Just to keep my friends posted, as promised the BBC Horizon team contacted me by phone yesterday and I gave and hour and a half long interview to their researcher. It was very tiring and had to go over a lifetime of experiences and stuff like that. They are making a film, with Uta Frith, who is a world famous Developmental Psychologist and expert on Autism. I was asked if I would give my consent to be filmed and could possible participate in the actual film. I said that would be alright, but am aware that I and my family are very discreet people and would find it hard to be on camera. On the other hand, it is a unique opportunity to tackle autism awareness and to be involved with a much respected Television channel. It would also be an honor to meet Uta Frith! During my interview, I became aware of what my unique selling point may be, the fact that I am a father diagnosed with aspergers and that I have two boys on the spectrum as well. In particular I was asked about my special interest, and the researcher was fascinated by my interest in Brazil. I explained about my social life being dependent on this special interest, and they thought it was most important that I keep this going. My interest in Brazil started when I was around 6, these were the golden days of Brazilian football, Pele, Banana kicks and so on. Then one day I saw a black and white photo of the Sugar Loaf Mountain (Pao de acucar) in an Encyclopedia. This in turn led me to start reading all books, encyclopedias on Brazil. I became fascinated by palm trees, climate statistics, the color blue, and of course the geniuses of the Brazilian football game. By the time I was 10 I knew thousands of Latin names of tropical plants, and also read and watched many documentaries on Jungle wildlife, particularly the Amazon forest. It was a coincidence that, I met my wife in London, 30 years ago, and of course she was Brazilian. From then I had my honeymoon in Brazil and visited my dream, my destiny, the sugar loaf mountain. I then visited Brazil some 12 times, even 3 times in one year! I decided to live there and in 1991 to 93 we lived in a suburb of Sao Paulo. There I gave English Language conversation classes to Company directors, Staff at Votoramtim, Banco do Brasil, and Yazigi English school. My first son was born in Brazil, but was 8 weeks premature, so after selling my house to pay the hospital bills we came back to London. However I continued my interest in Brazil and studied for a degree on the Open University. Part of the course covered Brazilian culture, music, history and politics, and that was just great. Now I am here, its been 13 years since I went to Brazil, but I have amassed a huge amount of wonderful friends and followers, who I have learnt a tremendous amount from. I even wrote a few letters for Bruna Linzmeyer, the actress in Amor a Vida, who is portraying an autistic girl. To my surprise and pleasure she wrote back to me on several occasions and as she knows I am a very big fan of hers and appreciate her heartfelt commitment to autism awareness. So from a little 6 year old, to Bruna, I am now inspired to write my autobiography. It really has been a very long journey to get to this point, some 50 years, and I often wonder if it was just a coincidence or some sort of destiny? Brian
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 10:05:45 +0000
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