Forty years ago autism was a highly obscure disorder which was
thought to affect only four to five children in every 10,000, but now some
British teachers are claiming to see it in one in every 86 children.
What's happened? Is there an epidemic of autism, and what's causing
it? Is there any connection to MMR? Or is it that awareness has
grown and the definition of autism changed over the 60 years since
the term was first coined?
Filmmaker Saskia Baron has unique insights into autism. Her older
brother, Timothy, is profoundly autistic. When he was diagnosed
in 1961, his parents found that there was no education available
for children with autism their fate was mental handicap hospitals
and sedation.
Unwilling to accept such a prospect, Timothy's parents got together
with other families with autistic children and started the National
Autistic Society in 1962. Together, the parents established the
first school in the world for autistic children in 1965. Using a
recently rediscovered film of that school, the documentary explores
how life turned out for the first generation of children to be diagnosed
with autism in Britain. What hope do their life stories give the
parents of autistic children today?
The documentary looks at the history of the condition, and current
research into cause, treatment and prevalence. It includes interviews
with some of the world's leading experts on autism, including
Dr Lorna Wing, Professor Christopher Gillberg, Professor Fred Volkmar
and Professor Anthony Bailey.
The film also explores the latest experimental research into the
autistic brain in Finland, England and America which give new hope
for greater understanding of this mysterious disability using cutting-edge
technology .
