Mumble Report post Posted May 30, 2009 Don't know if anyone saw it tonight or if you were all enthralled with Britain got ... child Cruelty (or whatever it's been named now... ), but there was a boy on Casualty tonight on BBC1 with AS. I don't know how old he was supposed to be - a teenager - but he had quite a big role and it focused a lot on his relationship with his (single) dad and his older brother, and particularly looked at how the older brother coped/didn't cope/was asking for help. I thought it was generally very well acted, didn't draw on many stereotypes, and, although somethings were introduced and resolved a bit too quickly, worked well because it didn't try to do the whole this is what AS is and this is everything about it. Parts I found a bit difficult to watch - when he curled up on the floor of the hospital going into meltdown (this was one issue that was too quickly resolved, but what was done was well acted) - it could have been me and I particularly thought the way they used the camera to show how all the extra stimuli of people coming up to him, waving things in his face (his broken camera in this instance) made things worse - it showed something of how he was (failing to) process and understand others attempts to help. I know everyone is different, but there was just something in this that made me really think about myself and it was quite difficult to watch knowing that that's how others might view me when I've been in a similar situation. They also looked at self-injurious behaviour - head banging in this case - again a bit close to home, but I think well explored without being sensationalist. The ending I found a bit too written to fit the 50 minute story rather than life-like with him hugging his brother, but otherwise pretty good. I'm guessing it will be on BBC iPlayer for the next week. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dooday24 Report post Posted May 30, 2009 yes iwatched it too and found the bit between the 2 brothers very emotional and close to my own heart i dont want shannon growning up thinking that she is second best or there to look after her brother very emotional good work bbc love donnaxxxxx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tally Report post Posted June 2, 2009 I don't normally watch Casualty, so I downloaded this off iPlayer. Anythin appearing in a TV drama is going to be exaggerated or dramatised to make the storyline interesting to watch. Huck seemed more like a person with "severe" autism than Asperger's to me. It was several hours before he was able to verbalise his warning to his brother. The brother thought that Huck was unaware of his existance, which seems excesively non-responsive for a person with Asperger's. Huck could never be left alone, at all, ever, which seems an excessive level of care for an adult or older teenager with Asperger's. And it never was explained why he banged his face against the ambulance, which also had no connection to the storyline. They seemed to consider his Asperger's enough to justify its inclusion. It felt like they were saying Asperger people normally harm themselves in completely nonsensical ways if you do not watch their every move. I felt it was a good portrayal of how having a severely disabled child might affect a family, but I do not think it was helpful to portray people with Asperger's in such a sensationalist way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mumble Report post Posted June 3, 2009 Huck seemed more like a person with "severe" autism than Asperger's to me. Ahh, so that was his name, I was trying to work out what the father was saying; I'd settled for 'Hulk' I think in terms of 'where' he was on the spectrum, there's going to be a difference of opinion based on each of our own prior experiences. Having experience with my brother with severe autism who really does require 24 hour care (I would say Hulk/Hunk/Huck actually didn't, but this was a case of an over-protective father - not judging, just stating the facts), I wouldn't say Hulk/Huck had severe autism. I think he was in acute distress and that this heightened his difficulties to the point where no-one without observing him over a much longer period of time and in different contexts could make an accurate judgement. I know with myself, when I am acutely distressed (as I would be in this situation) I can become mute and can't verbalise basic needs. The curling up and head-banging was very characteristic of me in such a situation of acute distress - I understand the point about explaining it but I'm not sure how you work it into a storyline - they didn't explicitly link (or not link) it to AS, so I guess it was up to the viewer to make a link (which could be problematic). The brother thought that Huck was unaware of his existence This was a bit odd - but it was his brother's perception and not reality. As we saw, Hulk/Hunk/Huckleberry Finn was in fact very aware of his brother's existence - he just didn't show that awareness through 'normal' social responses - which could be very characteristic of AS/ASD - and so the brother did not/could not 'see' as he was looking with NT eyes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tally Report post Posted June 4, 2009 This was a very distressing situation for him, so it's understandable his level of functioning ON THIS DAY was not his normal ability. But his brother sees him over time and a person with Asperger's would be able to acknowledge his brother in a way the brother understood in normal situations. You would expect that over a lifetime, a teenager with Asperger's would have had some conversations with his brother. I see your point about the 24-hour care probably not really being necessary . . . I might have taken the father's comments a bit literally Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
