Life With Aspergers Syndrome (Chris Packham Medical Documentary) | Absolute Documentaries

I identify with this guy. I have schizoid personality. Everyone hates me because I never laugh and hate small talk. I've also concluded it's best to avoid people entirely. I wish more people were like me. When I meet other withdrawn people I feel more comfortable because they don't expect anything from me. So I actually open up and become more talkative around them. Normal outgoing people just make me wanna hide.

This program is so reassuring, for me as an autistic adult. Knowing i am not the only one

It's not crazy, it's not mad. It's another way to be a human and it has it's rewards.

I could almost be this guy. The relating to animals, nature, etc. I used to catch tadpoles and smell and taste toads (eek! they're poisonous ). I also didn't have a great need for social contact. Life was not easy because of autism, though. Now I'm retired and often spend hours in my studio drawing. Autism is a blessing and a curse all in one.

So nice to see he is still smitten ❤. After 10 years.. love his quirks. I'm adhd, ptsd,cptsd diagnosis at 60 years..absolutely no friends for 23 years now.try to keep busy with home, and raising my grand child. ❤❤

I have been a mom for 22 years.I have known that I had an Aspergers daughter for only a few months. Yes .life with my girl can be very challenging, but there are such amazing aspects too, such as her intelligence, how she thrives on challenges, and her deep connection with animals,especially dogs. She once had lunch with a hawk that stayed with her for several minutes Normal is a deception. Weird is a gift.

That bird was his connection with this mad world. I am a " normal" woman but I understand/ feel like him in so many ways

That was cool how he started focusing on the bird calls and knew each one. What a wonderful man he is. Godspeed sir!

My form of Aspergers is also characterized by heightened senses and sensory overload. When I was in high school, I worked at NIH, and tested my vision on a spectrophotometer. I could see way into the ultraviolet spectrum. It just looked like dark violet, but very visible. I also tested my hearing, which went way further than normal hearing in the high pitches. Once a dentist tried to use an "ultrasonic" drill on me, and I threw it across the room because it was so loud and piercing to my ears. The effect of all this sensory overload was extreme withdrawal. I also had obsessive interests, which I pursued doggedly. I asked to play classical piano at four, got into chemistry, astronomy, gardening, and rock collecting. I also tasted everything--not disgusting things like tadpoles, but every plant I would bite to see what it tasted like. I rarely talked about these interests, because outside of classical music, no one else seemed to share my interests. I was living pretty much in my own world. For years I had a vanity license plate that read KLAATU--which was the name of the alien in The Day the Earth Stood Still. I certainly didn't know I was autistic at that time, but most definitely felt like an alien. I had (and have) a lot of social problems. I always wondered why everyone else seemed to know how to behave, or what was considered important or appropriate. It's like they took classes that I somehow missed. That is a recurrent nightmare I've had my whole life--missing important classes. I gave up on being socially "normal" pretty early. I realized that I would just have to wing it and improvise, then take the consequences. Otherwise, I was just going to remain totally withdrawn.

We are Frightenly similar in so many ways; except i am an female American; never ate, but caught many tadpoles, never listened to Punk Rock nor owned any Kestrol bird....but owned Two Large Moluccan Parrots.. but I have recently spent over 17 years exploring & living in the Mountains and Forests OFFGRID in the middle of nowhere and I am a BioChemist & was a 4.0 student in college but am very much also a Scientist & Naturalist. He even reminds me of 'The Professor' on the old Gillians Island TV programme. Resembles him too (uncanny resemblence) I too, am a Marathon Traveller & Retiree; Explorer & Researcher in PNW (Pacific NorthWest) in USA. SelfDiagnosed ASD Aspbergers Spectrum. In total agreement with his resistance to that cubic milimeter brain electrode zapper; "A Little Dab will do You eh-"? From that horror movie with Jack Nicholsen. This mans personality is nearly identical otherwise with mine own, except i cant stand his musical tastes; i am therefore Classically Trained since childhood and have a completely different style of music preferred. When he started off the dialogue in the programme saying "My Brain is different than yours" .. ...Nope. Im a Neuro-Divergent also; "hardwired differently" and see the surrounding world very differently than regular NEURO-TYPICAL humanity on Planet Earth. I have learnt to "MASK" THE ASPBERGERS Autism symptoms in order "TO SURVIVE" in the normal world and APPEAR "NORMAL" LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.. I have High functioning ASPBERGERS Im a reclusive person and a loner (like that man) and have spent nearly 18 years living as a hermit in the Wilderness & Mountains and Forests of The Great Pacific Northwest; Experimenting with OFFGRID LIFESTYLES & having very little to no contact with anyone at all, unless it was to obtain food supplies and gasoline or to change vehicles ...i do love animals and birds too, i just do not have any at the moment. God Bless Him; I see he is able to function well enough in society to become a TV Personality and have his own TV SHOW. 😃🙂 Thats how he affords his amazing dwellings!! I too, would have a house in the forest in the middle of NoWhere, if i had my druthers ...my pension unfortunately, does not afford me such luxuries. Well, perhaps something else will come up that can afford that lifestyle one day. (Hope springs eternal...as they say) Enjoyed very much this Documentary; Thankyou Very Much Indeed .. GOD BLESS YOU PS: I scanned some other comments & seems there are enough Others here who are so identical; we need to form our own CLUB, except no one would ever attend the meetings!! 21:37

Best doc I have seen in a long long time. Thank you so much for putting this together! My son has aspergers and I just adore him and so appreciate the way he has touched my life and so many others. His hunger and thirst for things that most people could care less about, intrigue me thanks to his interests.

Beautiful and spot-on depiction of Asperger's, at least the way I personally experience it.

He is an extremely likeable person and no matter how different he felt or feels, I understand him very well

In spite of all the difficulties having As ethers, this man has lived a very good life! It makes me happy to see this.

"Imagine all those people trapped in their room, because they're isolated by this condition. They haven't been able to sculpt opportunities, manage themselves in a way that allows them to fulfill their lives. That's like a ghastly sentence set in a vile fairy tale. No one should be imprisoned by this condition. They should be allowed to exhault in those aspects of the condition which empower them. That difference is such a valuable tool and enormous asset; to be able to see things, understand things, process things and remember things in a way most people can't do, has to be seen as a gift, not something that you're badged with and it's about what you can't do. It's gotta be about what you can do." <3 you Chris!

There is surprisingly little in the way of Medical/Scientific data . it's more of a Biography than documentary which is not at all bad However the thumbnail showed brain scans , which is what I came here for .I agree it succeeds as the gift of understanding . Many will be able to relate to folks " on the spectrum" and that's Gold .

I appreciated this much. What a lovely exposition. I wish I could meet him in person. As a recently, (late) diagnosed person with autism at 35, I'm just now realizing how much I enjoy other neurodivergent people. I immediately feel comfortable.

You should get a parrot, a Macaw for free flight! It's everything you loved about that first bird you had. And they live for far longer than 6 months, try anywhere from 30 years to 70 years or even longer sometimes. That's why I got my macaw, I got tired of feeling like I was constantly grieving the loss of a pet. I wish I knew a way to make sure that you see my comment but that'll never happen. Hopefully someday someone tells you about free flight and it clicks in your head like it did in mine. My bird saved my life.

I am high functioning, but have a relative that is not. I did not find out about myself until I was Mr.Parkham's age. Despite having an IQ over 145, I have struggled in many aspects of life, and never understood why. I went through the typical school and college system, and excelled in some areas, and struggled in others. My relative has a much more severe form, and is nonverbal. He was diagnosed as an infant and has been in a special school year round for his entire life. His symptoms have not improved in any appreciable way. He requires round the clock care, and I certainly hope some "cure" will come along one day that will give him a better quality of life than he has today. I fear for what his future will be.

Chris, what a beautiful soul you are. You actually have huge empathy…you just internalise it. In so many ways you are like a mirror of my own personality…I grew up on a huge farm in the middle of nowhere and am like an animal and plant whispererer (I feel what’s happening with them and see tiny subtleties of change within them)…it’s like deeply understanding them. Older and female and happy living on my own…people often overwhelming. Thank you for giving me the gift of seeing and understanding a big chunk of who I am…it’s amazing when I’m almost 60. Please don’t let anyone try to change who you are…just be yourself. I don’t know about anyone else but the other thing about me is I am overly honest…just can’t tell lies…is this a part of Asperger’s?