Mom Has Brutally Honest Response to Portrayal of Autism in New TV Series

“The A Word,” the hotly-anticipated U.K. television series about a boy with autism and his family, premieres Tuesday on BBC. While a number of media outlets have been lauding the program for tackling a subject seldom addressed by the entertainment industry, calling it a “beautifully believable drama,” one mom has spoken out about the show’s portrayal of autism.

Karen Rockett, whose 6-year-old son Elwood has autism, wrote a brief letter to the Mirror, stating that she will watch the show, but she doesn’t exactly relate because her son is nonverbal. She goes on to point out that children like her son, who may never live independently, likely won’t ever be the subject of such shows because they don’t “make for good television.”

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Rockett wrote:

I will definitely be tuning in to watch The A Word tonight ….even though I know it will probably make me cry.

For those of us whose children are not at the more ‘glamorous’ end of the spectrum, those portrayals of quirky, cute little geniuses are miles away from our day-to-day experiences.

My son doesn’t talk at all and he certainly doesn’t memorize and recite reams of information.

He attends a special school, has a developmental age of two and will never live independently.

But then I don’t suppose the non-verbal auties make for good television.

Who wants to watch a TV drama about a teenager still in nappies banging his head on the floor and living in residential care because his broken parents can’t cope and split up years ago?

No, I thought not.

The first episode of “The A Word” airs on BBC One on Tuesday March 22, 2016. You can read a review of the first episode from an autistic woman and her dad here.

Will you watch?