The Party: a virtual experience of autism – 360 film

Everyday situations can be stressful for those on the autism spectrum. Step into the shoes of 16-year-old Layla as she attends a birthday party. Hear her inner thoughts and experience how overwhelming an occasion like this can be for her

Warning: This film contains effects which may cause anxiety for some viewers.

The Guardian YouTube network:

#autism #autismawareness #autismacceptance #autismo #

[jonahhillman]

One thing about being autistic is that you hear EVERYTHING. Not really that it's louder, but you just notice it. You can hear each individual voice. Not that being autistic is bad, though. I love having an encyclopedic memory and massive attention span to use on my incredibly strong interests. Even the sensory sensitivity is nice sometimes. It's incredible to walk into a forest and be able to hear every bird and raindrop around you. I wouldn't give that up for the world.

[molly_nap_queen]

2:13 "How does everyone else know how to act?" This one hit me right in the face. How do they know? No one has told me. They just expect me to know.

[PageShearling]

The relief I felt when she was in her room made me feel like crying.

[tinypirate]

"People will think you don't want to talk to them!"
People would be correct.
Lmao.

[bigcrusty]

This is pretty accurate. Only difference is, there is no inner monlogue telling me what is bothering me and reading out my own emotions for me. That would actually be pretty helpful, but I'm usually too focused on making sure I'm saying and doing the right things at the right time so no one thinks I'm an alien. I usually can't pinpoint the things that are making me want to rip my own hair out, and I definitely don't realize that I am overwhelmed until it's too late and I'm hiding in a bathroom somewhere.

[theodenking]

The casual ableism from the grandma is a great touch

[moldysourlemons]

I'm 16 and recently diagnosed with ASD. If you take this video, extend the length of the party to seven hours, have the pov be forced to struggle working on tedious assignments almost the whole time, take out the part where someone shows understanding of the pov's experience at the end, then have the pov acknowledge that they'll have to do it again the very next day, you'll end up with a pretty accurate depiction of my high-school experience.

[ob]

Most relatable part in this video for me, is recovering from "the party". It takes days sometimes a whole week. And i get called lazy, but it is exhausting.

[TH-lzit]

I WISH I could hear my thoughts this clearly during sensory overload lol. My internal monologue is just internalized screaming during these situations, there’s no way I’d be able to identify every individual thing or focus on any mindfulness exercises with clarity XD

[haybuhay]

When she was in her room finally—i know that exact feeling. I look forward to it each day.

[NobodyOfTheTardis]

Please do it with parents who don’t understand, so people can see just how isolated people are, especially when they haven’t been diagnosed and the parents think they’re just being awkward.

[alexforshaw]

This is very well done, totally relatable as an autistic person myself. This captures experiences I've had myself very accurately.

I had such a strong reaction I wanted to leave that room myself - I was feeling threatened and anxious. The sensory aspect was triggering my flight instinct. It was a relief when the scene changed to the bedroom - so much calmer.

[TheIllusiveMan]

As an autistic person, I can confirm this is fairly accurate, at least to my personal experiences. The visuals of it are exaggerated obviously, for me going to a party doesn't cause blurred vision or saving private ryan type ringing in my ears. But the feeling of being overwhelmed, of just sticking in one place or just wanting to be alone and somewhere quieter. I have experienced that, even as I am now older and much more sociable, it is still a big issue for me.

And the relief you feel when you finally get somewhere comfortable and safe. Believe me that is very true. I know when I am invited to things like that, my family are not being malicious and that they just want to make sure I don't miss out. But it can be hard to say you just don't want to go to something.

So yeah, this is very much true

[UniversalGuides]

This is how my anxiety attacks feel. Your heart races, you hear everyone talk at once. Feels like a heart attack, then the blurry vision kicks in. It's damn near identical to what this video shows. If you did a shot of adrenaline and put this on it would be pretty spot on..

[quack_dragon]

I am not autistic, but this helps me realize just how important it is for people to understand autism. Layla was doing an incredible job managing a bad situation, but it never should have happened in the first place. No one should feel like they're drowning 24/7. I hope more people see this.

[whitecat]

I'm undiagnosed but I can relate to almost of what happened here, the sudden loud noises, the endless chattering, the feel of not wanting to socialiaze with other and the fatigue of being in a chaotic social function like that

[Unprotected]

Fascinating audio-visual experiment. You should continue this with a series on mental health and well-being.

[EmmyHucker]

This is really eye-opening. I had no idea Autism could be this stressful! Well done for sharing educational media, it is fundamental to my understanding as someone who doesn't experience this.

[maxhamlin]

This is what people like me go through. It is hard, especially if you are not diagnosed like me. People don't know why I act the way I do. I do but they don't listen. They think that me thinking that I am autistic is really unrealistic. They say things like you don't seem autistic or you can not be autistic but they don't do their research. People don't understand that it is a struggle being afraid to talk or to even look people in the eye. I have to guess what people are going to say and formulate something for me to say back. It is a struggle, especially when people don't believe you.

[rosalisadocile]

Allrighty then... can someone PLEASE make a video how normal ppl experience party's? This information for neurotypicals is great!☺ but aren't there more autists that want to learn about neurotypicals?? Would you consider making a video how neurotypics experience the same party? Its good to learn about each other... i really REALLY want to understand why, especially party's and crowds, are fun to others!