The PBS Documentary "Today's Man"

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I would like to ask those of you who saw the documentary tonight on PBS, at what functioning level the subject was. He seemed medium-functioning to me. He wasn't able to live by himself. I'm curious to know where the line is drawn between high-functioning and low-functioning. My understanding is that "Asperger" is a label for high-functioning autism.

Also, please share your opinions about the documentary.

Run of the mill "aspie" to me considering that most live at home without allowances made (I'm speaking objectively here).

I don't really like "functioning" levels with AS as it's by definition a high-functioning autistic disorder [in that one can look after themselves reasonably well compared to those lower down on the spectrum].

Doesn't he live by himself now though (I've only read the article that went with it)?

Actually, I should offer my opinions.

I did not like it much. I found myself laughing AT the subject a lot. In that sense, I felt like it was made to poke fun at people with Asperger's. Other than the comedic effect, it had no specific point. I was expecting that it would give me some idea of what it's like to have AS. The only idea it gave me was what it's like to work with someone with AS. The latter without the former does not do much justice for Aspies.

I watched that tonight. I think he was medium functioning but I also think his parents could do a lot to help him be more independent. I got the impression they did too much for him. I know if my parents had babied me that much I would be worse off than I am. I hope that doesn't sound too cruel and maybe he really does need help. I thought though if he can make it to work by himself and answer the phones, which I thought he did pretty well, why are they treating him like some kindergartner going to the first day of school? They seem like really good people but I think if my parents had not forced me to "sink or swim" I would be much more dependent on them then what I am.

I only saw the clip that is on the PBS site. I just wanted to add that Michael John Carley said that this guy had only been to one of the support meetings (run by GRASP, I assume). That was the one they taped. So they had him go to the meeting for the first time and caught it on video, then he never went back? Seems kind of odd, too staged.

It would be interesting to see this young man in a couple of years, to see if he ends up being less silly acting. I'm kind of torn by the way he acted so silly. I guess it's his right to act like a kid. Maybe we'd all act like him if it weren't for the bullies ready to pounce on any thing we do that is out of the norm and NOT COOL enough for them. I guess it's the mom in me that wants to tell him it's time to act like a grown up. I don't know.

Last edited by autism_diva on 12 Jan 2008, 2:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

For those who say he is silly/childish:

It's possible for those with Asperger's to act with emotionally inappropriate behavior.

So what if he's a big kid? Autism is a developmental disorder after all (emotionally as well as socially).

At this point in time, I think any media portrayal of someone with Asperger can become quite controversial and sensitive, since the term and the concept is still rather new to most people. Most people have only seen a few people with Asperger's Syndrome on TV; so, they assume all people with AS are like the ones they saw on TV.

This particular documentary could, for instance, discourage people from even considering to hire someone with AS, because all of his job attempts turned out disastrous. And the film clearly shows what sort of trouble you would have to deal with if you hired one. This could be damaging to the entire population of AS.

The "aspie" employment rate currently sucks; it's one of those facts (I'm looking with curious eyes to see if the younger generation that's receiving treatment will be better than the majority now).

It airs tomorrow night for me, but judging from what I've seen people say it may be kinda uncomfortable to watch...

And about the whole "Asperger's being new to people" thing, I find that true. My Spanish teacher's daughter has AS and absolutely no one in the class except me (who has it ) knew anything about it, and my teacher didn't want to go into detail. I don't blame her. This is a class of about 37 people BTW, most of which are high school seniors.