directed by Saskia Baron

Forty years ago autism was a highly obscure disorder that was thought to affect only 2-4 children in every 10,000, but now some British teachers are claiming to see it in one in every 86 children. What’s happened? Is there an epidemic of autism, and what’s causing it? Or is that awareness has grown and the definition of autism changed over the years since 1943 when the term was coined?

This hour-long documentary looks at the history of the condition, and current research into cause, treatment and prevalence. It includes interviews with some of the world’s leading experts on autism, including Dr. Lorna Wing, Dr. Ute Frith and Professor Anthony Bailey and follows experimental research into autistic thinking, showing the working brains of autistic children using state-of-the-art MRI scanners in Helsinki.

The documentary also films families with more than one autistic child - and examines the evidence for a genetic cause for autism. It shows how the condition affects adults alike, and includes interviews with adults with high functioning autism (or Asperger’s Syndrome), who can describe how their perception of the world is shaped by their autism. The documentary also draws on forty years of archival material, with a recently rediscovered film of the first autistic school in the world, set up in Britain in 1964 - how did life turn out for those children - we’ll find them almost forty years later. What hope do they give the parents of autistic children today?

Saskia Brown - director / producer:

Saskia Baron is a British documentary producer, making films for the BBC and C4. She is also the younger sister of Timothy, one of the first children in the UK to be diagnosed with autism back in 1961. Her father, Michael founded the first charity in the world for autistic children.