Autistic-Like, Graham's Story
by Erik Linthorst

'Autistic-Like, Graham's Story' by Erik Linthorst is a documentary about a small and enchanting little boy who has many autistic features but does not quite fit the criteria for autism. The DVD follows the life of Graham and his dedicated and loving parents Jennie and Erik. The opening remark 'you get this diagnosis ... and you're just looking for somebody you can trust ... somebody who has the answers and it is really scary because, guess what - nobody has the answer', will strike a deep and painful chord with many parents whose children have developmental problems. I have long argued that autism is in danger of becoming a catch-all label du jour for a whole host of neurobiological disorders which are in reality syndromes unique to each child. This perceptive and highly articulate family have highlighted the plight of a group of children and their parents who are currently falling through the net. Their children have significant problems which merit serious attention but are currently either being ignored and the problems trivialised, or called autistic which is clearly an over-reaction. It quickly becomes evident that new, less stigmatising and extreme labels are required for children with sensory integration problems who do not have autism or are only mildly affected. Erik Linthorst talks candidly about the effect that hearing the word autism had on him 'It was literally unbearable, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't work, I couldn't sit still ... our brains just needed to catch up with this news.'

The Linthorsts set out on a crusade to find answers; to do anything they could to help their child. Many, many parents of autistic and autistic-like children will recognise this almost evangelical approach, an all-consuming quest to find an answer. The viewers are privileged to go on a retrospective journey with this very likeable family and plenty will see their own lives mirrored. Throughout, this remarkable couple champion the cause for all children and parents, recognising that they are hugely advantaged and that countless parents will not have the resources whether financial, intellectual, or personality to access the help which they have found.

Initially they tried a behavioural approach which was designed to get the child to drop their autistic like behaviours, goals were set and Graham often met them. However his parents had some disquieting doubts and felt that something was not quite right with this approach. The changes to their child were cosmetic, he was responding to drills. It was soon after this that Erik observed his son pacing up and down his cot and decided to climb in and in a moment, son and father had a deep connection and Linthorst realised that it was emotional and social connectivity that were missing from their therapy sessions.

The family eventually discovered a centre that recognised that numerous children, believed to be autistic, are in fact suffering from sensory processing problems. The parents' relentless research and persistence was paying off. They were encouraged to engage in DIR (Developmental Individual Differences), or Floor Time, in Relationship Building therapy, the aim being to help organise a messed up central nervous system. This approach of intensive play at the child's level seemed to help over and above the other things that they had tried. Dr Greenspan's 'Floor Time' is essentially common sense and an intuitive approach, but despite its apparent success was deemed alternative and not funded by the state. I applied this approach with my son, and am sure many others have too, although we didn't call it therapy or give it a name, it was just mummy and child playing from morning to late night because this is what our children seemed to need to be happy. The documentary leaves the viewer in no doubt about the cost to the parents of such intensive work and research as Jennie, who worked unremittingly said 'my son's life is choreographed on central stage', ultimately leaving no time or energy for the marriage.

We see how inflexible the education and care systems are for those dependent on the state and that in reality parents are offered a set package that is allegedly supposed to address all their child's needs and to offer them an appropriate education. In actuality this means a child being placed in a noisy mainstream class with a few other special needs children and one over-worked support worker. For a child with sensory integration problems this package is doomed. Only state sanctioned therapies are financed and then for only a few hours a week.

This family have quickly reached the conclusion that has taken many of us far longer to appreciate and comprehend and that is that different experts have different opinions. No one has the right answer and opinions are no more than that, opinions, and yet they are frequently sold to us authoritatively as fact. In the end each child needs a different package and the people best placed to decide what the child needs are usually its parents. The system is rigid and for children to flourish we need to be imaginative, perceptive and flexible in our approach seeing each child as unique, as indeed they are.

I recommend this film to anyone with a newly diagnosed child with autism. It will also appeal to parents whose child has been labelled autistic but who feel something is not quite right with the diagnosis and finally for parents who know their child has problems but can't get a label to explain their problems.