Because George has autism, it is difficult for his classmates at Douglas Elementary School to connect with him on a personal level. Therefore, he employed a project in the classroom to assist students in better comprehending how he was.
In addition to writing the script, narrating the movie, editing the footage, and producing the video, George also composed an original score to go along with the six-minute short, that called “My Autism.”
“Hi, everybody. My name is George,” George introduces himself at the beginning of the voiceover while the text reads “GEORGE… and AUTISM appears on the screen for a split second before the scene cuts to footage of George dancing.”
He continues: “Let me tell you a little about myself. I have fun dancing, I have fun making music, I love to draw and make art, and … wait for it … I have this thing called autism.”
In the movie, George discusses some of the peculiarities that define him as an individual. These are characteristics that he is certain his classmates have observed about him, but which they may not have dared to question.
Such as the fact that he has problems making eye contact with people when they are speaking to him, despite the fact that he claims to have gotten better at it in recent years. “I might not have been looking, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t listening.”
He explained that he is able to hear and see a great deal of information and sounds all at once, which can make it challenging for him to concentrate on a single sound or idea at a time. When you ask a question, his response to you may take a little bit more time than usual because of this reason.
As is typical for children with autism, he also struggles with metaphors and other figures of speech. As a result, he encourages his classmates to communicate with him in the most direct and straightforward manner possible.
He jokes: “If you say ‘take a seat,’ you might find one less chair in your classroom.”
In the video, George also discusses some of the difficulties he has in life, and he expresses the hope that his friends would be able to better understand why he occasionally cries, yells, or gets upset.
He admits: “I sometimes get frustrated when I get interrupted or when something doesn’t go as planned. Or when something unexpected happens. Or when I make a mistake.”
George also adds audio and footage of himself tripping over his words while recording the narration for the movie and growing visibly angry. The video shows George acting out a tantrum at a book reading when he was much younger. He sobs, “But I messed up!”
He said: “All us kids are different in our own ways, right?”
Even though it seems like he might not be interested in participating, George begs his classmates to come to chat with him, ask him questions, or invite him to play, even though it seems like he might not be interested in participating.
He told: “I like having fun, just like you. So if you ever see me playing by myself, it doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t want to play with you, too. I always want to play with you.”
It is not surprising that the video has gone viral given his endearing honesty and his larger-than-life on-screen persona, both of which are very fascinating. It didn’t take long for the video to amass tens of thousands of views and hundreds of comments shortly after it was uploaded to YouTube and Facebook.
It is incredibly cool and really crucial that George has taken ownership of his own life narrative and experience and is sharing them in his own words. This is because we live in a world where people with autism aren’t typically given the chance to speak for themselves. Even though he is just nine years old, he has already made significant progress toward assisting the world in better comprehending a disorder that impacts around 1 in 68 children in the United States.