0:00:02 > 0:00:05The stage adaptation of Mark Haddon's bestselling novel
0:00:05 > 0:00:08The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time
0:00:08 > 0:00:11opened here on the smallest stage of the National Theatre
0:00:11 > 0:00:12on London's South Bank
0:00:12 > 0:00:15in 2012.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18It went on to win seven Olivier Awards,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21transferred to the West End and then went on tour in Britain.
0:00:21 > 0:00:26And the Broadway production has recently taken New York by storm.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31The story in both the book and the play is told by a 15-year-old boy
0:00:31 > 0:00:35who finds other people frightening and confusing.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38And it has helped transform our understanding
0:00:38 > 0:00:43of a neurological condition that affects 1 in 100 children.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46That boy is called Christopher.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49And tonight on Imagine... we bring you
0:00:49 > 0:00:52his very own documentary,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54with a little help from friends.
0:00:55 > 0:01:01This programme contains some strong language
0:01:09 > 0:01:10CITY NOISE
0:01:10 > 0:01:12ELECTRONIC MUSIC
0:01:31 > 0:01:33Somebody that he's trusted all his life
0:01:33 > 0:01:36has suddenly become untrustworthy.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38Somebody who's not autistic would think,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41"Well, just cos you killed a dog
0:01:41 > 0:01:43"doesn't mean you're going to kill a human being."
0:01:43 > 0:01:46You killed a dog out of anger,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49but to a neuro-typical person,
0:01:49 > 0:01:54a dog is probably less significant to another human being.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58But somebody on the autistic spectrum wouldn't make that interpretation.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02They'd be just, like, "Well, you killed a dog, "so you could kill a person."
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Ah, great.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19I found out I was on the spectrum when I was 12.
0:02:19 > 0:02:20And the reason I was told
0:02:20 > 0:02:23was because I started asking my mum questions
0:02:23 > 0:02:24about why I was different.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27In what way did you find yourself being different?
0:02:27 > 0:02:32Well, I got bullied, but also, I liked computers,
0:02:32 > 0:02:36and...I think that I struggled socially.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39I never realised when I was at school that...
0:02:39 > 0:02:42And I think Christopher, if he was a real-life person,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44he'd properly learn this when he left school -
0:02:44 > 0:02:47that there are many people who like many different things
0:02:47 > 0:02:50that aren't necessarily mainstream.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52But I didn't know that when I was at school,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54and I just thought I was always going to be lonely.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58KIDS SCREAMING
0:02:58 > 0:03:01SCREAMING CONTINUES, CRASHING MUSIC
0:03:08 > 0:03:10- WOMAN READS:- "It was seven minutes after midnight.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13"The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn
0:03:13 > 0:03:15"in front of Mrs Shears' house.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17"Its eyes were closed.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19"It looked as if it was running on its side,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22"the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25"But the dog was not running or asleep.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26"The dog was dead."
0:03:26 > 0:03:29What the fuck have you done to my dog?!
0:03:29 > 0:03:32"There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34"The dog was called Wellington."
0:03:35 > 0:03:40So I began with this picture of a dog with a fork through it.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42No real idea of where that came from
0:03:42 > 0:03:44except that I have quite a black sense of humour,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47and I thought there was something absolutely hilarious about it.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50I mean, it's never funny - never funny - onstage,
0:03:50 > 0:03:54but in my mind, I thought there was something really blackly funny
0:03:54 > 0:03:56about that.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59But to make it funny, you had to tell the story in a certain way.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01And that was the genesis of Christopher.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06- WOMAN READS:- "My name is Christopher John Francis Boone.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11"I live at 36 Randolph Street, Swindon, Wiltshire.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14"I know all the countries of the world and the capital cities,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18"and every prime number up to 7,507."
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Then we've got...
0:04:27 > 0:04:30We've got masses of these.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32These are...
0:04:32 > 0:04:34- Christopher's book.- Oh, right.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38And we have masses of them because they get really trashed.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43So, this is the beginning of the story.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46We're meant to be writing stories today,
0:04:46 > 0:04:50so why don't you write about what happened to Wellington last night?
0:04:51 > 0:04:53- OK, I will.- I can help you.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57Will you help me with the spelling and the grammar and the footnotes?
0:04:59 > 0:05:01So, this is the book that Siobhan starts reading
0:05:01 > 0:05:03at the top of the show.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07"I find people confusing.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10"This is for two main reasons.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13"The first main reason is that people do a lot of talking
0:05:13 > 0:05:16"without using any words."
0:05:17 > 0:05:20What was central to me in the adaptation was the notion
0:05:20 > 0:05:25of making Siobhan, his teacher, the narrator of the piece.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27In the book, she's quite an ephemeral figure,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29or she's quite a marginal character in the book.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32She's the heart of the play.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36It struck me that I think everybody has a favourite teacher.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38English... No, we don't want to go to that one.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40We don't want to go there.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42We can go to Maths and we can go to Science.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44She reads Christopher's book
0:05:44 > 0:05:46with exactly the same perspective as we read it.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50She's astonished by his imagination.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52She cares for him, she understands things
0:05:52 > 0:05:55that he doesn't understand himself.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58The whole play is based around her
0:05:58 > 0:06:00effectively falling in love with Christopher,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03and falling in love with his ambition to solve the mystery
0:06:03 > 0:06:05of who killed Wellington -
0:06:05 > 0:06:07to solve the case of the curious incident
0:06:07 > 0:06:08of the dog in the night-time.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10- CHRISTOPHER: - I've decided I'm going to try
0:06:10 > 0:06:12and find out who killed Wellington,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16because a good day is a day for projects and for planning things.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17Who's Wellington?
0:06:17 > 0:06:20Wellington is a dog that used to belong to my neighbour Mrs Shears,
0:06:20 > 0:06:22but he is dead now because somebody killed him
0:06:22 > 0:06:25by putting a garden fork through him, and I found him.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Then a policeman came and thought I'd killed him, but I hadn't.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Then he tried to touch me, so I hit him.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32- Then I had to go to the police station.- Gosh.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35I'm going to find out who really killed Wellington
0:06:35 > 0:06:37and make it a project.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49In school, we have 36 children.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51Our smallest class is three
0:06:51 > 0:06:53and our largest class is six.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56Well, actually, we've had a new body, so it's seven.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58But we try and keep about six.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00So, they're very small.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03But our kids are very complex young people.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05HE SQUEALS
0:07:05 > 0:07:08- Kids get breaks.- I like it when Adam and Martin come here.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09- Do you?- Yeah.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12What are you doing at the moment, Ruben? No.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14- I'd just like to feel that. - Yeah, but you can't.- Why?- Ask.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17- Can I feel that?- Yeah.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Aw, it feels like...cat fur, a bit.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24- Doesn't it, Adam?- It's not cat. What do you think it is?
0:07:24 > 0:07:26What is that fur?
0:07:26 > 0:07:29I think it's fake fur.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32- Oh, but does it look like cat fur? - A little bit.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Ask... Do you know what it is?
0:07:34 > 0:07:36Fake fur, he said.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39Reuben, do you know what that is? What it's for?
0:07:39 > 0:07:42- What's that for?- It's a microphone.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43Really?
0:07:43 > 0:07:48Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello...
0:08:00 > 0:08:02..Yes, that would be lovely.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04'Simon felt... When he was reading the book,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08'he felt what was exciting about it was that,'
0:08:08 > 0:08:09as you were reading this book,
0:08:09 > 0:08:13you suddenly realised that Christopher had been told
0:08:13 > 0:08:14to write a book
0:08:14 > 0:08:16and that this was the book that he had written.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18So, you were reading his words.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21And so that's what he wanted to do with the stage adaptation,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24that then it was a play.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25And, oh, we're watching the play
0:08:25 > 0:08:28that he'd written from the book that he'd written.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Christopher, I want to ask you something.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34I was wondering
0:08:34 > 0:08:38if you'd like to make a play out of your book.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41I think a lot of people would be really interested
0:08:41 > 0:08:42in what would happen
0:08:42 > 0:08:46if people took your book and started acting bits out of it.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50No. I don't like acting.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Because it is pretending that something is real
0:08:53 > 0:08:56when it is not really real at all, so it's like a kind of lie.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58But people like stories, Christopher.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Some people find things which are kind of true
0:09:01 > 0:09:03in things which are made up.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05You like your Sherlock Holmes stories
0:09:05 > 0:09:09and you know Sherlock Holmes isn't a real person, don't you?
0:09:09 > 0:09:13I noticed a dog in the yard. Does he sleep out there at night?
0:09:13 > 0:09:15Yes, always. He's a very good watchdog.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18You didn't by any chance hear him barking during the night?
0:09:19 > 0:09:21No, I didn't.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25No.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29I was given the collection of Sherlock Holmes books
0:09:29 > 0:09:31and collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories...
0:09:31 > 0:09:33- The red one?- No. - Because I've got the red one.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36They were in two separate volumes - short stories and...
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Oh, I've got the huge one...
0:09:38 > 0:09:40that I need a special bag...
0:09:40 > 0:09:43I need a special bag to carry it around.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46What do you like about Sherlock Holmes?
0:09:46 > 0:09:48He's a detective.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52He actually works very much like how I work.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57I don't leap to conclusions if I don't have enough evidence.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Because, like, if I saw my shoe, I wouldn't automatically
0:10:03 > 0:10:06jump to the conclusion that it was mine.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Because someone else could have lost exactly the same shoe.
0:10:09 > 0:10:15And also because loads of television versions of Sherlock
0:10:15 > 0:10:17seem very autistic.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Do you think in the books that he seems a bit autistic?
0:10:20 > 0:10:21Yes.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Although, annoyingly, they hadn't actually discovered autism
0:10:25 > 0:10:28by that point, so it's impossible to actually tell
0:10:28 > 0:10:32if he would have been diagnosed as autistic.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Any other point to which you want to draw my attention?
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Well, to the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41The dog was perfectly quiet in the night.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43- No, that was the curious incident. - Oh.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51DOG BARKS
0:10:51 > 0:10:54In the book, he describes himself as being a little bit
0:10:54 > 0:11:00like Sherlock Holmes in that he can detach his mind at will,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03and his brain... Well, it's a bit like a laboratory.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07So that was very much how we decided to design the show -
0:11:07 > 0:11:09like a laboratory of his brain.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12The first half of the show is like a whodunnit
0:11:12 > 0:11:17so we also wanted to make the design a bit like an incident board
0:11:17 > 0:11:20in a crime room in a police station.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28Can I help you?
0:11:28 > 0:11:30Do you know who killed Wellington?
0:11:30 > 0:11:31Who the fuck is Wellington?!
0:11:31 > 0:11:35- Mrs Shears' dog. - Someone killed her dog?- With a fork.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40I'm going to make this one like a whole block colour.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Well, maybe Christopher wants to be a detective
0:11:45 > 0:11:48to try and make the world make sense to him or to try
0:11:48 > 0:11:53and understand it or to try and solve the problems around him.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57But you'd probably like me to paint something specific, wouldn't you?
0:11:57 > 0:11:59- Like something a bit more figurative?- Not necessarily.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Because these paintings aren't about anything in particular.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06I'm kind of like... It is a little bit weird, painting
0:12:06 > 0:12:08when you know that you've got you and Martin
0:12:08 > 0:12:11standing in the corner. It is a little bit weird!
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Christopher is making logical assumptions
0:12:16 > 0:12:20about the world around him and the world is illogical,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24the world doesn't make sense, and that's a big problem for people
0:12:24 > 0:12:28on the spectrum, understanding that the world doesn't make sense.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48In some ways, his world is quite straightforward
0:12:48 > 0:12:55and quite...yes, literal, but in other sort of areas of his mind,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57he is an incredibly gifted thinker.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Animals, maths, space, computers,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03there is a purity to them which is
0:13:03 > 0:13:05the way that Christopher sees the world, really,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07and would like the world to be.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09I think it's the complexities of other people
0:13:09 > 0:13:12and human behaviour which Christopher finds, really,
0:13:12 > 0:13:13a struggle to deal with.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17When I first wrote the script, what I was trying to do
0:13:17 > 0:13:20was get as deeply as possible into Christopher's mind,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23and that, actually, was always one of the challenges of the whole
0:13:23 > 0:13:27production - taking the audience inside Christopher's brain.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30I think it was key to Bunny's work, designing it,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33and, really, the essence of Marianne's production.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40I suppose, for me, the play is about...isolation
0:13:40 > 0:13:45and a lot of the prime characters feel isolated
0:13:45 > 0:13:50and I think that probably Mark and Simon and I
0:13:50 > 0:13:55have a strong connection to what that felt like
0:13:55 > 0:13:58as we were growing up - in different ways for all of us.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15I like looking at the rain.
0:14:15 > 0:14:16I like it because it makes me think
0:14:16 > 0:14:19- how all the water in the world is connected.- Is it?
0:14:19 > 0:14:21This water, this rain, has evaporated
0:14:21 > 0:14:25actually from somewhere like maybe the Gulf of Mexico, maybe,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28or Baffin Bay, and now it is falling in front of the house
0:14:28 > 0:14:30and then it will drain into the gutter and then it will flow
0:14:30 > 0:14:32to a sewage station where it will be cleaned, and then
0:14:32 > 0:14:35it will go into a river and then it will go back into the ocean again.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46He sees things that the rest of us do not see - he sees beauty,
0:14:46 > 0:14:51he experiences wonder in a way that no-one sitting in the audience
0:14:51 > 0:14:52does about certain things.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59As a result of that outside point of view, he looks back at us,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02and one of the experiences of reading the book
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and hopefully one of the experiences of watching the play,
0:15:04 > 0:15:09you start to realise how odd we are and how odd our way of life is.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13And you only have to take a few steps outside the boundary
0:15:13 > 0:15:18of normality to think, "We are very odd indeed, all of us."
0:15:20 > 0:15:24Hello. Are you filming us?
0:15:24 > 0:15:25Why?!
0:15:25 > 0:15:26Hello!
0:15:26 > 0:15:29- 'I don't always do what I'm told.' - 'Why?'
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Because when people tell you what to do, it is usually confusing
0:15:33 > 0:15:37and does not make sense. For example, people often say,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40"Be quiet," but they don't tell you how long to be quiet for.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45Marianne tasked me
0:15:45 > 0:15:53with becoming a sort of mini-expert in autism or Asperger's, so I bought
0:15:53 > 0:15:59textbooks, I read blogs, I found out as much information as I could.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03I contacted schools and Marianne was really keen that we went
0:16:03 > 0:16:08to meet some teachers and some pupils and some families
0:16:08 > 0:16:13who have experience of autism or Asperger's syndrome.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Hello.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18- Your room?- Well, this is my room.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22This is a map of London.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25I've recently become very interested in London boroughs.
0:16:25 > 0:16:30It may seem quite stereotypically autistic to a lot of people,
0:16:30 > 0:16:36but it is very fascinating knowing which district is in which borough.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38What's that list?
0:16:38 > 0:16:44Oh, stuff that I need to remember to pack when I went up to Liverpool.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47Toothbrush and toothpaste and CD,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51because it was my backing track for a poem that I performed then.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55I would also like to...
0:16:55 > 0:16:58Why did you need a list?
0:16:59 > 0:17:02To help me remember. Why else?!
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Do you make lots of lists?
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Um, yes, quite a lot.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Well, actually, it is my mum that makes them, if I'm honest.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18I went to a lot of different schools for autistic pupils
0:17:18 > 0:17:20and one of the things which always stayed with me,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23which I think one of the teachers told me,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27was that it's like the water in the bath is always spilling, it's always about to spill
0:17:27 > 0:17:32in someone like Christopher, and so, at any moment, you are
0:17:32 > 0:17:36desperately trying to hold on to the bathwater and it is always about
0:17:36 > 0:17:39to spill out because the world is so random to him and everything that is
0:17:39 > 0:17:43not planned and everything that is not expected for him is scary.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50- Here we are.- Here we are.
0:17:55 > 0:18:01When we first did the workshop in here, that was four years ago.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05- This is in this room, isn't it? - Yeah.- Yeah.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Chris was being picked up in that.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13It looked much better when I saw it in the play.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17I kind of can understand why they left the bath bit out.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22I nicked little things off you, you know this,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24I have told you this before.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27- Borrowed is how I would rather put it.- You what?
0:18:27 > 0:18:30- Borrowed. - Borrowed, yes, I didn't steal yours.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34But I borrowed some of the little things which I thought...
0:18:34 > 0:18:36- That thing.- This.
0:18:36 > 0:18:37Can you explain that to us?
0:18:37 > 0:18:40- Flick this round...- I can, yes.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42Basically, I am in my own world,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45I am playing a counting game in my head.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49I am making somebody older or making them younger,
0:18:49 > 0:18:53or, basically, I am counting from one extreme to another
0:18:53 > 0:18:56like thinking of a word that is not offensive
0:18:56 > 0:19:00and thinking of the worst word, or vice versa -
0:19:00 > 0:19:04making it cleaner or dirtier or, you know...
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Does it make you feel calmer? What's it called?
0:19:07 > 0:19:10It is called daydreaming, really.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12It is something that I do when I'm daydreaming.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14In the play, I think, for me, it became
0:19:14 > 0:19:17something when I was very anxious or stressed.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21- When I am anxious or stressed, I usually make noises, I do.- Right.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Well, Christopher makes noises.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28The noises were great, I could totally see myself in you
0:19:28 > 0:19:30when you were performing.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34We had read about it in books, we had seen documentaries, but...
0:19:34 > 0:19:37- Well, you're hearing it from the horse's mouth.- Exactly.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40- And, you know, I am using a... - Using a metaphor.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43- I am using a metaphor there!- I know.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45When I was young, if you had said this...
0:19:45 > 0:19:48If I heard somebody say that about 20 or 15 years ago,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52I would have said, "A horse's mouth? Horses don't talk! Neigh?!
0:19:52 > 0:19:55"What does that mean to be people?!"
0:19:55 > 0:19:59The second main reason I find people confusing is that people
0:19:59 > 0:20:01often talk using metaphors.
0:20:01 > 0:20:07The word metaphor means carrying something from one place to another.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10And it is when you describe something by using
0:20:10 > 0:20:13a word for something that it isn't.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17This means that the word metaphor is a metaphor.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28When we look at Christopher,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31we could say that he is at the high functioning end
0:20:31 > 0:20:35of the autism spectrum, and it is a very broad spectrum.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Intellectually, he is very gifted,
0:20:37 > 0:20:42he is even precocious in some subjects, like mathematics.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45But if you analysed his communication,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49even then you would realise that despite the presence of language,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52he still has communication difficulties.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55One example of that is taking language very literally.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59So assuming that what people say is what they mean,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03whereas a typical child, very early on,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06understands that what people say isn't always true.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10They might be joking, they might be using language in a figurative way,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12idioms or metaphor.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14Christopher is taking words as literal
0:21:14 > 0:21:19and that's very common in people with Asperger's syndrome.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23They don't see the point of some kind of gap between what you say
0:21:23 > 0:21:25and what you mean.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31Mother died two years ago.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35I came home from school one day and no-one answered the door,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37so I went and found the secret key that we keep under
0:21:37 > 0:21:41a flowerpot outside the kitchen window.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44'It is all a metaphor.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49'I think that the death of Wellington the dog'
0:21:49 > 0:21:52and the way that Christopher feels about that and then obsesses
0:21:52 > 0:21:56about it and decides to become a detective to work out who killed
0:21:56 > 0:22:01the dog is all a metaphor for how he feels about the loss of his mum.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31What was your mother like? Do you remember much about her?
0:22:36 > 0:22:40I remember 20th July 2008.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45I was nine years old.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47It was a Saturday.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55We were on holiday in Cornwall on the beach in a place called Polperro.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58- PA:- The next Manhattan-bound local train
0:22:58 > 0:23:03will arrive in approximately two minutes.
0:23:06 > 0:23:12I grew up in England from when I was 7 until I was 18.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15I went to school there in Devon.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19But the rest of my life, I've been travelling.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21First seven years of my life, I grew up in a caravan
0:23:21 > 0:23:26travelling around the United States and Canada and Europe with my family,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29obviously, not on my own, that would be impressive!
0:23:32 > 0:23:35This is my first job.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38- How does it feel?- Awesome!
0:23:43 > 0:23:46I'm sorry. Your mother's died.
0:23:48 > 0:23:49She's had a heart attack.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54It wasn't expected.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56What kind of heart attack?
0:23:58 > 0:24:00I don't know what kind of heart attack.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Now isn't the moment, Christopher, to be asking questions like that.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11It was probably an aneurysm.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14The death of the dog is connected somehow, possibly...
0:24:14 > 0:24:17well, definitely subconsciously
0:24:17 > 0:24:19in Christopher's head to the death of his mum.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22If he discovers who killed Wellington,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26he will then discover the truth about his mum.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28It is a transference of grief,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31so his mum has died, he hasn't been able to grieve
0:24:31 > 0:24:35because he doesn't know how to, he doesn't talk about it.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39The dog is dead and he starts to really properly investigate
0:24:39 > 0:24:41and mourn that.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10My situation was an absolute nightmare.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Because when he got about two or three, I knew there was
0:25:13 > 0:25:16something wrong because he couldn't communicate good.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19I mean, like, when you go on the street, we would see neighbours
0:25:19 > 0:25:23and they would say, "Hi, how are you today?"
0:25:23 > 0:25:25He would just stand there and look at them.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29You know, I've always been intuitive with my son
0:25:29 > 0:25:33and I would tell him what to say, and just looking at him,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36I could tell he just did not know how to have a conversation.
0:25:36 > 0:25:44So I told his doctor, and the problem I had was, he looked normal
0:25:44 > 0:25:47so the doctor didn't think anything was wrong.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50His teachers didn't think anything was wrong, they thought
0:25:50 > 0:25:52he will grow out of it once he starts school, he will be fine.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57No, that did not happen. I was not able to get a diagnosis until
0:25:57 > 0:26:02- he was 11.- What was his life like in school prior to the diagnosis?
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Nightmare. It was an absolute nightmare.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Accused of poor behaviour?
0:26:06 > 0:26:09Yes, the teacher locked him out of the classroom, he was bullied,
0:26:09 > 0:26:13his life was threatened and I fought, I fought the board of ed
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and I fought and fought and finally I was able to get him
0:26:16 > 0:26:20in private school, but it is still a struggle, every day is a struggle.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22I am not going to say it's easy. It's not.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25What can I say? He is my son. I'll do the best I can.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37What was your mother like? Can you remember much about her?
0:26:40 > 0:26:44I remember 20th July 2008.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47I was nine years old.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50It was a Saturday.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54We were on holiday in Cornwall.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57We were on a beach in a place called Polperro.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02The routine of having a mother figure is broken.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06And Christopher lives in patterns, in a world of patterns,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08so he knows he comes home at this time
0:27:08 > 0:27:10and he does this at this time, and once the mother figure
0:27:10 > 0:27:15has disappeared from his life, his routine is shattered.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19So if he can reconnect to that and form some sort of routine,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21waking up at this time, going to school
0:27:21 > 0:27:24and doing these things at this time, then life is perfect.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27Life is fine because it fits into nice compartmentalised boxes.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33Sunday, you are going to wake up.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36You are going to do... What next?
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Wee-wee, brush your teeth.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Get dressed. Have breakfast.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49- What do you want for breakfast? - Um... Cream toast.
0:27:49 > 0:27:50For breakfast?!
0:27:50 > 0:27:53- And honey toast.- OK.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58When you are on the autistic spectrum,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01routines can be very important, because if you have difficulties
0:28:01 > 0:28:04with social imagination, if you find it difficult to know
0:28:04 > 0:28:08what is going to happen next, then having a routine is really
0:28:08 > 0:28:13comforting because you don't have to worry about anything unexpected.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15- Let's do three more, Mummy, and then we will be done.- OK.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18People on the autistic spectrum often have difficulties with
0:28:18 > 0:28:20flexibility of thought.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23It is as if you are a train on a train track
0:28:23 > 0:28:26and going along a single train track, and suddenly a huge
0:28:26 > 0:28:30brick wall has appeared in front of you and you can't go backwards.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34All you can do is smash into this wall and you can't go any further.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39Whereas a nearer typical person would see lots of different routes
0:28:39 > 0:28:43that one could take instead, so that you could go around the wall
0:28:43 > 0:28:46and you could carry on, but that isn't the way that many
0:28:46 > 0:28:48autistic people are able to think.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53- How do you like it?- Just white, thanks. No sugar.- Yeah, same, please.
0:28:57 > 0:29:02Routine, the basics of what is happening when, how,
0:29:02 > 0:29:05with whom, are kind of...
0:29:05 > 0:29:08It is at the centre of his everything.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12It is the fear of the unknown. It's terrifying for him.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15At two and a half - two and a half - when I would pick him up
0:29:15 > 0:29:19from nursery, it was a ten-minute drive home
0:29:19 > 0:29:22and one day I turned left, I went on a different route
0:29:22 > 0:29:26instead of turning right, and he started screaming.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31From a quiet car to screaming his little heart out
0:29:31 > 0:29:34and I worked out quite soon after, once I knew about...
0:29:34 > 0:29:39that's what it was, because he must have been taking a photographic
0:29:39 > 0:29:44image of the roads and memorising it to comfort himself
0:29:44 > 0:29:49and I didn't go that way, and he just...couldn't handle it.
0:29:49 > 0:29:54He eventually got diagnosed when he was three and four months or something.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58There was a relief that there is a specific condition this boy
0:29:58 > 0:30:02has got and a reason for all the behaviours.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04It wasn't me not weaning him properly.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08He was fussy with food, there was a lot of guilt, why is he like...?
0:30:08 > 0:30:11Did I not engage with him properly? Did I not...?
0:30:11 > 0:30:16Constantly going on websites about what is meant to happen next.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19Oh, God, I didn't do that. Is it my fault?
0:30:19 > 0:30:24- What would he like, then? - Oh, he would like to go on a bus.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26If I say, "Let's go on a bus," he will be great.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30"Let's go on the 82 to Victoria." He will know every stop from Finchley.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33- It takes three hours.- What do you mean, he knows everything?
0:30:33 > 0:30:35He knows the name of the stop?
0:30:35 > 0:30:37Of each stop and the number and the sounds.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40You will hear him at bedtime reciting back,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43"The next stop is Victoria Park."
0:30:43 > 0:30:46Buses and trains are everything because he can control
0:30:46 > 0:30:50the stimulation of the sound of the roads.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53He loves... Lampposts is his current passion.
0:30:58 > 0:31:04- FATHER:- Christopher... Do you understand that I love you?
0:31:14 > 0:31:19The thing that comes out so strongly with you two and I think in the play
0:31:19 > 0:31:22is that the love is never in question,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25but it is how you deal with that.
0:31:25 > 0:31:30- Presumably, you give love but you don't get it back.- No, you don't.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36It is not love in the way that you've expected it,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39whatever expectations you've got as a parent.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42It is certainly not what I expected.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47But that tiny, tiny little thing will happen...
0:31:47 > 0:31:50A little bit of progress or...
0:31:50 > 0:31:54It's funny, that in the play, when he puts his hand up.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58We naturally do that with Isaac. It is massive.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04I asked my parents whether they felt that I didn't love them
0:32:04 > 0:32:08like other children did and whether they felt unloved
0:32:08 > 0:32:14or if they felt having an autistic child was bad in some way.
0:32:14 > 0:32:20And they said that they felt that people, when they have kids, that maybe
0:32:20 > 0:32:24they have different expectations, but they just had an expectation
0:32:24 > 0:32:27they would have a live baby and that was all that was important
0:32:27 > 0:32:30so whatever I did didn't really matter.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34Taste?
0:32:34 > 0:32:35Orange juice.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42- Daddy.- Yeah.- I love you.
0:32:42 > 0:32:43I love you, too.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46Nice. I love you.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48Do you know what?
0:32:48 > 0:32:51When we saw the chicken, was it a daddy or mummy?
0:32:51 > 0:32:54When we were on holiday.
0:32:54 > 0:32:59When we were on holiday, Mummy, when these boys were not here.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04Well, when we were on holiday, there was a daddy chicken
0:33:04 > 0:33:08and he is called cockerel and he had all the red, all that red skin.
0:33:08 > 0:33:13- Was he a grown-up chicken? - He was a grown-up chicken.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16Which station is near the chicken's house?
0:33:16 > 0:33:18You definitely know.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21- Maybe it's Falmouth. - Falmouth. That's right.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45We're on the train to Connecticut, Milford.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48Connecticut to visit the set where that's being built.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55They've been painting all the panels
0:33:55 > 0:33:58so today I need to check some of the paint finish on the panels,
0:33:58 > 0:34:02because last time I was there, it was a little bit shiny.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04And then they are raising them up
0:34:04 > 0:34:07because they will start all the wiring into the back of them
0:34:07 > 0:34:10so that all the LEDs and pixels
0:34:10 > 0:34:14and everything get put into all of that, so the whole kit can come into
0:34:14 > 0:34:22the theatre ready wired and finished, and that is the idea, anyway!
0:34:26 > 0:34:28Do you like computers?
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Yes, I like computers. I have a computer in my room.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38And I like maths and looking after Toby and I like outer space
0:34:38 > 0:34:41and being on my own.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45- I bet you're very good at maths, aren't you?- Yes, I am.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47I'm ready to take my A-level maths next month
0:34:47 > 0:34:49and I am going to get an A*.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54Now, that looks great.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01'It had to be a piece of imagination.
0:35:01 > 0:35:06'The more realistic you made it, the more domestic and clunky
0:35:06 > 0:35:07'and heavy it felt...'
0:35:07 > 0:35:10And as Christopher says in the play,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13he doesn't really like acting or plays because it is like a form
0:35:13 > 0:35:18of lie, so we never wanted to make it seem like a form of a lie.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22It was clearly what it was, the props clearly displayed,
0:35:22 > 0:35:23the actors clearly displayed,
0:35:23 > 0:35:28and they're hopefully taking the audience with them on this highly
0:35:28 > 0:35:34imaginative, suggestive, stylised way of telling Christopher's story.
0:35:37 > 0:35:42All of these lines have been routed out, so that's done by a computer,
0:35:42 > 0:35:45so it's really, really crisp and accurate,
0:35:45 > 0:35:48so it makes it look like graph paper.
0:35:49 > 0:35:55Mr Boone, nobody has ever taken an A-level examination in the school before.
0:35:55 > 0:35:56He can be the first, then.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00I don't know if we have the facilities at the school to allow him to do that.
0:36:00 > 0:36:01Then get the facilities.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03Christopher could always do his A-levels later, when he is 18,
0:36:03 > 0:36:09which is, after all, the age everyone else takes their A-levels.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12Christopher is getting a crap enough deal already -
0:36:12 > 0:36:14don't you think? - without you shitting on him
0:36:14 > 0:36:15from a great height as well.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19Jesus! This is the one thing he is really good at.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22Christopher does have probably different relationships
0:36:22 > 0:36:29to your typical 15-year-old, so he has a good relationship with his rat,
0:36:29 > 0:36:34Toby, but also he thinks about maths a lot
0:36:34 > 0:36:38and in some ways I would have said he has a relationship with maths.
0:36:38 > 0:36:43It is what he finds comforting, it is what he turns to when he is stressed.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48I suppose a bit like a comforting blanket, or perhaps you would go
0:36:48 > 0:36:50to your parents more often.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55128, 256, 512, 1024...
0:36:55 > 0:36:58We also see in Christopher that he loves patterns,
0:36:58 > 0:37:02being able to recite prime numbers, because the sequence never changes.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05A prime number will always be a prime number
0:37:05 > 0:37:08and there must be something quite reassuring for people with autism
0:37:08 > 0:37:14that they want to find their solid anchors in the world.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17And what seems to be the case is that a lot of that circuitry
0:37:17 > 0:37:20for making sense of the social world,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24the brain-based circuitry for being able to anticipate
0:37:24 > 0:37:28another person's reactions, being able to read someone else's emotions,
0:37:28 > 0:37:33seems to not be functioning in the very intuitive or natural way.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35So the social world becomes a world of confusion
0:37:35 > 0:37:39and unpredictability, whereas the world of repetition,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42the world of objects, the world of numbers,
0:37:42 > 0:37:45becomes the much safer, more predictable world.
0:37:51 > 0:37:56I think I would make a very good astronaut.
0:37:56 > 0:37:58To be a good astronaut,
0:37:58 > 0:38:00you have to be intelligent, and I'm intelligent.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04You also have to understand how machines work,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07and I'm good at understanding how machines work.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10You also have to be someone who would like being on their own
0:38:10 > 0:38:15in a tiny spacecraft thousands and thousands of miles from the surface
0:38:15 > 0:38:19of the Earth and not panic or get claustrophobia
0:38:19 > 0:38:25or homesick or insane, and I really like little spaces,
0:38:25 > 0:38:28so long as there is no-one else in there with me.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39And I would be able to look out of the little window
0:38:39 > 0:38:42in the spacecraft and know that there was no-one else
0:38:42 > 0:38:44near me for thousands and thousands of...
0:38:44 > 0:38:47- Christopher!- What?
0:38:47 > 0:38:49Could you please just...
0:38:49 > 0:38:51give it a bit of a break, mate?
0:38:52 > 0:38:56MUSIC: Astroboy by Adrian Sutton
0:39:17 > 0:39:20When I'm in the middle of my thing, I get absolutely livid
0:39:20 > 0:39:23when my mother calls me and interrupts me.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26I always snap at her and say, "What?!" But...
0:39:26 > 0:39:28When they're in their zone.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31But I need to remember she's not trying to be a pain, either,
0:39:31 > 0:39:36the same way. Parents are trying to think the same way about us.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38It goes hand in hand.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41Yeah, and that's probably just families, right?
0:39:41 > 0:39:44He can tell you any way you want to get...
0:39:44 > 0:39:46He's memorised every bus stop in Manhattan.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49I mean, if you want to know if there's a stop on the north side
0:39:49 > 0:39:52- or which side or in-between, he can tell you.- Wow.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54And I call that superhuman powers.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56LAUGHTER
0:39:56 > 0:39:57- I don't think that's... - I would like that.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00I don't think that's weird, I don't think it's a quirk,
0:40:00 > 0:40:05- I think it's awesome.- Yeah.- And that separates them from your typicals.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07I think it's awesome.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10If you want to get from here to, let's say,
0:40:10 > 0:40:16to Inwood - 207th Street, take the... Well, the 20.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20God knows when it'll come, but the train,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23I strongly suggest take the A train cos it's express.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26- Just take that straight up. - Really?- Straight up.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32See, the way I've been able to cope with him
0:40:32 > 0:40:37and to help him is to try to always look through his eyes,
0:40:37 > 0:40:42even though I can't, but I know my son better than anyone
0:40:42 > 0:40:48and when I get frustrated with him, I must always remember how
0:40:48 > 0:40:52he sees things and that helps me to have patience with him.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13So do you guys know when we're going to see Curious Incident?
0:41:13 > 0:41:15It's, what, next week?
0:41:15 > 0:41:19- Yep, a week from today, so how do you think we're getting there?- Tube.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24So here's the theatre, OK?
0:41:24 > 0:41:27We're going to take the Northern Line to Leicester Square.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30So we take the Northern Line by Charing Cross,
0:41:30 > 0:41:32get off at Leicester Square
0:41:32 > 0:41:36and then it's probably about a ten-minute walk from there.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41When you meet people with autism,
0:41:41 > 0:41:45I think one thing you're struck by is how individual they are,
0:41:45 > 0:41:47that they're thinking in a very fresh way
0:41:47 > 0:41:50and that they know what matters to them
0:41:50 > 0:41:55and they pursue their interests with enormous passion.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58And one possibility is that for a typical child,
0:41:58 > 0:42:03they're trying to align their beliefs and their thoughts with other people,
0:42:03 > 0:42:07that part of being a typical child is conformism.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10Someone with autism, that might not be important.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13They have their own curiosity about what intrigues them.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17They like to pursue it in enormous detail and depth,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19so-called obsessions,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22but it also means that they're spotting things that other people
0:42:22 > 0:42:28are missing, so they're asking very refreshing, very novel questions.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32It gives them, if you like, an originality in how they think
0:42:32 > 0:42:34and how they see the world.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38In some ways, people with autism are the ultimate anarchists.
0:42:41 > 0:42:42Good!
0:42:42 > 0:42:44BOY CHEERS
0:42:53 > 0:42:56- Where is heaven?! - Sorry, Christopher?
0:42:56 > 0:42:59In our universe, whereabouts is it exactly?
0:43:00 > 0:43:03It isn't in our universe, it's another kind of place altogether.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07There isn't anything outside our universe, Reverend Peters.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10There isn't another kind of place altogether.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12LAUGHTER
0:43:12 > 0:43:13One of the first lines in the play,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16one of the first things he says is, "I do not tell lies."
0:43:16 > 0:43:17Actually, he does,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21he really does and he has the naughtiness of a 15-year-old.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25You know, he has the transgressive spirit of a 15-year-old,
0:43:25 > 0:43:27he's a little bit punk.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29Another thing he says is, "I don't always do what I'm told,"
0:43:29 > 0:43:33and I think in his quest for finding out the truth
0:43:33 > 0:43:37of what's happened to his family, the determination to not always do
0:43:37 > 0:43:41what he is told is tremendously attractive.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51And that's when I saw the envelope.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53It was an envelope addressed to me.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55I picked it up.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58It had never been opened.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00It said "Christopher Bloom,
0:44:00 > 0:44:05"36 Randolph Street, Swindon, Wiltshire."
0:44:05 > 0:44:08And then I saw there were lots of envelopes and they were
0:44:08 > 0:44:13all addressed to me and this was interesting and confusing and then
0:44:13 > 0:44:16I saw how the words "Christopher" and "Swindon" were written.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19I only know three people who do little circles instead of dots
0:44:19 > 0:44:24over the letter "I" and one of them is Siobhan
0:44:24 > 0:44:27and one of them is Mr Loxley who used to teach at the school
0:44:27 > 0:44:29and one of them...
0:44:29 > 0:44:30was Mother.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37Have either of you guys read the book?
0:44:37 > 0:44:39You have, Alex? Oh, really?
0:44:39 > 0:44:41Did you like it?
0:44:41 > 0:44:44Do you remember what the story was about?
0:44:47 > 0:44:53A 15-year-old boy who got tricked by his dad,
0:44:53 > 0:44:56whose mother was dead, but she wasn't.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59And then I looked at the front of the envelope
0:44:59 > 0:45:02and I saw there was a postmark and there was a date on the postmark
0:45:02 > 0:45:05which meant the letter had been posted
0:45:05 > 0:45:07on 16th October 2011...
0:45:09 > 0:45:11..which was...
0:45:11 > 0:45:1518 months after Mother had died.
0:45:17 > 0:45:23When I started writing my book, there was one mystery to solve.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26Now, there were two.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40- OK, whenever you want...- OK.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42..come into the kitchen.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48- So, do you want to make the tea, yeah?- Yeah.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54- Do you want a sandwich?- Yes, please. Yes, I would like a sandwich.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01When Cian was very young, was he very different to other children?
0:46:01 > 0:46:03What made you think...?
0:46:04 > 0:46:09Cian talked a lot, talked a lot, and it wouldn't have occurred to me
0:46:09 > 0:46:13that he was autistic because he was really good with words.
0:46:13 > 0:46:17He used to just seem very bright until he went to school
0:46:17 > 0:46:20and then he didn't kind of fit in too well, did you?
0:46:22 > 0:46:27- What was it like? - Oh, school was a nightmare.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32It was a very difficult period for me on so many levels.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35He was quite...
0:46:35 > 0:46:39I wouldn't say normal, but I didn't really have any worries at home.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43It seemed to be at school that all these problems were coming up
0:46:43 > 0:46:47because at home, Cian was pretty OK and a bit more relaxed.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51Well, I remember being difficult at home, I do.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54Yeah, a little bit, but when they're your first child, you don't
0:46:54 > 0:46:57know what to expect, anyway, so...
0:46:59 > 0:47:02No, I didn't think there was anything wrong with Cian.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06I actually thought he was particularly bright.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10So it was a little bit of a shock when we did get the diagnosis.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13Yeah, but I would like to say there is nothing wrong with having autism,
0:47:13 > 0:47:18it's just an alternative way of being, as I like to say, you know.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22Just something different rather than something wrong, would be
0:47:22 > 0:47:26- a better way of putting it, I think. - Yeah, different, not wrong.
0:47:26 > 0:47:27Different, yeah.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32We know that autism isn't 100% genetic
0:47:32 > 0:47:36so that means that there's room for environmental
0:47:36 > 0:47:38or non-genetic factors
0:47:38 > 0:47:42influencing why a person develops autism
0:47:42 > 0:47:46and so that does mean there might be scope for environmental
0:47:46 > 0:47:50interventions, too, and the question about intervention is actually
0:47:50 > 0:47:52also a very ethical issue.
0:47:52 > 0:47:57Do we want to intervene to try to normalise the child's development
0:47:57 > 0:48:00or do we want to respect that this is an individual,
0:48:00 > 0:48:04for neurological reasons, who's wired very differently
0:48:04 > 0:48:06and we should let them be who they are?
0:48:06 > 0:48:09Not trying to change their development
0:48:09 > 0:48:11but respect that they are different.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17I was expecting Conor when Cian was diagnosed.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20I thought that it was highly unlikely
0:48:20 > 0:48:22that I'd have two children with autism
0:48:22 > 0:48:24but they're like chalk and cheese
0:48:24 > 0:48:27because Cian loves to talk, as you can tell...
0:48:27 > 0:48:33- Oh, yeah, yeah. My brother is non-verbal.- So very, very different.
0:48:33 > 0:48:38- Yeah.- They do some things the same, like when you get upset, you both...
0:48:38 > 0:48:43- Self-harming, unfortunately. - And bite your hands.- Oh, God, yeah.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46- Show us your... - This is evidence, you know.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50Conor's got one of them as well, they both do it, like that.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52Yeah, yeah.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55Why do you do it?
0:48:55 > 0:48:59- Oh, I can't really explain why, it's not really that simple.- Frustration?
0:48:59 > 0:49:04Frustration and anger and hating being different to other people.
0:49:15 > 0:49:23451C Chapter Road, London, NW2 5NG.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25"Dear Christopher...
0:49:27 > 0:49:30"I said that I wanted to explain why I went away
0:49:30 > 0:49:32"when I had the time to do it properly.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36"And now I have lots of time."
0:49:37 > 0:49:42When Christopher's mother is reading the letters,
0:49:42 > 0:49:45Christopher is playing with trains.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47Christopher's using the trains to feel calm and relaxed
0:49:47 > 0:49:49and also centred, you know,
0:49:49 > 0:49:51because trains are logical, cos they go on a track,
0:49:51 > 0:49:54but what he's hearing from his mother is not logical
0:49:54 > 0:49:58cos he thinks that she's dead and so it's understandable
0:49:58 > 0:50:01why Christopher would turn to something that's so logical.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07"I was not a very good mother, Christopher.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12"Maybe if things had been different,
0:50:12 > 0:50:15"maybe if you had been different, then I'd have been better at it,
0:50:15 > 0:50:18"but that's just the way things turned out."
0:50:21 > 0:50:24Julie, Christopher's mother, before the play begins,
0:50:24 > 0:50:30has become completely overwhelmed with her circumstances and I think
0:50:30 > 0:50:35it's mainly to do with the lack of any support or help and, you know,
0:50:35 > 0:50:39the socioeconomic place that they live in,
0:50:39 > 0:50:43and so she's left struggling alone and becomes very overwhelmed.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46..London, NW2...
0:50:46 > 0:50:47I know, as a parent,
0:50:47 > 0:50:50even without children with those kinds of challenges,
0:50:50 > 0:50:54there are definitely times when it's completely overwhelming
0:50:54 > 0:50:56and so I don't judge her at all,
0:50:56 > 0:50:59I think she was in a life-or-death situation for herself.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04And after a while, we stopped talking to each other very much
0:51:04 > 0:51:08because we knew it would always end up in an argument.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13And I felt...really lonely.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18It adds a dimension that he has this disability
0:51:18 > 0:51:22but I don't think that that is really what the play is about.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24No, it just heightens the relationships
0:51:24 > 0:51:29and makes the stakes much higher, but it ultimately is about family.
0:51:29 > 0:51:31Yes.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41Christopher, what on earth has happened to you?
0:51:41 > 0:51:43Would you look after Toby for me?
0:51:43 > 0:51:45Why do you need somebody to look after Toby, Christopher?
0:51:45 > 0:51:49- I'm going to London.- So, are you and your father moving house?- No.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52- So why are you going to London? - I'm going to live with Mother.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54I thought you told me your mother was dead.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56I thought she was dead, but she was still alive
0:51:56 > 0:52:00- and Father lied to me and...- So are you going to London on your own?
0:52:00 > 0:52:02I think I am going to do that, yes.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08He's never been outside of his street on his own, ever.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10He's very in love with his train set
0:52:10 > 0:52:14but it's what he imagines a train to be, it's not reality,
0:52:14 > 0:52:17so when he actually does go on his journey,
0:52:17 > 0:52:23everything he encounters is new and frightening and confusing.
0:52:23 > 0:52:28It's about all of us encountering things that we find overwhelming
0:52:28 > 0:52:35and confusing and feeling that fear, but driving through anyway.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38ANNOUNCER: ..Western service to London Paddington.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41What are you doing at the railway station?
0:52:41 > 0:52:44Oh, I'm going to see Mother.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47- I want to go to London. - Single or return?
0:52:47 > 0:52:49What does single or return mean?
0:52:49 > 0:52:53MUSIC PLAYS
0:53:00 > 0:53:03For Christopher, getting the train to London was the biggest event
0:53:03 > 0:53:06of his life up to then, really, I think.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08SOUND EFFECT OF TRAIN DOORS OPENING PLAYS
0:53:08 > 0:53:11Is this train going to London?
0:53:11 > 0:53:13Yeah, it's a huge odyssey.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17It takes a huge amount of bravery and bottle for him
0:53:17 > 0:53:18to get on that train
0:53:18 > 0:53:22and survive the train ride hiding in the toilets and the luggage racks.
0:53:22 > 0:53:27Because just lots of loud noises on the trains and, you know,
0:53:27 > 0:53:32the sound of the engine starting and the voices on the trains...
0:53:32 > 0:53:36Cos I used to be very scared of a man's voice on the train
0:53:36 > 0:53:37when I was young.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39I used to think it sounded like a robot.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45It's an important part,
0:53:45 > 0:53:49because, you know, he's going all the way from Swindon to London
0:53:49 > 0:53:50to meet his mother.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53Even though he has a slight fear of going on trains,
0:53:53 > 0:53:57he's willing to do that because he loves his mother so much.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03Most other people are lazy. They never look at everything.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05They do what's called glancing, which is the same word
0:54:05 > 0:54:07for bumping off something
0:54:07 > 0:54:09and carrying on in almost the same direction.
0:54:09 > 0:54:10But if I am standing
0:54:10 > 0:54:12and looking out of a window of a train into the countryside,
0:54:12 > 0:54:16I notice everything, like, one, there are 19 cows in the field,
0:54:16 > 0:54:18five of which are black and white
0:54:18 > 0:54:20and four of which are brown and white.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22Two, there is a verge in the distance with 31 visible houses
0:54:22 > 0:54:24and a square tower, not a spire.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27Three, there are ridges in the field, which means,
0:54:27 > 0:54:29in medieval times, it was called a ridge and furrow field
0:54:29 > 0:54:32and people from the village would have a ridge each to do farming.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36We can now look at the structure and the function of the brain in someone
0:54:36 > 0:54:39with autism compared to a typical person
0:54:39 > 0:54:41and there are many differences that emerge.
0:54:43 > 0:54:48The brain in autism is developing faster than a typical brain.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51It's ending up larger than a typical brain.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54You can see more neurons or nerve cells
0:54:54 > 0:54:58and more connections between those nerve cells
0:54:58 > 0:55:04so one interesting view is that the nerves are kind of over-connected
0:55:04 > 0:55:08which may lead to a sort of information overload...
0:55:08 > 0:55:11Six, there's a white Reebok trainer in one corner of the field.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13There's a public footwalk sign with graffiti on it.
0:55:13 > 0:55:18There's a gate, hedge, telephone poles...
0:55:18 > 0:55:20..and that could be advantageous,
0:55:20 > 0:55:25it could be that that means that the autistic brain is picking up
0:55:25 > 0:55:28more detail so that when it's looking at a problem,
0:55:28 > 0:55:32trying to understand, for example, a mathematics problem,
0:55:32 > 0:55:35it can pick up more information, more variables,
0:55:35 > 0:55:37to really try to understand that system.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41But it could also mean that as you're just going on your normal day,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44you're picking up too much information -
0:55:44 > 0:55:46every blade of grass, every leaf in the tree.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49You're not necessarily seeing the big picture.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53You're zooming in on tiny details and that that could interfere with being
0:55:53 > 0:55:57able to make an ordinary decision, like what to say in a conversation.
0:56:05 > 0:56:06HE SIGHS
0:56:08 > 0:56:09I waited for nine more minutes,
0:56:09 > 0:56:12but no-one else came past and the train was really quiet
0:56:12 > 0:56:15and I did not move again, so I realised the train had stopped.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18And I knew the last stop on the train was London,
0:56:18 > 0:56:19so I got off the train.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23MUSIC PLAYS
0:56:35 > 0:56:38CHRISTOPHER YELLS
0:56:40 > 0:56:45Where is 451C Chapter Road, London, NW2 5NG?
0:56:45 > 0:56:49Take the Tube to Willesden Junction or Willesden Green.
0:56:49 > 0:56:51Got to be near there somewhere.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56In a few minutes, we're going to be leaving.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00The show starts at 2.30 and we all know how to behave on the Tube.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04Stay close by to staff members, don't talk to strangers.
0:57:04 > 0:57:08So we're going to be taking the Northern Line to Leicester Square.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10You all know how to act in a theatre,
0:57:10 > 0:57:13there should be no talking, not even whispering
0:57:13 > 0:57:16because it's really disruptive to other audience members.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20No standing up, sitting properly on your seats.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26- Yes, because the world is your oyster.- Did you bring me my snacks?
0:57:29 > 0:57:32- CHRISTOPHER: - Train coming. Train stopped.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34Doors open. Train going.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37HE HUMS LOUDLY
0:57:38 > 0:57:40Train going. Train stopped.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42Doors open. Train going.
0:57:42 > 0:57:44HE HUMS
0:57:44 > 0:57:48Train coming. Train stopped. Doors open. Train coming.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51Train stopped. Doors open. Train going.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53MAN SHOUTS, TRAIN SHRIEKS PAST
0:57:55 > 0:57:56Let's go.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59INDISTINCT CONVERSATION
0:58:02 > 0:58:05- It's beautiful.- This way.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07They're going that way.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10I'm confused.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12Right, let's go this way.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16- Stuffy in here.- Yeah.- I think it's going to give me a headache.- OK.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19LOUD RHYTHMIC MUSIC AND CHATTER
0:58:25 > 0:58:26THUDDING MUSIC CONTINUES
0:58:26 > 0:58:29BOOM! SHRIEKING
0:58:29 > 0:58:31THUDDING AND PIERCING MUSIC
0:58:42 > 0:58:44QUIET ELECTRONIC HUMMING
0:58:58 > 0:59:01- I suppose this means Ed's here. - Where's your father, Christopher?
0:59:01 > 0:59:03- I think he's in Swindon. - Thank God for that.
0:59:03 > 0:59:05But how did you get here?
0:59:05 > 0:59:09- I came on the train. - Oh, my God, Christopher!
0:59:10 > 0:59:14I didn't... I didn't think I'd ever...
0:59:14 > 0:59:17Come on, Christopher. Let's get you inside and get you dried off.
0:59:17 > 0:59:20TRAIN WHISTLES, APPLAUSE
0:59:26 > 0:59:28- Hi.- Hello.
0:59:28 > 0:59:32- Amazing.- How did that go? - Well, that was amazing.
0:59:32 > 0:59:36- Was it?- Yeah, really good. Wasn't it?
0:59:36 > 0:59:42And what I didn't like about it was his dad telling a lie about his mum.
0:59:42 > 0:59:46It was like pretending like she's dead, but she was not.
0:59:46 > 0:59:48But his dad said she had a heart attack.
0:59:48 > 0:59:53That was a lie and a fib. I wouldn't say that.
0:59:53 > 0:59:57- What did you guys think of Christopher?- I saw a lot of James.
0:59:57 > 1:00:00THEY LAUGH
1:00:00 > 1:00:02How could you think that, Tom(?)
1:00:02 > 1:00:04THEY TALK AT ONCE
1:00:04 > 1:00:09It... Basically, because James is brilliant at maths. And...
1:00:09 > 1:00:10But I also saw...
1:00:10 > 1:00:13He has a calculator with him everywhere he goes.
1:00:13 > 1:00:14- WOMAN:- In his head.
1:00:14 > 1:00:17- Also...- In his bag.- And in my head!
1:00:17 > 1:00:20I only use the one in my bag for backup.
1:00:28 > 1:00:34Now, the exam is going to last for 90 minutes, Christopher. OK?
1:00:34 > 1:00:38First thing you do, pop your name on the front, OK, young man?
1:00:40 > 1:00:42Did you see similarities between yourself and him?
1:00:42 > 1:00:44Loads.
1:00:44 > 1:00:46Absolutely loads.
1:00:46 > 1:00:51- As Tom said, it's basically me. - Yeah.- It's basically just me.
1:00:51 > 1:00:54Should a triangle with sides that can be written
1:00:54 > 1:00:57in the form "n squared + 1..."?
1:00:57 > 1:00:59GIRL: I am good at maths myself, though.
1:00:59 > 1:01:01I think I'm quite good at maths.
1:01:01 > 1:01:04- I'm OK at maths.- You're tolerable.
1:01:04 > 1:01:09- No, no, you're good. You're also very good.- You are very good, Tom.
1:01:09 > 1:01:11- Thank you. - It's just I don't really know,
1:01:11 > 1:01:13because you're doing much easier stuff.
1:01:13 > 1:01:16So, to...from my perspective - I don't mean to be rude or anything -
1:01:16 > 1:01:19- but from my perspective, it's looking like you're really stupid.- Yeah.
1:01:19 > 1:01:22- But that's only because I am so much...- Cos you're doing...
1:01:22 > 1:01:24- ..I am so much further advanced. - ..the higher...- Papers...
1:01:24 > 1:01:26- Yeah.- ..and stuff.
1:01:26 > 1:01:28- You're doing basic algebra.- Yeah.
1:01:28 > 1:01:31I am doing simultaneous and quadratic equations.
1:01:31 > 1:01:34AMBIENT ELECTRONIC MUSIC
1:01:38 > 1:01:41- DAD:- I wanted to ask you how the exam went.
1:01:43 > 1:01:46Tell him, Christopher. Please.
1:01:51 > 1:01:53I don't know if I got all the questions right,
1:01:53 > 1:01:55because I was very tired and I hadn't eaten
1:01:55 > 1:01:57and I couldn't think properly.
1:02:05 > 1:02:06Thank you.
1:02:09 > 1:02:11- What for?- Just...
1:02:12 > 1:02:14Thank you.
1:02:14 > 1:02:17I'm very proud of you, Christopher.
1:02:17 > 1:02:22Very proud. I'm sure you did really well.
1:02:22 > 1:02:24DOORBELL
1:02:29 > 1:02:31All right, Alex, come on in.
1:02:32 > 1:02:35So, yeah, if you sit there, that's great.
1:02:35 > 1:02:37DOOR SHUTS I'll come and sit next to you.
1:02:39 > 1:02:41I wanted to ask you... You've seen the play?
1:02:41 > 1:02:43I have seen the play.
1:02:43 > 1:02:46And I wondered whether you identified with any aspect
1:02:46 > 1:02:48of Christopher's experiences?
1:02:48 > 1:02:52For example, he loved maths, and that he was talented at maths.
1:02:52 > 1:02:55Can you say something a bit about, you know, your...?
1:02:55 > 1:02:58- It was something of a sanctuary with me for school, actually.- Right.
1:02:58 > 1:03:01And what is it about numbers for you?
1:03:01 > 1:03:02Well, it isn't numbers for me.
1:03:02 > 1:03:04I mean, I'm not good at mental arithmetic.
1:03:04 > 1:03:08I think, for me, it's algebraic structure.
1:03:08 > 1:03:13- And certain proofs can appear beautiful to me.- Yeah.
1:03:13 > 1:03:16And I... I've done supervisions at Cambridge,
1:03:16 > 1:03:18and this came up one time.
1:03:18 > 1:03:21And I was proving some theorem,
1:03:21 > 1:03:25I mean, a standard proof for the student.
1:03:25 > 1:03:28And I was sort of getting enthusiastic,
1:03:28 > 1:03:31and... Because it does look really beautiful to me.
1:03:31 > 1:03:33And the student said, "I don't think I can appreciate it
1:03:33 > 1:03:35"the way you do."
1:03:42 > 1:03:44How are you getting on with your father?
1:03:44 > 1:03:48He brought me a book which is called Further Maths For A-Level.
1:03:48 > 1:03:51He told Mrs Gascoyne I was going to take Further Maths next year.
1:03:51 > 1:03:53She said, "OK."
1:03:53 > 1:03:55THEY LAUGH
1:03:55 > 1:03:57I'm going to pass it and get an A*,
1:03:57 > 1:04:00and then in two years' time, I'll take A-level Physics and get an A*.
1:04:00 > 1:04:03And then I'll go to university in another town and...
1:04:03 > 1:04:06It doesn't have to be in London, because...I don't like London.
1:04:06 > 1:04:10And I can have my own flat with a garden and a proper toilet.
1:04:10 > 1:04:13And I can take Sandy and my books and my computer.
1:04:13 > 1:04:16And then I will get a First Class Honours Degree,
1:04:16 > 1:04:18and then I will be a scientist.
1:04:27 > 1:04:30What has the experience been like? Have you enjoyed the PhD?
1:04:30 > 1:04:33Er, yes and no.
1:04:33 > 1:04:37I think that there's been a lot of challenges along the way.
1:04:37 > 1:04:40I feel privileged to have been given that opportunity.
1:04:40 > 1:04:43Did you have any success in...?
1:04:43 > 1:04:46Well, I've never published any papers, so the answer, I guess, is no.
1:04:46 > 1:04:50- Um...- But...- I have submitted my thesis, so I got through it somehow.
1:04:50 > 1:04:53Will you try and publish parts of your thesis?
1:04:53 > 1:04:57Well, if-if I am given the help and encouragement.
1:04:57 > 1:05:01If I'm left to my own devices, nothing is going to happen.
1:05:01 > 1:05:04- Because?- Because I wouldn't know what to do.
1:05:04 > 1:05:07I wouldn't know the first thing about it.
1:05:07 > 1:05:08It would be like...
1:05:08 > 1:05:11Well, like Christopher at Paddington or wherever he is.
1:05:11 > 1:05:13- Just...- Right.- And even not that.
1:05:13 > 1:05:15Because at least when he's at Paddington he knows...
1:05:15 > 1:05:19He has some objective. He has... He has a battle to fight, whereas...
1:05:19 > 1:05:22- Sure.- ..for me it would be...
1:05:22 > 1:05:25- I'd just drift. I'd just drift away.- OK.
1:05:25 > 1:05:29But what about your life as a student in Cambridge?
1:05:29 > 1:05:33Um, well, socialising has been very challenging.
1:05:33 > 1:05:35I just feel out of place.
1:05:35 > 1:05:38- And I feel alienated.- Hm.
1:05:38 > 1:05:40And I do sometimes think that there's -
1:05:40 > 1:05:44I mean, it'll sound perhaps self-pitying to say this,
1:05:44 > 1:05:46but it's how I sometimes feel -
1:05:46 > 1:05:50that there's not really a place for me in this society.
1:05:50 > 1:05:51Yeah.
1:05:51 > 1:05:54So it's not because I want to be like that,
1:05:54 > 1:05:57it's not because I want to live only in the immediate present.
1:05:57 > 1:06:00It's because I think I'm struggling as best I can
1:06:00 > 1:06:02- and that's where I find myself. - Yeah.
1:06:02 > 1:06:05Again, maybe paradoxically,
1:06:05 > 1:06:07getting the diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome...
1:06:07 > 1:06:11- It may help.- It may help, because it puts you into a community.
1:06:11 > 1:06:14Very much so. I've already experienced a little bit of that.
1:06:14 > 1:06:18Yeah. And that although you've had your own unique history,
1:06:18 > 1:06:23you know, the feelings that you're describing of being
1:06:23 > 1:06:27something of an outsider to society
1:06:27 > 1:06:30is something that most people with Asperger's describe,
1:06:30 > 1:06:32and that actually meeting other people
1:06:32 > 1:06:33who've got that same sense,
1:06:33 > 1:06:36it might actually allow you to connect.
1:06:36 > 1:06:38- Well, it's already helped.- Good.
1:06:38 > 1:06:40- I mean, I think... It gives me hope...- Yeah.
1:06:40 > 1:06:42..I think is the way to put it.
1:06:45 > 1:06:47You want to go to university?
1:06:47 > 1:06:49- JAMES:- Yeah. - What do you want to do?
1:06:49 > 1:06:52I'm... I'm hoping to go to Oxford...
1:06:54 > 1:06:59..to... probably to do Spanish, maths and...
1:06:59 > 1:07:00um...
1:07:00 > 1:07:04something I'm not entirely sure if it exists. But...
1:07:04 > 1:07:08- What?- I know. I think lots of things that don't really exist.
1:07:08 > 1:07:10Like, editing or something.
1:07:10 > 1:07:14- THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER - The decisions of English language.
1:07:14 > 1:07:16James is a real pedant.
1:07:16 > 1:07:22He can spot, like, a mistake in, like, a teacher's slide show.
1:07:22 > 1:07:26If you go to Oxford, what would you want to do after that, do you think?
1:07:26 > 1:07:28- Get a job, probably.- Doing what?
1:07:28 > 1:07:32I want to be either a spy or an editor.
1:07:32 > 1:07:36- I know!- Two...- Very different jobs. - Very different...- Exactly.
1:07:36 > 1:07:38- ..ends of the spectrum. - One is the fallback.
1:07:38 > 1:07:40But then I can't work out which one is going to be the fallback.
1:07:42 > 1:07:45INDISTINCT CHATTER
1:07:46 > 1:07:50- Have you ever seen Gravity? - I have.- Is it any good?
1:07:50 > 1:07:51It's excellent.
1:07:51 > 1:07:53I've heard it's basically won acclaim for its visual effects
1:07:53 > 1:07:57and the performances and the special effects, the music.
1:07:57 > 1:07:59- So go and see it. It's really good.- Really?
1:08:03 > 1:08:06- You've got quite high-achieving kids here, some of them.- I have.
1:08:06 > 1:08:09So, kids who are taking exams...
1:08:09 > 1:08:12Do you think they might go on to have careers of some kind,
1:08:12 > 1:08:15- or might go to college?- I think we can find a career for all of them.
1:08:15 > 1:08:17We just have to find the right career.
1:08:19 > 1:08:23For some of them, it will be a less sociable career.
1:08:23 > 1:08:26That doesn't mean they won't contribute and give their 100%.
1:08:26 > 1:08:28I mean, particularly for our students,
1:08:28 > 1:08:30when they're motivated by something,
1:08:30 > 1:08:32they're really motivated by something.
1:08:32 > 1:08:35So they usually do an incredibly thorough job.
1:08:43 > 1:08:45- CHRISTOPHER:- And I can have my own flat with a garden
1:08:45 > 1:08:46and a proper toilet.
1:08:46 > 1:08:49And I can take Sandy and my books and my computer.
1:08:49 > 1:08:52And then I'll get a First Class Honours Degree
1:08:52 > 1:08:54and then I will be a scientist.
1:08:56 > 1:08:59- I can do these things.- I hope so.
1:09:01 > 1:09:03So now what are your ambitions, do you think?
1:09:03 > 1:09:06Do you want to be an actor? Do you want...? What sort of thing...?
1:09:06 > 1:09:07I want to be a performer. I do.
1:09:07 > 1:09:10- Would you like to live on your own, for instance?- Of course.
1:09:10 > 1:09:12And my mum...
1:09:12 > 1:09:14You'd love me to live on my own!
1:09:14 > 1:09:16But that's the trouble. You see, it's hard for people
1:09:16 > 1:09:18with learning difficulties to live...
1:09:18 > 1:09:21to live independent lives.
1:09:21 > 1:09:24I find it hard to kind of understand about
1:09:24 > 1:09:26how to pay, when...
1:09:26 > 1:09:28Basically, problems with money.
1:09:28 > 1:09:30And also, you know,
1:09:30 > 1:09:33I need to seriously get better at cooking if I want to live on my own.
1:09:33 > 1:09:34Seriously.
1:09:34 > 1:09:37You have a bit of trouble sort of focusing on tasks.
1:09:37 > 1:09:41Oh, yes. I do, I do. Cos I've got all kinds of rubbish
1:09:41 > 1:09:44- flowing through my mind. - You want to talk all the time.
1:09:44 > 1:09:47I want to talk about some really...some pretty dark stuff
1:09:47 > 1:09:49- and it's not very... - Sometimes you need to, you know,
1:09:49 > 1:09:51if you're going to cook,
1:09:51 > 1:09:53you need to focus on what you're doing. You really need to...
1:09:53 > 1:09:55Talking about the kind of stuff
1:09:55 > 1:09:59that most people would not dream of talking to their mum. Yeah.
1:09:59 > 1:10:03But it's all about being alienated, really, at the end of the day.
1:10:03 > 1:10:05How do you mean?
1:10:05 > 1:10:08Oh... Um, just seeing other people
1:10:08 > 1:10:11with nice, normal lives, living independently,
1:10:11 > 1:10:14and getting really angry cos I'm not having that.
1:10:14 > 1:10:18Seeing other people have nice, romantic relationships,
1:10:18 > 1:10:21and me struggling to have one. Me, basically, not having one.
1:10:21 > 1:10:25That's one thing that makes me angry. Yeah.
1:10:29 > 1:10:32- CHRISTOPHER: - I can do these things. I can.
1:10:32 > 1:10:35Cos I went to London on my own.
1:10:35 > 1:10:37And I found my mother.
1:10:37 > 1:10:39I was brave.
1:10:39 > 1:10:41- SIOBHAN:- You were.
1:10:41 > 1:10:44- And I wrote a book. - I know. I read it.
1:10:45 > 1:10:48We turned it into a play.
1:10:48 > 1:10:49Yes.
1:10:51 > 1:10:54Does that mean I can do anything, do you think?
1:10:57 > 1:11:00- EXCITEDLY:- Does that mean I can do anything, Siobhan?
1:11:02 > 1:11:04- SOBERLY:- Does that mean I can do anything, Siobhan?
1:11:06 > 1:11:08Does that mean I can do anything?
1:11:14 > 1:11:18'Christopher is so brave. He's incredibly intelligent
1:11:18 > 1:11:21'and really resourceful, and highly instinctive,
1:11:21 > 1:11:23'and he does all these extraordinary things,'
1:11:23 > 1:11:26and he gets to the bottom of...
1:11:26 > 1:11:29the lies that have been spun around him for his own protection.
1:11:31 > 1:11:35And yet when he says at the end, "I can do anything, can't I,
1:11:35 > 1:11:38"cos I did this?" and, "Wasn't that brilliant that I did this?"
1:11:38 > 1:11:41you know that, actually, he can't do anything.
1:11:41 > 1:11:44And the piece has shown you quite clearly that
1:11:44 > 1:11:48he can get himself in quite serious scrapes just on one encounter
1:11:48 > 1:11:51with one person, and it all goes horribly wrong.
1:12:13 > 1:12:16- Is this your first play on Broadway?- Yeah.
1:12:16 > 1:12:17How does that feel?
1:12:17 > 1:12:19Broadway can be savage.
1:12:19 > 1:12:23There are apocryphal stories of plays closing within 48 hours,
1:12:23 > 1:12:27and you just don't know, you just don't know.
1:12:27 > 1:12:31But I kind of love that element of risk.
1:12:31 > 1:12:35If I'm really honest, I think that is kind of exciting.
1:12:35 > 1:12:37- PA SYSTEM: - 'Good evening, everybody.'
1:12:37 > 1:12:39- Hello.- Hello.- Hello.
1:12:39 > 1:12:42How's it been going?
1:12:42 > 1:12:43Good. Really good.
1:12:45 > 1:12:49This is the last push. Get through this, get through the gala...
1:12:49 > 1:12:52- Yeah.- ..and life will be a bit more normal.- Yeah.
1:12:52 > 1:12:54- How are you guys?- Fine.
1:12:54 > 1:12:58- Welcome back.- Thank you very much. - Nice to see you. I'll see you soon.
1:13:02 > 1:13:05Does that mean I can do anything, Siobhan?
1:13:09 > 1:13:12Does that mean I can do anything, Siobhan?
1:13:16 > 1:13:19Does that mean I can do anything?
1:13:35 > 1:13:40- ALEX SHARP:- This play is about a young person who is different
1:13:40 > 1:13:43and who is misunderstood,
1:13:43 > 1:13:45and I just want to dedicate this
1:13:45 > 1:13:47to any young person out there
1:13:47 > 1:13:50who feels misunderstood, or who feels different
1:13:50 > 1:13:53and answer that question at the end of the play for you.
1:13:53 > 1:13:57"Does that mean that I can do anything?" Yes, it does.
1:13:58 > 1:14:04# Somewhere over the rainbow
1:14:06 > 1:14:09# Way up high
1:14:09 > 1:14:15# And the dreams that you dream of
1:14:15 > 1:14:23# Once in a lullaby...by...
1:14:23 > 1:14:28# Somewhere over the rainbow
1:14:30 > 1:14:32# Bluebirds... #
1:14:32 > 1:14:34I think one of the reasons why quite a lot of people
1:14:34 > 1:14:38empathise with Christopher is because they share
1:14:38 > 1:14:40one or more parts of his character,
1:14:40 > 1:14:42although in a large part they're not like him at all.
1:14:42 > 1:14:47And I think that's because nearly all the individual aspects
1:14:47 > 1:14:51of his character, of his behaviour, his beliefs, his principles,
1:14:51 > 1:14:56I have shamelessly stolen from people I know or people I've met.
1:14:56 > 1:15:00He's not that different from everyone else.
1:15:00 > 1:15:04I always say that choose any other human being
1:15:04 > 1:15:07at random in the world
1:15:07 > 1:15:11and you will have 99% of your humanity in common with them.
1:15:11 > 1:15:17# ..Over the rainbow
1:15:17 > 1:15:20# Bluebirds fly
1:15:20 > 1:15:25# And the dreams that you dare to
1:15:25 > 1:15:30# Oh, why, oh, why can't I? #
1:15:30 > 1:15:33I think that Christopher potentially
1:15:33 > 1:15:35could have a really exciting life.
1:15:35 > 1:15:37And certainly at the end when he shows how he worked out
1:15:37 > 1:15:39his maths formula,
1:15:39 > 1:15:44he looks so happy that he is sharing what's so important to him.
1:15:46 > 1:15:48And it's nice from the audience perspective to think,
1:15:48 > 1:15:52"Well, maybe the neuro-typical people, non-autistic people,
1:15:52 > 1:15:53"are going to understand now
1:15:53 > 1:15:57"why things are so important to people on the autistic spectrum."
1:15:57 > 1:16:00And rather than sort of mock people, which sometimes happens,
1:16:00 > 1:16:03and bully people, actually, they've got something to offer in the world.
1:16:03 > 1:16:05And I think that, you know, at the end
1:16:05 > 1:16:09when Christopher says that he can do anything, I think that really...
1:16:09 > 1:16:12I think that sums it up really well, because he could do anything.
1:16:12 > 1:16:15And it's just about the people around him supporting him.
1:16:15 > 1:16:17# ..Find me...
1:16:17 > 1:16:22# Somewhere over the rainbow
1:16:24 > 1:16:27# Bluebirds fly
1:16:27 > 1:16:33# And the dreams that you dream of
1:16:33 > 1:16:41# Oh, why, oh, why can't I...I...?
1:16:42 > 1:16:48# Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
1:16:48 > 1:16:50# Ooh
1:16:51 > 1:16:55# Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh... #