AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me)
Chris Packham has an extraordinary bond with his pet poodle Scratchy (Photo: BBC)
Chris Packham last week accused the Daily Mail of deliberately attempting to make him “look a freak”, as they ran the headline ‘My pet poodle is more important to me than my girlfriend, says Springwatch presenter Chris Packham’.
The newspaper’s refusal to focus on more crucial points about his condition raised in their interview illustrated society’s distinct lack of understanding of people on the spectrum.
During the documentary ‘Asperger’s and Me’, Packham tries to explain what it’s like to live with the condition as he explores his often difficult formative years – while criticising society’s desire to change the individual living with autism, rather than adapt to them.
Throughout Asperger’s and Me, Packham meets with medical professionals attempting to treat people living with autism.
It’s when the naturalist and TV presenter is talking to a pioneer of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) that an ugly professional view on autism rears its head.
The scientist draws comparisons between autism and cancer, branding his preferred method of treatment, ABA, as “educational chemotherapy”.
“Curing autism would be a dream”, he says to Packham, who was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in 2005.
Packham successfully bites his tongue, but is clearly agitated by the statement. He dismisses ABA, which attempts to “stamp” autistic behaviours out of children from a young age in often stressful, sensory rich environments.
Packham, who lives on his own with his two dogs in the New Forest, insists there is a far simpler treatment: “For people like myself with Asperger’s there’s a simple therapy and that’s just live on your own.”
Packham’s idea of retreating from society might seem extreme to someone not living with the condition, but for him it makes perfect sense.
Curiously, children living with autism are rarely asked how they would like to treat their condition.
The documentary raises the question: why force people with autism to adapt to society, when we can adapt society to include them?
Packham on living (and working) with autism
Throughout ‘Asperger’s and Me’ Packham explains how he has wrestled with the condition throughout his life, struggling to deal with sensory overload and failing to understand social cues.
However, he determinedly points out the extraordinary and rarely publicised positives of living with autism.
His bond with nature is explored; an obsession that allowed him to develop “an encyclopedic knowledge of the natural world”.
This knowledge would allow him to gain his first role in television as a presenter on The Really Wild Show in 1986. “I realise now that there’s no way that I could do my job without Asperger’s… because of my neurological differences.”
Fewer than one in six autistic adults are in full-time employment in the UK, but Packham insists that the gifts that the condition can deliver simply aren’t being explored.
During a visit to Silicon Valley Packham talks to the author Steve Silberman about the benefits that autistic people can deliver for society, when society adapts to them. “People with autistic traits made this place happen,” notes Silberman.
Chris Packham: Asperger’s and Me was broadcast on BBC Two on 17 October at 9pm and is currently available on BBC Iplayer.
Source: https://inews.co.uk/essentials/culture/television/chris-packham-aspergers-autism/
Chris Packham has an extraordinary bond with his pet poodle Scratchy (Photo: BBC)
Chris Packham last week accused the Daily Mail of deliberately attempting to make him “look a freak”, as they ran the headline ‘My pet poodle is more important to me than my girlfriend, says Springwatch presenter Chris Packham’.
The newspaper’s refusal to focus on more crucial points about his condition raised in their interview illustrated society’s distinct lack of understanding of people on the spectrum.
During the documentary ‘Asperger’s and Me’, Packham tries to explain what it’s like to live with the condition as he explores his often difficult formative years – while criticising society’s desire to change the individual living with autism, rather than adapt to them.
Throughout Asperger’s and Me, Packham meets with medical professionals attempting to treat people living with autism.
It’s when the naturalist and TV presenter is talking to a pioneer of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) that an ugly professional view on autism rears its head.
Applied Behaviour Analysis: “The process of systematically applying interventions based upon the principles of learning theory to improve socially significant behaviours to a meaningful degree, and to demonstrate that the interventions employed are responsible for the improvement in behaviour” (Center For Autism)
The scientist draws comparisons between autism and cancer, branding his preferred method of treatment, ABA, as “educational chemotherapy”.
“Curing autism would be a dream”, he says to Packham, who was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in 2005.
Packham successfully bites his tongue, but is clearly agitated by the statement. He dismisses ABA, which attempts to “stamp” autistic behaviours out of children from a young age in often stressful, sensory rich environments.
Packham, who lives on his own with his two dogs in the New Forest, insists there is a far simpler treatment: “For people like myself with Asperger’s there’s a simple therapy and that’s just live on your own.”
Packham’s idea of retreating from society might seem extreme to someone not living with the condition, but for him it makes perfect sense.
Curiously, children living with autism are rarely asked how they would like to treat their condition.
The documentary raises the question: why force people with autism to adapt to society, when we can adapt society to include them?
Packham on living (and working) with autism
Throughout ‘Asperger’s and Me’ Packham explains how he has wrestled with the condition throughout his life, struggling to deal with sensory overload and failing to understand social cues.
However, he determinedly points out the extraordinary and rarely publicised positives of living with autism.
His bond with nature is explored; an obsession that allowed him to develop “an encyclopedic knowledge of the natural world”.
This knowledge would allow him to gain his first role in television as a presenter on The Really Wild Show in 1986. “I realise now that there’s no way that I could do my job without Asperger’s… because of my neurological differences.”
Fewer than one in six autistic adults are in full-time employment in the UK, but Packham insists that the gifts that the condition can deliver simply aren’t being explored.
During a visit to Silicon Valley Packham talks to the author Steve Silberman about the benefits that autistic people can deliver for society, when society adapts to them. “People with autistic traits made this place happen,” notes Silberman.
Chris Packham: Asperger’s and Me was broadcast on BBC Two on 17 October at 9pm and is currently available on BBC Iplayer.
Source: https://inews.co.uk/essentials/culture/television/chris-packham-aspergers-autism/
