Yes I watch the "Undateables", my attention having been drawn to it by an (NT) colleague in the series before this current one. Having never had a relationship but being well into my 30s, and only very recently been diagnosed with AS, I had started thinking that I truly was "undateable" due to my lack of success in that area. I didn't go out much (still don't) but I had tried various social events etc., all to no avail as it appears to me to turn out that the (inevitably NT) people that attend these dating events go to have "fun" rather than really being interested in a date. The programme title isn't supposed to be offensive and, in the opening credits, the 'cupid's arrow' actually strikes and the "Un" part of the word gets knocked down, which suggests to me (I don't work for or have any connection to Channel 4 or the producers by the way, other than that I watch the programme) that people, such as those featured, are actually "dateable" after all. AS has provided the explanation and the reason for my lack of success, or seeming "undateability". The lack of eye contact, and thus the ability to give a positive first impression, and the inability to read social cues and body language, and therefore not be able to tell what the other person is thinking and thus how best to react or attract her attention in a positive way. That said, I'm now happy with my being alone and in fact see many benefits of it (perhaps best left to another post at some other time).
Dan0192837465 wrote:
Does anybody else think (like I certainly do) Channel 4's documentary 'The Undateables', is unevenly stacked towards featuring heavily laden episodes of ASD sufferes, apposed to any other condition? Can someone tell me the reason why a programme needs to contain a ratio that outweighs the number of separate disabilities, non-ASD related? So far the series hasn't concluded yet, maybe they'll have another ASD person making an appearance, who knows? From my basic maths, it works out six Autistic/Aspergers Syndrome disorders are included over three series. Wouldn't one person suffice with ASD, and be enough for one episode a series?
My own thought is that perhaps people on the autism spectrum suffer more difficulties with social situations, including such as dates. It is, after all, a disability of social skills and communication. Perhaps therefore people with ASDs are more likely than those with other disabilities to have difficulty finding a partner. Or maybe ASD is quite a more common disability than some others. (It's not "common", within the general population, to have autism, but it's not exactly "rare".) After watching the latest programme, with another Asperger's person featured, I'm rather glad that this programme - which is attracting some of a mainstream audience - is featuring people with ASDs and thereby hopefully educating the viewers (largely NTs) about these conditions and the varying effects they have on different people that have them. It does seem that, although the NT population is, to my perception, still largely ignorant about the full effects having AS has - and, unfortunately, appears uninterested in learning them - awareness of the existence of AS is more than what it used to be, and perhaps helped by shows such as "The Undateables".
I haven't really noticed how many ASD people were in the series and didn't see that they outweighed any one programme with them. In fact much more recently, I'm happy when people with autism, and especially AS, are featured as I like watching when they feature, doubtless as part of one of my current Asperger obsessions, which happens to be about Asperger syndrome itself - which, unfortunately, is why I'd bore other people if I talked about it in real life and why, as a result, others will, unfortunately, never understand about AS and what it really means to have it.
19 Jan 2014, 11:23 am
