I think punk did save me, and that music sounded like I felt

October 18, 2017 4:23 AM

“My name is Chris Packham. What you probably don’t know about me, because I’ve been hiding it most of my life, is that my brain is different than yours because I’m autistic. I’ve spent 30 years on the telly, trying my best to act normal, when really I’m anything but.”

On October 17th, The National Autistic Society announced television presenter, photographer, naturalist, and campaigner Chris Packham as its new ambassador. On the same day, the BBC broadcast a documentary about his life with Aspergers: Asperger's and Me.
posted by popcassady (8 comments total)

I was just reading the Guardian's review of this: Chris Packham: Asperger’s and Me review – a brave, ballsy film.
posted by paduasoy at 4:43 AM on October 18, 2017

I watched this last night - very revealing and very brave of him to do. I've watched him from way back when he was a spiky-haired punk sidekick to Terry Nutkins on nature programmes.

Fascinating to see how Silicon Valley companies like Microsoft are now actively seeking people like this as they are often eminently suited to the concentration and focus required in the tech industry.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:55 AM on October 18, 2017

My dad was watching Springwatch earlier in the year and said of Packham: "I've never liked him, he seems very arrogant." I knew that Packham had spoken about his Asperger's -- and there was also a little Springwatch feature this year on someone with autism who finds solace in nature -- and tried to explain a little about what it meant. I'll be pointing him at this.
posted by holgate at 7:01 AM on October 18, 2017

I'm in the US. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could watch this?
posted by bshort at 8:30 AM on October 18, 2017

bshort, I don't know how long it will be there, you can find the documentary on youtube right now, doing a search for "Asperger's and Me".
posted by maggiemaggie at 11:50 AM on October 18, 2017

I watched this last night, after seeing multiple recommendations online. It's a beautiful film - great honesty on difficult subjects from Packham, filmmakers who had the good sense to step back out of the way and give him time and space to tell his story. And a moving conclusion about the need to value people with autistic traits.

I also had no idea about the differences between common US and UK approaches to children with autism - really interesting.
posted by penguin pie at 6:24 AM on October 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

Dad update: he watched it before I even asked and learned a lot from it, both about Packham and about the autism spectrum. I'm glad.
posted by holgate at 9:00 AM on October 19, 2017

I finally watched this, and I thought it was a bit unfair to the US. It's not really clear why that section was included at all when there was nothing about how autism is treated in the UK. Surely UK viewers would rather know how autism is dealt with in the UK? I would have liked to have known how Chris Packham finally got his own diagnosis of asperger's and if he tried anything himself after he found out.

Since he was in the US, I wish instead that he had visited the little boy from To Siri With Love. His mother was the neighbor of a friend, and I met him in the street once, not knowing he was autistic. He was enthusiastically spouting statistics about the firehouse next door, and I thought he was very charming, kind of like Chris Packham, who I find incredibly sexy.
posted by maggiemaggie at 3:32 AM on October 20, 2017