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The Documentary: Inside an autistic mind

Inside an autistic mind

09/09/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Inside an autistic mind

Sue Nelson shares her journey to understand a condition that affects millions worldwide

Science journalist Sue Nelson discovered she had autism aged 60. She shares her personal journey to better understand a condition that affects millions worldwide.

Science journalist Sue Nelson shares her personal journey to better understand a condition that affects millions worldwide. Inside her autistic inner world is a cacophony of brain chatter, anxiety and sensory issues - recreated within a 360 degree soundscape - that impact her life and interactions with others.

Sue, who discovered she had autism last year aged 60, meets other autistic people, researchers and clinicians to try to make sense of her late diagnosis. Those who offer their own stories and experiences include Canadian actor Mickey Rowe, the first autistic actor to play the autistic lead character in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime; award-winning science writer Dr Camilla Pang; and former teacher Pete Wharmby, who left the profession to write about his condition to help others. 

Experts who shed light on Sue’s findings include psychiatrist and founder of the Centre for Autism Research in Africa, Professor Petrus de Vries, and Professor Sonya Girdler, director of the Curtin Autism Research Group in Australia. 

Sue travels to Denmark and Scotland to meet business leaders who are building bridges between those with and without autism. Research shows autistic people make great employees and, in Copenhagen, Specialisterne CEO Carsten Lassen and his team have found ways to match autistic people to jobs, which benefits both the individuals and the companies.

In Scotland, Sue is shown around the Barclays buildings that have been built specifically with neurodiverse people in mind, but which the rest of the workforce enjoy too. 

A Boffin Media production

Image: A self-portrait by Sue Nelson

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