Board index › General Discussion › Autism Politics, Activism, and Media Representation

BBC Documentary on celebrity autism family life

Page 1 of 1 [ 5 posts ] 

Previous topic | Next topic

ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 68
Gender: Male
Posts: 39,637
Location: Long Island, New York

17 Feb 2021, 6:46 am

Christine And Paddy McGuinness To Take Part In BBC Documentary, Autism And Our Family​

Quote:
Christine and Paddy McGuinness are fronting a new BBC documentary about autism.

The couple, whose three children have been diagnosed with autism, are set to open up on family life in the one-off doc, Autism and Our Family.

The programme will follow Paddy, 47, Christine, 32, and their family - twins Leo and Penelope aged seven, and Felicity, four.

In 2017, Leo and Penelope were diagnosed with autism and last year Paddy and Christine's youngest child, Felicity, four, was also diagnosed.

In the doc, the couple will share their experiences with viewers, and learn more about autism through meeting specialists, paediatricians and other parents of children with autism.

BBC announced the news this morning, calling the doc "intimate, emotional and refreshingly candid"

Both Paddy and Christine often share insights into their family life, with Christine regularly posting on social media. Recently, Christine spoke out about the struggles the family had experienced during lockdown.

"Paddy and Christine will meet with other parents of autistic children to see how their experiences differ and whether they can learn from them. They will also meet leading paediatricians and cutting-edge child-development experts to discover more about their children's autism - and the condition in general.

"Intimate, emotional and refreshingly candid, this is the portrait of a family so many assume they know, but seen here like never before. The film aims to challenge people's preconceptions and kickstart a national conversation about an increasingly common condition that so few of us really understand."

Not being from the UK I don't know these people and of course I have not seen the documentary.

This has the potential to go wrong in so many exploitive ways. This is the modern-day version of the old-time exhibits where people gawked at the dwarfs. And the children are way too young to have consented to this.


_________________
“Self Acceptance is a process not a performance”
“You are autistic enough. And you always have been”

Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.


NaturalEntity
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Jan 2021
Age: 22
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 1,234
Location: UK

17 Feb 2021, 2:57 pm

I am from the UK and have never heard of these people lol. I agree about the exploitation possibilities though.


_________________
Opinion polls have officially begun!
Posting will be on and off due to school studies for a while. I am still around though and will occasionally pop in!


Jiheisho
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 21 Jul 2020
Age: 62
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,507

17 Feb 2021, 7:28 pm

The BBC does some really good programming on autism. They even have a podcast specifically for autistics and hosted by autistics.



carlos55
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 5 Mar 2018
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,102

18 Feb 2021, 3:50 am

Most people in the UK know of these two celebs he hosts the one of the most popular tv shows “Top Gear” and his wife hosts a well known daytime show called “loose women” aimed at homemaking women who for whatever reason don’t choose to work.

Together they probably bring in a large chunk of the UK viewing population.

They have 3 young children all with severe autism. They are always in the press talking about their hardship in relation to this particularly around Christmas.

So don’t expect a ND friendly show about superpowers.

More like the Louis Theroux doc as opposed to the good doctor.


_________________
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends upon the unreasonable man."

- George Bernie Shaw


Edna3362
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Oct 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 13,727
Location: ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜔

18 Feb 2021, 9:32 pm

From where I came from?
*Yawn* Old news.

Seen countless similar talks.
Just replace the word autism with something something other concern.
Just replace people's names and settings or whatever circumstances -- not limited to celebrities.


But then again, this is more to do with this culture's attitude towards the struggles of life and living -- along with domestic affairs.

Including: definitions and attitudes of caregiving.

Because the norm here is more or less assuming it's the same formula of exploiting drama.



I would like to know: is this an uncommon or kinda-a-big thing elsewhere?
In the US? In the UK?


_________________
Gained Number Post Count (1).
Lose Time (n).

Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.