Suffering From Autism Spectrum Disorder
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: St. Albans Nursery is in Nottingham. They're a creative lot.
[CHATTER AND MUSIC PLAYING]
The playdough table is a favorite with many of the children. They make friends as they play together. All except four-year-old Gowen He plays alone.
[CHATTER]
RUTH: So you and Jonathan have made these cakes-- and Ben. Why didn't Gowen help you make these cakes then. Gowen's been playing on his own. Why didn't you play with Gowen today? Are you good friends with Gowen?
NARRATOR: Teacher Ruth tries to encourage the others to play with him.
RUTH: Is he your friend?
CHILD: No.
RUTH: Why not?
CHILD 1: (SOFTLY) Because he [INAUDIBLE].
CHILD 2: I don't know.
CHILD 1: Aw!
[CHATTER AND SCREAMS]
NARRATOR: Out on the playground, the children share toys together.
[CHATTER AND MUSIC PLAYING]
But Gowen just doesn't know how to play with the others.
RUTH: Gowen would choose to play on the bikes and cars or with hoops and balls on his own-- always on his own.
NARRATOR: Other children do try to play with him.
RUTH: Gowen doesn't communicate with them or initiate conversation, and they get bored easily. So what do young children do when they're bored? Walk away.
[CHATTER AND MUSIC PLAYING]
CHILD 3: Hey, Jeff can't give me a ride.
[CHATTER]
NARRATOR: Gowen appears to be locked in a world of his own.
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RUTH: I would like you to draw a picture of yourself. And I'd like it to be your very best work.
NARRATOR: The only time he talks is when he is asked a question.
RUTH: Have you got any pets at home, Gowen?
GOWEN: Yes, a rabbit.
CHILD 4: I'm going to call this Stookie Ookie.
RUTH: Have you? What's your rabbit called?
GOWEN: [INAUDIBLE].
RUTH: Really? And you've got another pet at home. Haven't you?
GOWEN: It's a guinea pig.
RUTH: I didn't know you'd got a guinea pig. What's your guinea pig called?
GOWEN: I don't know that.
NARRATOR: Some fine self-portraits are executed by the young artists, but Gowen's image of himself is less well-developed.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
At home, Gowen's behavior causes an additional worry. Look what happens when he plays with a favorite toy.
MOM: We just sensed that something wasn't right when he started to become obsessed with the tape recorder, because he's been doing that for a very long time. And just little things-- to his lining up his cars and things like that. And we just thought it was a bit strange.
GOWEN: I'm going to change it.
NARRATOR: It's as if Gowen's off switch has been overridden.
MOM: When he first had it, he was playing with it for days and days and days-- from early morning 'til afternoon, late on.
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NARRATOR: Even now, two years later, this constant switching can go on for hours and hours.
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After his difficult birth, he was deprived of oxygen. He's been seeing a doctor ever since.
MOM: I think they think that it's all connected, and obviously it is. He's got some brain damage, so could well be.
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NARRATOR: But precisely which parts of his brain are affected and what the lon-term consequences will be is not know.
[LAUGHTER]
On a good day, everything seems fine with Gowen. He plays happily with his sister Freya and her friend.
[LAUGHING]
[FARTING SOUND]
But even during rare moments of happiness, his mother knows that trouble is brewing.
MOM: Well he usually gets really excited. And he'll either end up having a tantrum, or he'll be so excited, you can't calm him down. And then he gets very upset. So we try to avoid that if possible.
[CHATTER]
[FARTING SOUND]
[LAUGHTER]
[CHATTER]
[CRYING]
MOM: On ya. You can-- oh, you can cry all you like.
[SQUEALING AND CRYING]
GOWEN: Get off me.
MOM: Eh? What?
GOWEN: Get off me.
MOM: No, 'cause you're being naughty. You're going to stop it then?
NARRATOR: His tantrums are not like those of other children.
MOM: Gowen. Stop that.
GOWEN: No.
MOM: You're gonna hurt yourself.
I've seen children have [INAUDIBLE]. But usually, there is some reasoning with him, or there is some real reason that he's gone off. But he just seems to wind up and wind up, and then it just gets all out of control.
NARRATOR: They can last for up to 30 minutes.
MOM: Sometimes it's more than once a day-- about three or four times a week on average. If he gets really angry, he'll head bang, and he'll slap. And he'll slap himself, and he'll just throw himself about. He'll put his head on the floor, and hide his head.
NARRATOR: Despite numerous visits to the doctors over the years, the nature of Gowen's abnormal behavior has yet to be assessed.
MOM: He's not got a label at the moment, although we're hoping that there will be one and that he'll get the help that he needs.
Autism has been mentioned. There's a lot to disagreement about it, but we think there's a lot of autistic traits sort of.