Bryan and Moira – Interview 08 & 09  

Bryan and Moira – Interview 08 & 09

Age at Interview: 72 and 73
Background: Bryan and Moira are both retired. He is a former naval officer whilst Moira used to work part-time as a shop assistant. They have two children and three grandchildren. Ethnicity/nationality: White British.

Brief outline:Bryan and Moira’s oldest grandson was diagnosed with autism when he was three years old. He is now twenty-one.

More about me...

To watch or read an interview clip, click on the heading that interests you. Either a video,audio recording or text will open, depending on the clip
To close transcript boxes, click here
To print the interview’s text, click here
Bryan reflects on how he used to try and communicate with his grandson in a way that he couldn’t relate to. He has now learnt that his grandson won’t hold a conversation.

 



Bryan: It’s interesting actually that that first started when he was quite a lot younger, I think in his earlier teens. We found that he would very frequently repeat back a phrase that somebody else had used, maybe as much as ten or fifteen minutes early, earlier, and not in context. And it took us a little while, it took me a little while anyway, to understand this was his attempt to relate to a conversation that had moved on, which he really wasn’t following. But he wanted to. He really did want to be involved and was finding it difficult and the only way to do it was to say well Bloggin’s said that and people laughed so if I say it, maybe they’ll laugh again and I’ll be included. And it was that sort of almost parroting something that had happened, that he was striving for inclusion and couldn’t understand when it didn’t work. And I suppose I took me a little while to realise that was what it was, and not to simply say, “Oh that’s silly.” And give an inappropriate reaction which I tended to do, which was wrong of me. And I recognise it, but there you go. One reacted as one felt at the time. He has always struggled to be included. Sometimes he makes it and sometimes he really completely doesn’t. And he struggles with it, constantly. But it’s not a wish not to engage. It’s inability somehow to engage.

Having a grandchild on the autism spectrum
Grandparents of people with autism
   Support our work

Mail to a friend

Send