The Growing Pains of a Teenage Genius

Cameron Thompson is 13 and he's been a maths genius for as long as he can remember.

100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%...

I can't be bothered saying the rest. There's too many!

At age ten, he sat an online maths test.

141 out of 140, I broke the system. I think I did well(!)

At 11, he rattled through two GCSEs in maths and additional maths.

On regular maths - A star, A star!

Additional maths, which was for the very talented year 11s, A star, A star!

And that same year he passed his A-level with flying colours.

Yes, did it, and aced it. Ace!

But his passion for maths has meant other normal childhood pursuits have taken a backseat,

and being brilliant at maths has become his entire identity.

It made me feel really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really glad

to know there was something I was good at

because I wasn't sure what my life's calling was then.

But now, for the first time, he's no longer getting 100%.

He's in the middle of an Open University degree and he's struggling.

I don't want to do it.

And he's just been told he's got Asperger's syndrome.

Oh, seems like an explanation for the fact I'm such a loser.

Everyone wants Cameron to be happy.

Most people my age do despise me.

I've been like this for years. I'm used to being ignored.

But with a new house and a new school to deal with,

just as he's hitting his teenage years, the burning question is how?

I have the social ability of a talking potato.

These are the growing pains of a teenage genius.

Wrong corridor.

Cameron lives in Wrexham in North Wales, in the suburb of Acton.

-Dalek.

-Yes?

-Speak.

-My vision is impaired, I cannot see.

-Wrong one!

Do what the manual says you should, lazy thing.

Dalek, obey me.

Does not compute.

He lives with his parents and his two younger sisters -

ten-year-old Beth, and Emma, 11.

Cameron, he's really good at maths but not some other subjects

and I'm good at the other subjects.

What subjects are you good at?

Art...

and Cameron hates art.

I despise art in all its entity. I'm bad at it and it's illogical.

What's the actual meaning in art? What actually backs art up? Hmm?

Not best balance in these boots.

His mum, Alison, teaches karate

and runs a karate academy with dad, Rod.

They met 17 years ago, back home in Ireland.

And although Rod is a computer scientist,

for some years now, Cameron's maths has been way beyond him.

-What's an ellipseid?

-Ellipsoid.

But, as Cameron gets further into his degree,

he's finding the maths harder, and his grades are slipping.

He's got a 76 for the first one and a 72 for the second one.

In per cent, that's actually kind of low for me.

Because you're expected to explain things and you're not doing it.

-I'm trying!

-I know that.

Cameron's mum and dad suspect his problem with explaining things

is linked to his Asperger's syndrome...

..a type of autism that can occasionally combine great mental prowess with communication problems.

Shut up, you little sound machine.

Cameron sees these quadratic equations and things

I don't even know the names for,

and he just sees the answer at the end.

His main problem is giving logical reasons, steps for why that's the answer

because sometimes I don't think he even necessarily knows. It just IS.

Plenty of people with Asperger's are very intelligent,

high achievers, people like Einstein and Newton.

They were supposed Asperger's.

-My legs hurt. Crack, snap, crack.

-Come on!

Cameron's recent low grades in his maths degree have been worrying him

and his mum and dad want to help.

Does this look like Venice?

His mum, Alison, has brought him to Trinity College, Cambridge.

-Is he travelling sideways?

-Yes, he appears to be. I don't know if that's intentional or not.

Academic.

I'm very excited and it looks a bit tall.

This is where many of the brilliant maths kids go to university

and Cameron is meeting eminent maths fellow, Professor Imre Leader.

-I'm planning for a degree at 16.

-Have you started?

Yes, I've already got a certificate of mathematics.

Professor Leader will be assessing Cameron as he would any prospective Cambridge entrant.

He wants to see how Cameron thinks.

-Right, so you've been doing some Open University stuff?

-Yes.

How much have you been doing? An hour a day, or just at the weekend?

-Er, more than an hour a day.

-All right, I'll ask you a question.

So, you've got a row of coins, lots of coins, 1,000 coins.

-They're all heads up.

-OK.

-From one, two, up to 1,000.

And...I go along and every second coin I turn over.

-So the second, the fourth, the sixth, I turn them all over back to tails.

-Yes.

Then, I take every third coin, so coins number three, six, nine and so on

and I turn them all over.

-So I guess coin number six is now back to being heads.

-Yes.

And so on and so on and so on,

until eventually I turn over every 1000th coin, ie, the last coin.

Here's the question which coins are heads up?

-The prime numbers.

-Why is that?

Because they aren't multiples of anything else other than themselves and, well, one.

-So the ones turned to heads...

-The heads up will be the non-primes?

Non-primes?

-Or will they?

-Or will they?

-Let's see.

All of them would be definitely tails down.

Hmmm.

We ask them questions which aren't standard,

they're not rote questions, they can't be taught for.

We see how they cope with the questions.

Thinking questions,

not boring A-level-type rubbish rote questions.

We ask thinking questions and see how they cope.

This is getting complicated. The square numbers?

Why the square numbers?

Because they'll be turned on to tails

when they get done by their single factor

and then, when they reach themselves, they'll be turned up again.

Some people who are fabulous at doing the A-level stuff

but can't think at all so they'll be hopeless for Cambridge.

Other people, who are a bit sloppy at A-levels, but my goodness they can really think.

-Where did Cameron fall into that?

-He's definitely a thinker.

-Do it yourself then?

-Yes.

-Made you think?

-Yes.

-Yes.

Did you give him a longer answer than yes?

No! THEY LAUGH

He clearly is a bright, lovely, and a thinking kid,

but he's so young that it's very important he develops the thinking way

and he mustn't just do more and more courses.

He needs to get some enrichment going.

But Cameron is used to proof of how clever he is.

Certificates and full marks on everything.

On this assignment - 100%, 100%, 95%...

Slowing down his academic achievements isn't part of his plan.

It's Cameron, not his parents, that drives this ambition to succeed.

What happens, according to you,

if you don't get 100% in one of your maths assignments?

-Err...In short I end up as a hillbill?

-In long?

Er...I end up failing the degree, I end up going for an easy job,

I end up getting depressed because the easy job is too easy,

I end up losing every job I get, I end up eating out of bins.

-Fair enough.

-I've gone out of that, and that's if I get below 70%.

-OK, fair enough. Off you go.

-I'm still not happy about anything below 80.

As well as stressing about his grades,

Cameron has a new pressure to contend with.

The family have just been told they've got to move.

We've lived here for about two years, but our lease has ended, the landlord wants us to go.

So we've picked a new house, we got the stuff out of the space,

and we have to find somewhere to put it.

Mum and Dad are keen collectors and throw nothing away.

They're moving quickly, as change is unsettling for kids with autism,

and Cameron's younger sister Emma is also on the autistic spectrum,

but in a very different way to her brother.

Emma doesn't speak and has learning difficulties.

She seems to be smarter than some people think.

She's better than me at swimming,

and she's almost better than me at swings.

There's three kids, three parts of the education system -

one primary, one high school and university, and one special school.

You just deal with it and work it out.

Dad's found a house five miles away in the rural village of Rossett.

Why, you little...!

I don't like walking backwards

up a set of stairs that I'm not even completely used to.

Let's see. Bed, cabinet, other bed, shelves.

I think the chest of drawers might be going there.

Erm, desk.

That chest of drawers. Er, wardrobe, if I'm right.

He never likes moving house, I mean nobody does,

but I think it sort of accentuates, slightly, his extremes.

I can't take much more of this, I'm exhausted.

Despite the stress, the move could have an upside.

New friends, new house, a nice park.

New places...

We still have the shop next to us, and it's going to be a completely fresh start.

But a fresh start for Cameron isn't so straightforward.

A characteristic of Asperger's is a difficulty making friends.

I've got three main friends at school

and one friend outside of school that I've kept for ages.

The one outside of school, I rarely see him face-to-face, haven't for over a year,

but still keep in contact through World of Warcraft and Facebook.

Cameron wants to make friends in the real world.

A new neighbourhood could mean new friends.

That's close enough to a ball swing.

I'm Cameron Thompson, "Sir Maths".

I'm kind of a maths genius, I'm doing a degree in maths.

-I've already done maths GCSEs, two of them, and maths A-level.

-Nice.

And my certificate of mathematics was a distinction.

I'll have a degree when I'm 16.

Sometimes tact, I think it kind of goes right over his head.

-He's got no tact?

-Often, no.

Or you could have 3.5789 x 10 to the 20.

You can't go beyond 10 to the 99.

-Naive would be the best word for it.

-That's quite sweet, isn't it?

It is, and he's a brilliant kid.

He couldn't do enough for anybody.

Let's see, we've got two Sky plus HD boxes, a Sky plus box

and two Sky regular boxes, and we have a 50-inch TV in the living room.

-Our old house had a Jacuzzi in it and five bedrooms.

-Nice.

At the same time as sometimes he's oblivious, he's also very sensitive as well.

Do you know what age you are?

-Reading age? 16 plus.

-Mine's 12.

-Pardon?

-I'm not joking.

BOYS LAUGH

-See you, got to go.

-See you.

-Seem like nice guys.

-Next morning, it's back to school after a few days off to move house.

-Cameron! Up you get!

-Time to get up!

-Cameron's sisters both have schools to go to,

but Rod's decided Cameron should go to a new one.

Right, OK, where are we now?

Today, today, today... What will we do today?

Unhappy at his old school, this could give Cameron the chance to establish a whole new social life.

Point the tap at the basin.

Head! You're being so patient, yes you are.

It gives me a chance to start again.

I could work my way up the social ladder instead of just staying at the bottom.

If I can make it to the middle, I'm less likely to be bullied there.

Certainly not physically.

You can't go to school without shoes.

Or car keys.

Until Rod and Alison find him a new school,

Cameron will be working on his maths degree at home.

His needs are very unique and that's the issue that we have.

Cameron is 13. He did two of his GCSEs when he was 11, he did his AS-level at 12,

his A-level at 12, a university certificate of maths at 13.

He's got "Cert Maths" after his name and he's well on his way to doing his honours degree at the minute.

What we're looking for in a school isn't probably what people are normally looking for.

I think he'll succeed academically wherever he is because he clearly is very gifted.

We need to give him a good balance, we need to cater for his emotional needs and his social needs,

and really sort of develop a broad range of skills.

Quite where we go when he hits GCSE year

and he turns up with an honours degree is a strange one, but, erm...

So far, none of the local schools feel they have the resources to cope with a maths genius.

The start of the...

In the meantime, Cameron is left to his own devices to get on with his degree.

But it's becoming a struggle, and Cameron is confused as to why.

-So just explain it to me.

-Basically, hold a piece of paper a distance from the light bulb,

move the distance until the spot of oil looks the same - what is it?

See, that's the problem. I don't know how to explain it.

I just don't see how another person thinks.

I don't see how they can't understand something

when I've explained it in my own way.

Apparently a symptom of Asperger's is not twigging to social cues

or not understanding how other people think, that kind of thing.

Alison Thompson. Thank you.

Cameron's parents are up early trying to find a school.

My husband left a message for him and he was told the headmaster would call him back.

I'd like to meet him today.

We were looking for ideally to meet him today, if that's at all possible.

They're snowed under because it's the first day back.

A letter arrives from a school to which Cameron's parents have applied for a place.

Keep still!

So "changing schools is a major upheaval..." You don't say!

So is moving house!

Yeah, nobody bans you from doing that.

"We'll not be able to offer any more than the main, don't have many resources,

"or as many resources... You should you remain where you are."

They gave a letter basically saying they don't want me.

Their loss!

This is what it's like, you know.

Everybody has got their own little job.

If you don't fit nicely into their little box, you get bounced around.

Nobody quite knows what anybody else is up to.

But, you know, you talk to the right people, you usually get somewhere.

Keep trying to wait for people to ring us back and everybody is busy

so nobody ever does, and you can't get anybody to answer the phone.

If you get through one level of voicemail, you hit the next one.

So yes, we're being very busy waiting for other people to hurry up and do something!

The past few days have been tough for Cameron.

I felt sick this morning.

-OK?

-Yes.

-Why are you panicking?

I'm stressed about moving, still constantly, despite the fact of how we're doing.

-We're doing OK.

-I know. I'm still stressed.

-Night, monkeys.

-Night.

Alison receives a call. There's a school nearby that might have a place.

-We're going to go to the school, yes?

-Yes.

-Are you looking forward to it?

-Yes.

-Looking round the new place.

-Yes.

-We'll see what you think, we'll see what we think, and we'll see what they think of us.

-Yes.

-Next morning...

-Hoodie boy, gone.

-How could you?

-We're looking for smart, but casual.

-We're looking for gifted, not weird.

-Why not both?

-What shoes are you wearing?

The only pair that fit.

-We need to get there two minutes ago!

-All right!

-Have we got the address programmed in?

-Let Dad drive, he can make it there two minutes ago.

Darland School seems like a perfect fit.

Woah, this corridor's...

Not only is it nearby, it also has a centre that specialises

in looking after kids who are on the autistic spectrum.

-All I can say to you is...

-That's neat.

The centre is run by Mrs Moore.

Hand-in-hand with that fantastic brain of yours,

you need to be able to deal with these quirky things called human beings.

What we could offer you is a chance to learn how to make friends.

-That's a good thing to do, isn't it?

-The how to make friends, I need.

Usually I end up with a group of three of them.

Darland seems like a very good school for me.

She said about helping me with my social skills.

I'll be among other kids with Asperger's, on the same course.

And that sounds like it will be helpful.

TELEPHONE RINGS

-Hello?

-The following day...

-Oh, brilliant!

-Cameron's got a place at Darland.

-He's getting the fresh start he's been looking for.

-Hello.

School's going to be fun today.

Hopefully I'll make a decent first impression.

I want to start by getting a decent amount of friends,

unlike normal. But, what you going to do?

Right, come on.

-Sorry, no new shoes!

-Seriously?

How do you feel about your new school?

This is going to be epic! Epic!

I'd better not hold hands with you, had I?

He goes off, and he's so full of hope, and this is going to be great.

-He goes off so bouncy.

-I took Mum's fashion advice top button undone.

It isn't nice to see it when he gets knocked down and I just hope that it's going to...

I mean, life isn't a bowl of cherries, as my dad always said!

And it doesn't work out.

Do you want to sit there, then you're in your space.

-OK, and I'm just visiting you.

-Cameron gets his new uniform.

And in the centre, he gets his own area, which will be his for the rest of the year.

They've got a desk for him and they got all the other kids

-to put welcome notes all round his desk.

-Aw, that's lovely!

We'll leave him to get on with it and not be embarrassing parents, hanging around on him.

We're going to start off with art. What are your artistic skills like?

Can you draw? Can you paint?

-Are you creative?

-No, no, no, and no.

Instead of being taught maths by the school,

Cameron will work on his degree within the safety of the unit,

where kids on the autistic spectrum find refuge from the playground.

-Maths, I'll be coming here?

-That's right.

-You're here on your OU stuff. I think you'll enjoy it.

-I'm interested in history.

I've noticed how history seems to repeat itself all the time.

Like Hitler, going into Russia near the winter.

Like he didn't learn from Napoleon.

That's right, he should have learnt his lesson. But they never do.

History's constantly repeating itself and we constantly go to war.

The only difference every time is more advanced technology.

Before the other pupils arrive,

Mrs Moore wants to show Cameron around the school to settle him in.

Usually, you are only allowed to go up these stairs.

What's going to change, when you're with your form class?

-It's probably going to get a bit noisier.

-A bit noisier, spot on.

-I can just imagine the sound of clicking.

-Clicking!

"OK, students, now go to this website." Click, click...

-What do you think the other noise could be?

-Talking.

"I don't understand this, I'm stuck."

People who aren't quite as good as you.

-Are you going to be able to cope with that?

-Yes.

-Good. Well done.

I do feel cleverer than other people a lot of the time.

What's it like living with that? I don't know what that's like.

It's just awkward. I try to just be me.

The thing is, you see, from my point of view as your teacher,

it's you being you, but it's you being you with people around you.

I'd like to think that you could go to the cinema, or the theatre,

or walk down a street and feel OK. I mean, do you go into town on your own?

Actually, no. I don't meet my friends in person, besides school.

Right, so school's got to... you've got to really try

and get that skill level up.

-Yes.

-OK. And that's a lovely smile. Right, come on, let's go.

I can just imagine, teacher says, "Do not press this button."

Next thing, half the computer explodes.

You have such understanding, young man.

Mrs Moore wants Cameron to meet Tim,

another pupil with Asperger's with whom she thinks he'll get along.

Do you want to sit there? Sometimes you're allowed to sit there at break, aren't you?

Tim is teaching Cameron the laws of the playground.

Nothing in this direction.

There's a bus park where Year 11s and idiots hang out.

Near to that, there's the sports hall.

And then there's a load of grass. Grass, grass, grass. A field.

Then the tennis courts, which is the Year 10 yard.

The hard part's on the yard because...

-CAMERON SNEEZES

-Oh, are you OK?

-Sunlight makes me sneeze.

-Mm.

As I've said, there are quite a few idiots.

I mean, half the girls have no standards.

I mean, they're all obsessed with Bieber.

No wonder I can't get a girlfriend cos of that Bieber.

I mean, they listen to Bieber.

-Who in their right mind listens to Bieber?

-I know.

If nobody listened to Bieber, he'd die of...

The funny thing is, my little brother listens to Bieber.

He's obsessed with that, # Baby, baby, baby, oh... #

-Kill him.

-I want to.

-Kill Bieber!

-Exactly.

CAMERON MAKES SOUND EFFECTS

-What are you doing?

-Grenading.

-What are you doing?

-Sound effects.

HE MAKES SOUND EFFECTS

-Have you seen Bieber gets hit by a bottle?

-Oh, yeah, that was funny.

-Oh, there's... Ha. Oh.

-He deserved it.

-Exactly!

He's torturing us with his music.

We'll probably be good friends for quite a while.

Yeah, I've managed to keep a previous friend for like four-ish years.

Is it windy outside?

It's amazing to have a new friend, because he's funny.

He gets a gun out and every time he hears the word "Bieber",

he goes, "Kill Bieber!"

And then he also, as I mentioned, he likes the same computer games as me.

Go on the internet, multiplayer stuff,

and then you've got loads of people.

The main thing that keeps us together is we both agree Bieber is an idiot.

Unfortunately, they've found...

I've never met anybody like Cameron Thompson before.

He's a very delightful, interesting young man.

He's going to give us lots of challenges,

because obviously we're operating a normal system here,

but I think he's got a place. And at least he's got a friend.

Cameron has survived his first day at his new school.

Oi, Cam. We'll have to put you on the rack and stretch you.

-How was it?

-Good. Awesome.

I met a cool kid called Timothy.

I call him Tim. He plays Command & Conquer games.

But while the academic day is over for the other 13-year-olds,

Cameron has constant deadlines for his degree.

Cameron, I'm not doing it for you.

On his last assignment, his explanations weren't clear

and his marks suffered.

It doesn't read nicely.

So is that the value you obtained

or is that the luminosity of the sun?

-The value that I obtained.

-It's not that clear.

-Keep going.

-No, I think that works fine.

-That's abstract.

-That's fine!

Move on, write the next bit.

Mmm. Mmm.

I'm not sure.

It's a problem now affecting all of his work.

He's panicking.

-How is he?

-Completely freaking out at the minute.

He had an Open University assignment that was due to go in today

and all the answers are there, but none of the explanations.

He hasn't followed the structure of it.

And Alison normally does a final check on them and we said,

"But how does that happen?

"You haven't said why, you haven't said how. You haven't said anything."

He said, "But it just does."

He dissolved into tears. Now he's completely panicking.

Why are you so panicked, Cameron?

It's got to be sent in today and I don't know how to explain it.

I need to make this first section count for 100 words

and I've still got six more words to go

and I can't think of anything to use.

OK, Cameron, all you need to do is break it down, yeah?

Don't panic about huge big blocks of it. It's in your head, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Right, so out of there, onto there.

-OK.

Cam, calm down. Cam...

-Calm down.

-CAM SOBS

-Do you feel sick?

-Yes.

-Stop.

Come on, take a break.

Breathe out. Beth, toilet roll, hon.

Breathe in...and out. Come on.

-Slowly.

-Cameron, I know this is important to you.

-Yeah...

But do you really think it's that important?

Do you think it's worth getting upset about?

-I really want to do it.

-It's OK.

-Slow it down.

-Cameron, you don't have to do any of this.

Shh.

-How much sleep did you get last night?

-Not much.

-I couldn't get to sleep, I was worrying.

-Oh, Cameron.

Cameron.

-Do you know what happened to Daddy a few weeks ago?

-What?

I had to do something for work, yes? It was really, really important

-and do you not remember Daddy sitting upstairs getting completely stressed out about it?

-No.

And I did it and I was really, really, late. Yeah?

When I was stressed...

HE CRIES

-Shh... When I went back and looked at it...Cameron.

-Yeah.

It wasn't very good but when I left it and came back to it,

-I did a really, really good job in about half the time.

-Yeah.

How about World of Warcraft or Call Of Duty?

Can I finish off the abstract first?

That's worrying me a bit if it isn't done.

-OK, you can finish off the abstract but, if you start crying, you're not allowed to.

-OK.

Because if it upsets you, there's no point in doing it.

Even if you don't get it in tomorrow,

you don't pass this course, what does that really mean?

-I have to admit, I am 13.

-Exactly.

What does it mean?

-Drop the course and try again, or something?

-OK.

So what's the worst, worst, worst that can happen?

Not much.

-My head explodes?

-What's the worst that can happen?

-My head explodes from headache?

-Yes.

That ain't so bad.

-Is it really that bad?

-No.

-Can you eat breakfast now?

-Yes.

-OK.

-And, Cam.

-Yeah?

-I'll take you to the sweet shop later.

-OK.

Crisis averted.

I am a bit worried about failing the OU.

Just am, despite the fact, technically, I shouldn't be doing it

for more than five years, I'm still worried.

Theoretically, by age 16 you've got your degree,

-where does your life go now?

-Then I go onto Masters.

-You're going to do a Masters at aged 16?

-I'm planning.

-Wow, so you've got a game plan for the rest of the next ten years?

-Yes.

What I'm concerned about is the part of you that has to deal with other people in the world,

other human beings and people your age. You need friends as well, don't you?

It's not enough just to have exam certificates, is it?

-You need some sort of social life.

-Yes.

Over the next couple of days, Cameron gets down to some serious study.

HE YAWNS

He has to catch up.

I'm not sure what exactly happened, I was doing the observational activities and woke up in bed.

Mmm.

He's working all hours.

I am effectively, almost, by the end of tomorrow,

caught up with mathematics!

Hello, again, it's Sunday today and we've just finished.

A big single button press to enter every assignment.

Two weeks later than planned, he's up-to-date.

Is it done?

Cameron's juggling his degree work with school, and during the day he spends his time with Tim

and their friendship has blossomed.

Sit down, boys, let's have a chat.

Tim, can you manage to close the door? Thank you.

-Right, Year Nine, how is it going, Cameron?

-Good.

-Are you enjoying it?

-Yes.

School is tough for most people but with a friend you can get through it.

-Do you agree?

-Just.

-Just about, OK. Well, we're very pleased that...

-In one way, it's torture.

-Torture! School's always torture.

I mean, I'm very pleased that you've got shared interests,

you like each other and when it's social time, you've got somebody to talk to.

-Do you agree?

-Yes.

I'm going to comment on the fact you said, to get through school, you need a friend. That's not true.

In modern schools, you need an AK-47 with the things that are going on.

-That's not legal, is it, Tim?

-And a flamethrower.

-It's not the way to get through life, is it?

-No.

Then he'll be the new Osama Bin Laden. In fact, the new Al-Qaeda.

Well, that's not the sort of future I see for you.

Tim will give you advice, you can give Tim advice.

Sometimes you lose control, don't you, Tim? You get cross.

Yesterday was sports day, so I was bit more stressed than usual.

I mean, what's the point of it, anyway?

All schools have sports days.

Yes, because the curriculum which is made by a Conservative government which explains it.

No, no, it always has been. Even Communist countries have sports days.

This is something that happens in schools.

-You have to go with it, Tim.

-Mmm.

-All right.

-Unfortunately.

It's just all it provides is a temporary boost to self-esteem

and fitness, both of which can also be earned through doing things in PE,

but there's not much difference there.

Secondly, there's a lot of loud noise.

I'm not really one for extremely loud noises.

I always get a headache at the end of the day.

Thirdly, every time I tell people to be quiet, I have worms thrown at me.

So, boys, what sort of challenges for the rest of Year Nine, because Year Ten...

-Survive.

-Wow, that's the right word. You need to survive,

you need to maintain your friendship with Tim, OK, and, you need to help each other.

Every time there's an obstacle you say, "Tim, what did you do when this happened to you?"

He might be able to give you good advice.

-Do you think you could help each other?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-To a certain extent.

-Yes.

They've been like two little halves of something that's come together

because they share interests and they have the same quirky sense of humour

and they like each other, they enjoy each other's company.

I can never complete Sudoku, because I look at what they are

and when I get stuck on the obvious ones,

I look what can't it be and then look what could it be.

Then I can't decide.

For a start, in a new school, he's been lucky to find Tim.

Tim is a pretty unique young man in his own right.

To have come across Tim, I think, that's quite a good omen for the future.

Any other questions? Come on, bring it on.

-See if you can solve all the questions in here.

-OK.

Just as Cameron's life begins to look more recognisably like that of a teenager,

there is bad news from the Open University on another maths assignment.

-Have you seen his paper that he got back?

-No, it vanished.

-You should have a look at it.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Mind you, I've got to say it is really strict what you've got to do.

-Yes.

-You know, you get a question two plus two?

If you write under it four, you don't get full marks for that.

In his first year, his marks, were in the 80s, putting him in the top 0.5%.

Now he's got another low mark, 72%.

He's been asked to come to the University.

The comments were, I need to try better at explaining.

I try, I'm not good at explaining.

To me use it looks like, that's explained.

Although 72% is a great mark, it's not enough to secure the distinction he wants.

No-one knows if this is because of his age, or his Asperger's.

The million-dollar question, would he be able to better explain himself

if everything was put on hold for a year or two?

He probably could answer that question easier

if he didn't have Asperger's.

One of the defining features of Asperger's is an inability to be able to see things

from somebody else's perspective.

His tutor is also worried, as the degree is about to get even harder.

There were three marks for doing, what I would have considered, basically nothing

but I'm staggered at the number of students that didn't get all three marks for it.

It's because of that, I wanted to pick up on it.

Although Cameron's producing some good work, it's becoming more and more evident

that his ability to communicate the results he's getting is lessening

as the course is progressing.

It's about language that we're using. The definitions need to be there and need to be clear.

Every step counts.

If the information I'm looking for isn't there, he doesn't get the grade for it.

There's a lot going on in your head.

If you can put it down on paper for me, in a way that can enable me to give you the marks for it,

then you'll get an assignment back that says, "I'm doing brilliant at this."

And better yet, we might learn something new from you.

You might not be the one that makes the discovery of the fastest way to get us to Mars,

-but you might be the one that gives us the maths.

-A human catapult.

-Yes.

You might be the one that gives as the maths that enables us to find it.

I'll give it a shot.

To pretend there isn't a problem would be a waste of Cameron's time and effort, as well.

I think he'd look back and say, "OK, I got the degree", but it doesn't mean anything

because actually he'd want to do it again later.

Cameron will only be able to continue with his degree

if the results of his next paper shows signs of improvement.

I definitely want to carry on and that.

I'm going to have to try explaining things,

try and see how other people see.

-Do you feel confident about that?

-Confidentish about it.

I'm going to try.

Are you worried about your assignment?

Slightly.

Why'd you want to do all this studying if it stresses you?

I only cause the stress myself, I still want to do the studying.

If you know you cause the stress yourself, why don't you stop it?

I don't know. I try.

-Is it Asperger's-y?

-I don't know, is it?

Self-inflicted torment?

-But still fun?

-Yes.

I'm so cold. I'm dying. Frostbite.

-Fancy a burger?

-Yes, yes.

-Yes.

-Please.

Are you getting up? Go on, then.

Ow, ow, ow, I need to stretch my legs before something sets.

-Come on, then. Oh!

-That was close.

It's half term, but that doesn't mean Cameron gets a break from his studies.

His assignment has to be in by the end of the week.

But, inspired by his new social life at school,

Cameron's parents have invited Jonathan, the kid from their karate class,

on the day out to a games expo.

We might get to have a preview of Call Of Duty at this geek convention.

-It's not a geek convention.

-Yes, it is.

-No, it's not it's a video game convention.

-Yes, I have to admit.

Do you want to have a go at Call Of Duty at some point?

-Which one? Black Ops?

-Yes.

-If we can, World Of Warfare 3.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

For the first time in Cameron's life, he's going on a day out with a friend.

I'm not sure if I have ever done this before with somebody.

How does that feel?

Mmm. It feels good.

I can't wait.

I can't wait!

Look, look, look!

Thank you, thank you.

Thanks.

Oh, thanks for that.

Johnny! Rarrr!

-I'm not being stabbed.

-What about the hanging out with Cameron?

-It's fun.

He's very imaginative.

-The games expo is a geek's paradise.

-This place is unusual.

I hope they're careful, they could poke someone's eye out.

-Can you see them?

-Is that Captain Rex?

I don't know.

Don't sneeze on it!

-We're the same age, we're into a lot of the same things, we like Doctor Who...

-What about girls?

I don't know, you'll have to ask him.

-I'm going to get them to kill you.

-I'll just grab a rapid-fire sniper rifle.

But in the Doctor Who area, Cameron is about to meet his match.

Not many people understand what happened at the end of the last series with the Pandorica and that.

-I do.

-What happened?

-Do you want it from the top?

Cracks were appearing all through time and space - apparently they were the Doctor's fault,

but they weren't, time was collapsing. The Doctor was locked in the Pandorica,

but was the only person who could save them. When it closed,

time started to end. However, the future Doctor went back,

told Rory to open up the Pandorica to get the former Doctor out...

..get the Doctor to rescue him and then 2,000 years later, Amy is now...

Yeah, Amy's in the Pandorica, she gets freed by her former self...

She dies then comes back to life.

-Well, she didn't necessarily...

-She died.

-No, no, she almost died.

-Heal.

-Yeah, she wasn't completely dead.

-Don't like her. She's gobby.

-She's interested in Doctor Who.

Exactly, she's gobby.

Oi! Put your eye somewhere else!

-Steady, steady. Please be careful.

-Be careful that he doesn't bang me into a wall!

She likes the same things as me. She even knows about World of Warcraft.

She was wearing no shoes!

I can't be bothered wearing these things.

Hey, I was wondering if I could get your name so I can talk to you about Doctor Who on Facebook.

-Dabi. D-A-B-I. Write it on there.

-I don't want to have to hand it back.

But apparently he has got her contact details, I mean, yes!

So at least he can have Facebook conversations or texts or something.

Almost! I was close, I was close.

Brilliant. Social interaction, hooray!

I think maybe the Doctor that gets shot by the astronaut. Maybe.

-They think he dies.

-He can't die. And trust me, they can't burn him.

Doctor Who's earning BBC too much money.

Half term is nearly over.

Cameron now has to put his teenage pursuits aside to focus on his degree.

Bring it on.

He has to prove in his next assignment that he can get

the thought process out of his head and on to paper.

X equals...

So...

HE CALCULATES

Question C. Seeing what I can see out in the sea.

Now, let's see if I can do question C.

For a start, using rule 1, I obtain, yada yada yada,

then only three zeroes of p(x) must reside within the open interval. Minus 22.

Thank you. Good night.

This paper is quite important because it's primarily explanations,

so I have to do well here.

I'm desperate to get a degree, I'm desperate to "achieve".

"Achieve"!

All that remains is to post it.

Agh! Wait.

Agh! That's a dog crap bin.

It's a dog crap bin!

I'm not shoving this in there!

The result of this assignment will decide his academic future.

Half term is over.

I hate being the new kid.

I think it's fun. I'm really popular.

I was lucky, the first person I found was a really popular one.

I was unlucky, the first person I found...

Unfortunately, I have to say this about Tim - sorry, Tim,

but no, not popular.

Bye!

I made a friend, he wasn't that popular, and now I'm dragged down.

I don't care. Tim's awesome.

He told me a secret code in Call Of Duty to unlock a new zombie mode.

-I know.

-That Dead Ops Arcade one.

-He went around shooting in all directions...

-I know! I've played it!

-Dying!

-I've played it!

I've played it!

This is you.

See you, Beth.

With his unconventional take on the world,

Cameron usually finds school tough.

But he's met Tim, who also has a unique charm and intelligence.

The two of them have clicked, and Tim has realised

the benefits of having a maths genius for a new best friend.

Think you can sort this out for me? Two-part sheet.

-Think you can solve these for me?

-18.6.

Seriously, do you call these questions? For 59 the answer is 8.

Wow. This is a GCSE test, sorry about the notes I took down.

I can't read my handwriting, so I use diagrams often.

That's how I work out multiplication.

-This is homework.

-That's simple!

-Is it?

Cameron has been waiting for the mark on his last paper.

-He sent it off a week ago.

-Nervous?

-Yes!

You're a bit jiggly.

HE BLOWS

That'll be a yes.

He's meeting Jane Williams, the head of the course, to get his mark.

If he's shown he's understood what he's doing wrong, he'll be allowed to continue to study.

Hi, Cameron.

If not, he'll have to put his degree on hold.

Cameron is hoping for 80% or more.

-Uh, OK.

-Oh, 77. I hoped for 80.

You can't expect the same results at this level that you got

when you were doing GCSE stuff.

No, it doesn't work like that.

And as I keep saying to you, Cameron, professors

in university, doing all this high stuff, they get stuff wrong.

Don't be disappointed, Cameron, because it really is good news

that you've listened to what's been said

and there's a clear improvement, so that's great.

You've still got a way to go, but that's fine.

That's why you're a student

and you're not sitting where I'm sitting.

-Don't worry about that, you can learn about it.

-Yeah.

Lower my self expectations?

Well, don't lower, bit don't be so hard on yourself if you don't quite reach what you're hoping for.

I was a bit disappointed, I expected above 80.

I'm desperate to achieve, I'm desperate to get high marks.

I'm too hard on myself.

Two months ago, Cameron went to Cambridge to meet Professor Leader,

a world-renowned mathematician and fellow of Trinity College.

Now Professor Leader has come to Wrexham.

He's worried that Cameron is moving ahead too fast with his exams,

and he might lost interest.

Professor Leader wants to talk to Cameron about his maths future.

There's quite an important distinction between progressing,

taking lots of exams as fast as you can, getting four, five,

six years ahead of yourself and relaxing,

enjoying what you call enrichment, doing some harder,

thinking material on your own level of maths.

That's often more fruitful, a more fruitful thing in the long run.

-Hi.

-Hello, how are you? Hi, nice to meet you. Hello.

That's the bathroom. That's my parents'. This is mine.

-Typical teenage room.

-How many Daleks have you got?

-Do you count Davros as a Dalek?

-Yes.

-Then ten.

-Wow.

The big question for me comes down to, ultimately, where is he going?

A first degree, not a Masters, that would be a disaster.

To be with kids his own age at university. He's got to. If he's done the only degree, big deal,

he can do it all again at Oxford or Cambridge.

No problem at all. So if you can do something early, absolutely ace it

and destroy it and kill it, trivial for you, that's probably OK.

If you're not getting 99%, actually, there's no point in doing it.

I'd probably explode if the Open University stopped.

I don't want to even go past the degree.

Why the degree? Why not choose something else?

I don't know why I specifically want a degree.

Yes, you've got a piece of paper.

It really doesn't count for much, that piece of paper. It's nice to learn stuff,

it's really nice to think about it, that's how advances get made, that's how you understand more about stuff.

But there are these very nice things called

National Maths Summer School, like camps, for about 40 kids.

They're brilliant. You have about 40 kids, each of them is the best kid in their school,

each one, everyone else in the school thinks is a weirdo or a geek.

And they come here and find people like them.

-It's just wonderful.

-Can I go?

-There's an enthusiastic response! "Can I go?"

You need to chuck into the mix the fact that he's got Asperger's.

Well, they all do.

Compared to a lot of the kids, he's completely 100% normal.

If you see a kid walking around college who looks really weird, you'll often say,

"That's a mathematician." And you'll probably be right.

It's not that mathematicians are weird, it's that most of the weird ones are mathematicians!

Long-term goal - entering Cambridge.

That would be nice. That's a great goal to have, entering Cambridge.

-Nice to have seen you all. Keep in touch.

-Bye!

-Bye, Cameron!

His early achievemets are impressive, in terms of things that don't matter,

like A levels, which are all just rote.

He hasn't started doing competition- type things or Olympiad things,

so I can't tell how good he is in that sense.

And we have 14-year-olds who challenge for the Olympiad team.

I don't think he's there yet. But he seems certainly in the mix, I would have thought.

Does he have what it takes to get into Cambridge? I would guess yes.

So I hope to see him in about four years' time knocking on our door.

Professor Leader has provided Cameron with another option in life.

Instead of fast-forwarding through exams and qualifications,

he could slow down and do a degree at Cambridge at 18.

He taught me that you need to go behind the scenes in maths,

not just on the surface, but deep within.

And, as Leader said,

there's other people like me - high maths abilities, bad school lives.

I am not alone.

Spooky!

Cameron is growing up.

Hmm...

Hm!

Mum first noticed a moustache.

She saw it...

..and told me about it.

Not long after, Beth accidentally ripped it off with a piece of Sellotape.

-You don't know what's going to happen. He's a teenager.

-Yes, he is.

"I don't want to do maths, I'm more interested in women."

Well, y'know! You never know!

-You never know.

-Look, it's a flying pig!

Cameron has been on his first date, without his parents.

I started becoming interested in women about a few months ago.

Who is she?

I started to like them instead of be disgusted by them.

-ALL:

-# Happy birthday to you!... #

And now he's 14.

He's happy with his new friends and has a plan for his future.

The growing pains are easing up for this teenage genius.

It was aweso-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ome!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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