortably? No, I'm lying down you plank! Like, hello! It's a mattress!" 

Finally finished watching this today. It was interesting to see the different autistic people's point of view, but I found the GP presenting it very triggering, a little condescending and a little false in the way that she was over-nodding furiously whenever she was listening to someone explaining their experiences. I also didn't like the cutesified 'mysterious' music that was played throughout the programme, as if to imply that autistic people are a puzzle to be solved or somehow a curious problem.

It all felt a little over-done to me. Maybe this was to appeal to neurotypicals but I just didn't like the over-quirky style of it all. I found it upsetting.

I've been having trouble sleeping lately, so I'm lying in bed, wondering what I can watch on my phone.

And now I know. Thanks ️

Thanks for this. I just watched it, and it was interesting. 

There are currently two programs on C5 and C4. Of the two, I thought the one on. C5 was better. C4 choose a very shouty presentation with two young women fronting it as a double act finishing each other’s sentences. 

I loke Marmite

Assuming you mean "Are you artistic?"

https://www.channel5.com/show/are-you-autistic

I watched it recently and found it really interesting. I think I need to watch it again. I've not watched many documentaries on Autism, but it seemed to be a good overview and seemed to better cover Autism in Adults who might act more "normal" (previously called "high-functioning" but I don't think that's the accepted term anymore).

It's definitely one I could see being useful to recommend to people to better support friends, family, coworkers, etc.

There is a documentary on channel 4 with the same name, but I struggled to get through it.

It's always interesting to see more autistic people, and some of the experiments were intriguing. I particularly liked when the GP presenter admitted that medical professionals need to handle autistic people better. I nearly got my son in an EEG(?) helmet but they would only do it with electrodes stuck to your head/hair with paste so the physical/sensory aspects of his autism killed that idea.

Just watched it, very nice to see an older person being included. The healthcare professionals do need more training, my own wife has been an NHS staff nurse for about 18 years, autism was covered one morning for about 20 minutes during training and nothing ever since. It’s only living with autistic person that has made her more aware of autism. 
Great to see any program showing autistic people in a positive way. I watched Bella Ramsey last night on TV, I didn’t know they are autistic, the subject wasn’t mentioned in the interview, I just seemed to recognise their behaviour, I googled them afterwards and they were diagnosed at 18 years old. Somebody on a set had recognised their behaviour and mentioned to them that they might want to look into autism more.

That's good Paul. Definitely you wanna avoid the booze I guess so that's good. B vitamins are good yeh I am deficient in them and it's not just alcohol either. I have the autistic generic tummy issues which means my tummy don't absorb these vitamins too good so yeh a tablet a day keeps the doctor away ha

I think even if it's been said before there's still way too many people who don't know 'the basics' about autism and still believe all the myths, making it really frustrating for us all. It never hurts to tell people again.

We don't get rid of useful text books that educate people just because they've been here for a while and 'it's all been said before'. It's still useful to get it out and refresh the memory sometimes. People forget. I know I definitely do.

Interesting to hear about the Vit B discovery for you. I also take a B supplement, as well as zinc, magnesium and calcium. I've never been much of a drinker though.  some spirits taste nice in small doses, but it's basically poison. I don't like what it does to people, and I don't like the feeling of getting drunk. It feels like the start of a meltdown to me.

Read the write up on the programme. It looks like they're just covering stuff that everyone has went over already a million times in previous documentaries. For example - the myth of autism only occurring in boys. Yes this has been covered a million times it's not news to me anymore that girls get it just as much as boys so yeh not bringing anything new to the table there. Also - sensory processing difficulties and changing environments. Yes heard this already a million times again not news to anyone. Also not new - autistic people lacking empathy myth. This is an old one too. I really don't see the point in making documentaries that go over and over old information that has already been went over the enth degree. 

On a positive note - I have discovered some new revelations with regards to my own autism. This is that I have discovered B vitamin deficiency appears to be responsible for many of my neurological ailments like light and sound sensitivity for example. All the B vitamins have a crucial role in the nervous system and brains function. I tried a B complex tablet as simple as it may be and I have found my light sensitivity and anxiety and migraine have subsided. This is amazing to me because I have tried every kind of other thing and found no relief but I decided to try some B complex and that seems to have done the trick. 

Also I am a heavy alcohol consumer and so are all the autistic folks that I know and it is well known that alcohol depletes all B vitamins through intestinal inflammation which impacts negatively the absorption of B vitamins through food

Ooo, thank you for this. I'll have a look.

It is available to stream (Channel 5);

Until: 18 April 2028.

I will try and watch it tonight, thanks for the  post.