Skip to 0 minutes and 9 seconds JILL BRADSHAW: Does autism exist? My name’s Jill Bradshaw and I’m a lecturer in learning disabilities at the University of Kent. I work at the Tizard Centre and we do lots of research and we have lots of programmes that are around people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including lots of work with people who are on the autism spectrum.
Skip to 0 minutes and 37 seconds TONY OSGOOD: I think this will be really interesting if you’re touched by autism in all its many coloured guises. So if you’re interested in humans, be that as a parent or as a sibling, as an educator or someone living your life through autism, then I think this short programme will be really, really useful. Really interesting as an introduction. Because it aims not just to present the facts of autism, but to give a little bit of an insight into the experience of autism.
Skip to 1 minute and 5 seconds JILL BRADSHAW: Autism is a concept that we’ve been talking about for around 70 years or so. And currently, we think that around 1%, so one out of every 100 people will be on the autism spectrum. Damian, why do you think people should sign up for this autism course?
Skip to 1 minute and 25 seconds DAMIAN MILTON: I think this course gives a good introductory overview to the field of autism. And more importantly, hearing from people like myself the experiences of what it’s like to be autistic. I’d hope people take this interest further and look at all of these ideas in more depth, as well.
Skip to 1 minute and 51 seconds GEORGINA WATTS: I think I’d like people to do this cause really just so that they learn more about autism. Because these days most people have heard of the term autism. And because of that, they’ve got certain ideas about what autism is. So I meet people, I’ll disclose to them as autistic and they’ll go– oh, you’re just like my friend’s dog’s cousin’s neighbour who’s a five-year-old autistic boy who flaps all the time– OK, yes, I’m really just like that. And they don’t get it. And they make all these assumptions based on things like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and they think that’s all the autism is.
Skip to 2 minutes and 24 seconds So I’d really like most people to just know a bit more and not make so many assumptions about autism.
Skip to 2 minutes and 30 seconds JILL BRADSHAW: Whatever your interest is, you’ll be really welcome to come and join us and find out
Skip to 2 minutes and 37 seconds where current thinking is around our big question: Does autism actually exist?
