 Asperges in society is a Manchester-based documentary about the relationship between autism and mental health. Over the course of the filming process, I was introduced to a number of interesting autistic individuals and struck by the quality of these experiences and opinions, I decided to create a behind-the-scenes video series to showcase these marvellous people. This is one of them. How's you, David? It's been pretty good. When I got my tattoos, they were finished. Really? Yeah, yeah. Got a... What was it that said you were going to go on? I can't remember. So, I've just got the shoulder bit finished off with the clouds to go around the ship. So it was just a touch-up today. So this is now the completed thing and the total line of time is 18 hours. God. It's amazing it takes so long to... Oh, yeah. You get some good chats in with the tattoo artists as well. How do you find the pain, the needle pain? You kind of get used to it. Like, so my sessions were essentially split up into six hours for the cracker and six hours for the ship. Those were the worst, kind of, because over the course of six hours, it's enough time for the skin to become red and inflame and all that. And then when the tattoo artist goes over it again, that really hurts. But for the past couple sessions, I've only been in for one or two hours. So with that, it's probably fine, which is what I had today. That's cool. You ever consider getting one? I like a machine. Yeah, I actually do want to get one. I want to get one, a small one. Yeah. But it's on my shoulder here. I would heavily recommend Manchester Tattoo Emporium. Manchester Tattoo Emporium, okay. It's my... I said that ago with my mom. I feel like a birthday present. Okay. Alright. Okay, I'd like parents on tattoos. Nice. Am I talking to you or the camera, by the way? So you can look this way. Mm-hmm. You can look at me or you can just look wherever you want. Yes, sure. Because it's this way. Mm-hmm. So, question one. How would you describe autism to someone without it? Um, I would mainly describe autism to someone who doesn't have it as... Someone who doesn't have autism has all of the social and body language characteristics innate within them, whilst being autistic you more or less have to learn them. Which, personally, I find to be beneficial because I understand my social interactions more than someone who does it illegally. That's great. Okay, our next one. And question two. Do you like being autistic? Yes, I do. Because one of the things associated with autism is particularly how prevalent is in sciences and the idea of it being linked to the genius gene or something like that. So I quite like it in that it's allowed me to be quite a logical thinker. And it's enabled me to be a better scientist. And one thing that I've also liked is it's enabled me to put my emotions in a better perspective. I, one of the things with autistic people is they tend to struggle with empathy, which is one of my traits. But it means I've, similar to the social interactions, I've learned about my emotions more. Question three. What traits of autism do you like and how have they benefited you? So I suppose it's similar to the last one. Yeah, I'd say the traits of autism that I like is the more focused rationale of thinking about things more than other people tend to do. And one thing that I tend to like about being autistic is that I've had to learn my emotions, learn social interactions. And it's actually gotten me to the point where I'm quite a confident public speaker. I'm very good at presentations, have a large network of friends. So it's made me earn those things as opposed to being in doubt with them. Really? Question four. So this is just friendships, romantic relationships, relationships with parents, teachers, whatever. What were your relationships like in the past? So in terms of romantic relationships, I had my first girlfriend at 17. It was a four month relationship. Didn't really go well because of my, well lack of experience and just being new to it, which I guess you could attribute more to just being 17 than being autistic. And then I was single for three years and I'm currently dating a girl now. And I think I may say that I'm doing much better now. In terms of parental relationships, due to being autistic, I've always been extremely independent, not liked anyone's help. And that's a flaw in a sense, but it means I'm a really determined person. So when I was really young, I kind of had a strained relationship with my parents because they were always trying to help. And I was very resilient towards getting any help. But now that I'm an adult and I've got my independence that I so intentionally desired, our relationship has vastly improved. Similarly with my sister, who was older, she is a speech and language therapist who regularly deals with autistic children. So she is the perfect person to deal with me. And in terms of friendships, I'd say I've gained a lot deeper connection with friends in my adult life. Throughout my primary school years, I was a bit of a nerd, a bit of an outcast. But for the most part, I just enjoyed myself to myself. Throughout secondary school, I went to an all-boy school. And when you're in an all-boy school, you have to deal with some bullying and meld with the environment a bit more, which I quite liked, which is where I actually started to gain friends. And then only when it became to around sixth form kind of time, did I have a network of strong friends that I would regularly go to. Really? Yeah. Just... Someone's trying to haunt me. Question five. Do you think your autism has contributed to any struggles in your life? One of the times that I remember a struggle in my life, which was kind of pertaining to autism, was when I was studying for my 11 plus at the age of 10 years old. And my dad was running through the maths problems with me, and for some reason I wasn't getting into my head how to do some equations or something like that. And I had a bit of a meltdown where I locked myself in the bathroom and started crying. But I don't really consider that as much of a struggle, because the day after I was able to do the maths problems and then I passed my 11 plus. So that was one struggle that I remember being particularly related to autism. It was more or less the incapability of dealing with failure. And I've dealt with that a little bit in my adult life, you know, being rejected from interviews and certain things, but it's not really affected me significantly in my adult life. I actually had the same sort of experience with that as well. So it's nice to hear. Yeah. Question six. You sort of answered this one a little bit as well. I actually found that a lot more socially intelligent people seem to answer the questions that are coming up after. It's always a good sign, it's a good sign of a good interview. Just curious, what was the range of social intelligence throughout your other interviews? Very varied, all different types of people. None of anyone I've interviewed is the same, to any degree. Yeah, got a good range of them. Very good range, yeah. It's really nice. Okay, question six. How was school for you did being autistic impact your experience in any way? So in terms of school life, my primary school days and my secondary school days were very different. So I was diagnosed with autism at the age of three because I wasn't responding to my own name. And one of the things that was kind of picked up in nursery was the teacher would say would address the class and I would not respond to it due to me not recognizing myself as the rest of the class, but I'm Adam, I'm not class. So in terms of my formative years when I first got diagnosed and everything, it was very confusing to me because I didn't know why I was there. So I was diagnosed at the age of three. And fun fact, the doctor also told my dad that he was autistic and he found this out for the first time at 40. And so then I went through my school years going to weekly meeting sessions with the other children in the school who had other conditions like dyslexia and who were also autistic and stuff like that. And I was told that I was autistic when I was 11 years old, doing the summer holidays before attending secondary school for the first time. And my time in primary school was more or less doing whatever I wanted, but kind of having supervision to help me gain social skills. For example, in these weekly sessions, I was given a list of hand gestures and was told to say what that meant and facial expressions, etc. But then when I went to secondary school, I on my first day, I was put in a room with all the other autistic kids and kids with learning disabilities and was told, here is this service. You can come to us with any problems that you have and, you know, come to us with any concerns. And that was the first and last time I ever stepped foot in there and decided now that I knew that I was autistic, I was going to take personal charge of it. So past the age of 11, I've never had any help with this condition. And I strived to become socially competent on my own, which I would like to think that I've done very well. And between the ages of 11 and 15, I had a group of friends, but I was kind of a bit kept to myself. But it was only until sixth form that I finally broke free of my cocoon and gained a strong network of friends. So doing charity events, public spoken assemblies and truly made myself my own. Brilliant. Okay, so we've got five more questions to go. Question seven. So as a whole, would you change anything about the way society deals with problems that autistics have? As far as changing the way that society views autism, I feel like it's definitely changed a lot throughout my lifetime. Personally, I feel like society is very accepting and all that. Personally, in my adult life, I've had absolutely no concerns when I've told anyone that I'm autistic. It's not something that I regularly tell people, as Tom will describe. But it's something that's come into my life very little as an adult. So I don't feel like I'm the best person to describe the social perspective. But it seems to be very, very helpful. As far as I can tell, there are support networks all around. For example, when I applied for university, I did put on a DAS that I was autistic. And they regularly send me emails even though I've constantly told them that I don't need any help. So I'd say the support networks are there and the majority of people I've come across are really accepting. Brilliant. Question 8, if you could talk to your child self, what would you tell them? If I could talk to my child self, I would say simply it gets better. Every small trial and tribulation that you go in through gets better. On a slightly comedic note, two things that I can't remember not wanting was long hair and a beard. So I'd also tell my child itself that I get them in the end. Brilliant. What would you say to any autistics currently struggling in a school environment? To any autistic struggling in a school environment, I would say use the support networks around you because there should be some there. And also feel free to take risks. As you can tell from this interview, I did most of my development in my secondary school years by intentionally not using the services. So I'd say make yourself aware of the services that are available to you, but also don't be afraid to take the reins yourself. Question 10, what do autistic people have to offer the world? Well, based on the prevalence of autistics in science and literature and all that, I would say that there's, as I've said earlier, that autistics have a lot to offer the world in terms of moving the world forward in technology. But also I don't like to differentiate autistics from anyone else. So I'd say what do autistics have to offer the world as much or as little as anyone else? Last question, have you enjoyed this experience? And what would you like to say to everyone that you haven't already said? I would say I've enjoyed this experience as this is my first real public declaration that I am autistic. I generally tend to consider myself quote unquote cured as a girlfriend, large network of friends, not socially anxious, totally functional in terms of social communication. So to anyone who is autistic, I'd like to say miracles can happen. Anyone who is an autistic, I'd like to say miracles can also happen too. And support those who are. Really, Adam. Just really good, man. Thank you so much. It's all right, just like you were asked to. So like the whole documentary is 30 minutes. How are you going to cut up and splice these and all that?