Louis Theroux Extreme Love

Anyone that has deal with Autism, as a parent, carer, or educator will welcome the the new two part documentary Extreme Love that was shown on BBC2 last night. More than that it will give us all an understanding of the struggles the children have to deal with as well as the families they are part of.

I have been a fan of Louis Theroux's work for many years and it is great that he made this documentary that will bring to the general public and understanding and awareness of this condition. To many it is just something they have heard of and have no understanding of at all. Hopefully this will bring the condition into the public eye.

In the program Louis Theroux travelled to America to visit the homes of parents with autistic children. There he witnessed scary scenes of parents wrestling their kids to the floor, which made for disturbing viewing at times, but this contrasted by moments humour breaking through the tiredness of the battle these parents face. What was impressive was parents commitment and that is what Louis Theroux took away from his visit.

It was a real eye opener of a programme and it showed how many of these children in the right environment while showing the challenges that the parents without any help. It is a shame that in the United Kingdom the type of school shown in the programme don't exist in here because of Government inclusion policy that requires teachers to educate autistic children in a classroom with "normal" children. The special school focused on social interaction and teaching basic life-skills. It was a remarkable place and a model we would do well to copy.

The only criticisms are that you could have of the programme was that it was made in America and not in the United Kingdom and it could also have focused a little more on the condition itself. Having said that from what I have seen the programme has been welcomed by families with autistic children throughout the country and I hope it has done much to raise awareness of the condition in the United Kingdom.