I strongly believe that if we want to understand autism we must listen to people who have the autistic spectrum condition but that have also developed a good level of insight into their condition. The internet and social networks have facilitated establishing links between people and I think we should all take advantage of these new technologies. It has been thanks to this that I have come into contact with Rory Hoy, a boy from Yorkshire committed to helping all of us understand his condition.
Rory has sent me an e-mail narrating his experiences growing up with autism and all his projects for the future. I would like to thank Rory for allowing me to publish this on my blog. I am sure many people will enjoy reading it.
Best wishes for the future Rory and I hope you get in touch.
Autism & Me
An article by Rory Hoy
31/10/09
I only knew about my autism in 2003, as Mum and Dad wanted to wait until I understood what autism was before telling me all about it. They felt that I would be able to cope better if I was a little more mature and understanding. I always wondered why I was different from everybody else! I was in a special school until I was nearly 9, and Mum and Dad said I was really in a world of my own for a long time. I was late in talking and found it hard to understand what was going on a lot of the time. I went into mainstream school and really started progressing, especially at secondary school where I managed to get 10 GCSEs and 2 A levels. I still felt different and school was not always easy, but I had good support and seemed to cope all right. I’ve been very lucky with my schools as they’ve been great and have helped me a lot.
Since August 2002, I found I had a talent for making short silly films. I made quite a few and had a couple shown on BBC TV! My first ‘serious’ project was my film ‘Autism & Me’ and one that, I know, has helped countless people worldwide. I felt there needed to be something out there that was more simple and easy to see or read than all the endless books and stuff, which were hard to understand. It’s a film families and groups can watch together and hopefully they will come away understanding a little more about us. One lady said she felt she knew her son for the first time after seeing it – so I must have done something right! I get messages from all over the world about this film and I feature in lots of forums and blogs. The film is now released worldwide on DVD together with a booklet I’ve done through Jessica Kingsley Publishers (www.jkp.com) and it’s also been a great help to schools and professionals. I do often go into schools and organisations where they show my film and talk afterwards about my autism and experiences and do Q&A sessions, which is always rewarding and I meet some great people! I’ve appeared many times on British and American TV and Radio and I’ve had lots of lovely letters and praise from famous people about the film, including Stephen Fry, Michael Palin and the lovely Billie Piper! I’ve won lots of national awards for this film, including a UNICEF award, a Royal Television Society nomination, a NASEN & TES Award and a Film 4 Youth Award, which was presented to me by Film Director Guy Ritchie, who is involved in the large charity UK Youth. In fact, UK Youth have asked me to be a Centenary Ambassador for them in 2010, which is a great honour. You may be interested to see a short promotional film, with an appearance from me at the end!
http://www.epiphany.myzen.co.uk/UKYouth/UKYouthPositive.html
. A 5-minute cut-down version of ‘Autism & Me’ even popped up on YouTube via Film 4 Youth. It’s funny, as the channel’s subscribers are all there because of my film, and do not realise I have a proper YouTube account myself, which is more about my music.(http://www.youtube.com/user/roryhoymusic) .
And music is what I am doing now! I am an up-and coming Music Producer.(www.myspace.com/roryhoy) I was signed to legendary Minnesota DJ Freddy Fresh’s Howlin’ Records label in 2007, which resulted in the critically acclaimed chillout album “Cosmic Child” released in March 2008.This album is now being used as background music and is even played on some American airlines! Another more “Funky Breaks” album called “Standing On Dust” was released July this year, which sees me go into territory based on my various influences including Fatboy Slim, James Brown, Mr. Scruff, The Wiseguys and Freddy Fresh himself. Many DJ’s have picked up on my “Standing On Dust” tunes including BBC Radio 6 DJ and Actor – Craig Charles, who’s played me 3 times on his ‘Funk & Soul’ show!
At the moment, I have remixed the likes of RamSkank, Boomjuice, DJ Prosper and Dan Le Sac VS Scroobius Pip. I am also making a single for Skint Records (The label Fatboy Slim is on) who have re-launched their ‘Under 5s’ label and have a 12” vinyl EP coming out on BigM Records run by famous Mick from Mick and Marc. I am working on various singles and EPs on different labels, and I’m also working with various artists around the world, so it’s all very exciting.
I am Youth Patron of the charity ‘Resources for Autism’ and was invited to their 10th Anniversary celebrations at the House of Lords because of this. They are based in London and have also opened a centre in Birmingham (www.resourcesforautism.org.uk ) and do some great, innovative work with children and young people on the autistic spectrum.
Have I finished raising Autism Awareness? No!
My pet project since the beginning of the year is to hopefully conceive a charity single to help raise Autism Awareness. I want to do a joint collaboration with a celebrity singer along the lines of Joss Stone or Duffy. That would be just the icing on the cake!
I hope I will be able to realise my ambitions, as being positive about myself makes my dreams come true.
Rory
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