I watched this program the other day, and I am very troubled that some people who have autism and can speak can be so hopeless and yet we are told that we can say things like ASD causing "tragic burdens". Do not get me wrong about the other couples featured; those touched my heart. I don't want to say directly I can relate to Lenny, but I wish the filmmakers did a documentary on just him alone.
For several years (even before this film began in production) I've wondered if the American special education system had engineered individuals to follow social rules, get a job, be as masculine as possible to the point where they are too good to fail. There is so many insecurities of this guy, that I wonder who was in his "'support' system"? Meaning who was the selfish, heartless punks in the school system, or doctors, or whathaveyou ruined this guy's soul?
I've watched the documentary 2 other times since I originally posted this comment. After playing that back a couple times, I was troubled to find that Lindsey had problems too. (Confirming my "nightmare" vision - worse seeing this 3 years later.) I don't think Lindsey that much older than I am, and its another message for anyone who is under 30 or above 22 or so of what people have seriously struggled. We (including my family) had no Google, internet in the 90s was on dialup, back before flat rates came to be, and even then there was *nothing* just like how the web in 2016 is so loaded with children related autism. (Social media is just as bad.) It's so sad that the professional experts that work with these children do not understand what types of therapies or counseling sessions could lead into such damages as adults. These practices border on inhumaine. Seeing some shots of Lindsey walking in public was a good use of candid video, to show the truth of insecurities behind the adult autism.
I'm more troubled that this was 3 years ago, and I'm going through similar situations myself. I have an autistic disorder and had it almost since birth, and ever since middle school I fell apart. I've haven't had a paying job since days I turned 21 - 8 years to the day. The work programs for adults with ASD where I live (New Hampshire/Greater Boston Area) are still startup types, and ever since I left my highly structured/restrictive/virtualized institutional environment, I've felt threatened myself. Even more disturbing is how there are so *few* doctors that specialize in adult autism. There is very few in my state, and even near Boston ("world class" town) there is hardly anyone. Are these "experts" in school and psychology who have 6 to 8 year college that naive to think the autism disappears the day they turn 21 or 22? Also to update this comment as Valentine's Day approaches, there is workshops that focus on relationships and autism but they are not intended to be for the individuals themselves where I live. Only for teachers, parents, etc. That is discrimination and insensitivity at the worse!
Watching this documentary, really is confirming a theory that there is a growing number of adults who may be hopeless autistics. At first when I started to coin that phrase last year, I wasn't sure if I was being accurate, but after watching the painful emotions of Lenny, my nightmare of what I feared was developing in society is now becoming real. I publish a blog educating my own state to wake up before it's too late. My fear seeing this - it's already happening and it's probably too late. (I don't know if the comment policy prohibits pasting URLs, so I'll keep it out.)
I hope the producers, etc are noticing the comments and perhaps create a followup outside of love and romance. Because if there is hopeless autistics then they are hopeless romantics too.
Steven
