18th March 2018
It doesn’t matter if you are Autistic or Neurotypical, we all have so called “Heroes and Heroines”. People that we respect for one reason or another. People that have inspired us and impressed us in their lives to the point of admiration. When thinking about this I realised that you can perhaps tell something about a person, dependant on the people that they class as heroes.
As an Autistic this can be a point to help work out people’s character. Autistics love it when someone asks the question “Who is your favourite…..?” It gives me an opportunity to talk about somebody they like. This can help include them into conversations in difficult social events and also at work.
So I thought it would be fun to go through some of my heroes in various categories and then hopefully other people can then talk about their too, under the same of similar categories. So let’s start…
MUSCIAN:
My absolutely favourite musician is Michael Stipe, lead singer and front man to the band R.E.M. (obviously my favourite band too). I was introduced to their music when I was fifteen and going through a rough time in my life suffering from depression. I was given a copy of the album “Automatic for the People” which somehow just defined what I was going through.
Michael’s lyrics and singing style just connected to me and I became a massive fan of his and the bands music. He is also a great supporter of many causes and charities. He is generally a cool and enigmatic guy. Stipe also has interests in visual arts and has helped me to realise that my own creativity can span many different genres.
ACTOR:
A difficult one as I have many favourites, but top of my list is Michael Fassbender (don’t worry not all these heroes have the first name of Michael!). I think it is important for an actor to undertake a wide range of roles and he certainly has. From his portrayal of Bobby Sands in “Hunger” detailing the IRA Hunger strike to be recognised as political prisoners, to the fictional character of the X-man Magneto in “X-Men First Class”. Fassbender can play real people and fictional ones with ease.
He is a powerful actor whose films leave me wanting more and when he is starring in a role based on real life events, he always makes me want to find out more after the film is done about those events. I think my favourite film of his is “Frank” which deals with mental health in a thought provoking and uniquely touching way.
I also want to give a mention to my favourite female actor “Carey Mulligan” who I first saw in the Dr Who episode “Blink” where she played the character of Sally Sparrow perfectly. Her best performance by far was in “Suffragette” which made me think about Women’s Suffrage in new ways through her portrayal as Maud Watts, a women having to balance doing what she felt was right, against the stigmas that were forced upon her during those times. I am glad that I live in a more enlightened period, but as the film reminds us at the end, we still have a long way to go.
MATHEMATICIAN:
A weird topic I know but as a great love of maths I had to have one. Plus this guy is almost certainly top of my heroes list. Alan Turing. He is most known for his breaking of the enigma code during the second world war and for his persecution as a Homosexual in a time when being gay was not only illegal, but also shunned upon in society. Being interested in maths though, I admire him for his work in this field and how his mind worked. The idea to build a machine that could remove the labouring of mathematics, and in the case of the Bombe (used to break Enigma codes), is inspired. But his other work on Turing Machines, LU decomposition and his later work on Morphogenesis are all equally great, moving those topics and ideas forward.
It is a shame that he died so young, as I am sure he would have had more to offer especially if he could have had access to the technology of today. It is also often pondered that he perhaps was Autistic (Aspergers). To me this is irrelevant though, whether he was or not, I know he had an amazing mind. I would encourage anyone to visit Bletchley Park to learn more about him.
SPORTING:
Ok, I am not really into sports at all. But as a horse owner with a wife who competes in Dressage, I do like the equestrian sports. Therefore my sporting heroine would have to be Natasha Baker, a British Para-equestrian who has won five gold medals in the last two Paralympics. I was privileged to watch Natasha win two of her gold’s at the 2012 Paralympics in London. Being Autistic and not a sports fan, I should have struggled somewhat in the crowds at the arena in Greenwich on that day, but the atmosphere was amazing. Knowing the work that goes into competing at dressage, I admired Natasha’s victory that day. She also does a lot of great publicity work for the sport and for raising awareness for disabled riders.
AUTISTIC:
My Autistic heroine would have to be Temple Grandin. I am sure that a lot of people who read this blog would agree with me. She has done so much for Autistic Rights and I sure many Autistic Advocates of today have been inspired by her. Alongside this, her work for animal welfare is also outstanding. I admire anyone who has the courage to stand up and be themselves and speak out for others. This is even more difficult when you think differently to those around you. She also had to contend with being female in a male industry. I am not sure if that has changed now, but I am sure it must have presented a problem at some point.
This comes across in the biopic film of her life “Temple Grandin” where she is portrayed brilliantly by actress Claire Danes. Her work in the Autistic field is well known though and she has written many excellent books.
PERSONAL:
Heroes and Heroines do not always have to be famous. They can be family or friends or people you know in your community. My personal heroine would have to be my wife. Mainly for putting up with me. Ha ha! Only joking. Forget that she is my wife for the rest of this. She is just a wonderful people person. She is very kind, supported and has a very high level of emotionally intelligence. Very good at problem solving when it comes to people. I think I admire that, especially as often due to being Autistic, I never know how to handle people, see things from the side of others and know what to say. Whereas she always does. Ok she is not famous but she certainly has a wide influence on those fortunate to be around her, and I know I am luckiest for being able to share being with her the most.
AUTHOR:
This is a tough one as I think I have several and to just pick one is difficult. I think the winner though would be George Orwell. I like dystopian novels for some reason and the best of these without a doubt is “1984”. His writings may be scary and depressing but stories like this and “Animal Farm” also act as warnings to help teach us to be better in society. Very clever stuff and you only have to see how much material from “1984” has been brought into our modern language….Big Brother is watching you but also we are watching Big Brother. He was definitely a writer ahead of his time.
ARTIST:
M.C. Escher. Without a shadow of a doubt. I love his geometric ink cuttings and his work just blows my mind. His work included tessellation, reflection, polyhedra, impossible objects, morphosis and even hyperbolic geometry. All things that interest me and fascinate me. Even his style of black and white ink cuttings with minimal colour is outstanding. I was lucky enough to attend an exhibition of his work in Edinburgh a few years back and it was one of the best days I have ever had. Great stuff.
FICTIONAL:
My fictional hero would have to be Sam Beckett as played by Scott Bakula in the science fiction TV show “Quantum Leap”. The premise of the story is that Sam in each episode “leaps” into the body of a character to improve history by “putting right what once went wrong”. The show tackled some serious subject matter such as race issues, feminism, disability, family, war and abuse.
Whatever the issue, Sam was a moral character who always did the right thing despite the hardship and he was in. I admired his ability to not be selfish and to make sacrifices in order to help people, even at great cost to himself. Although I lack the courage of somebody like Sam, I hope that I would do the right thing in a difficult situation. In difficult times you could ask yourself the question “What would Sam Beckett do?” and know that the answer would probably be the best thing to do.
And that’s about it. This has been a long blog but I enjoyed writing it. So now who are your heroes and heroines?