I don’t know much about autism, except that there are more people diagnosed with it than there used to be. But a TV show this week dealt with the condition in a way that should be commended.
Surprisingly, the show is “Survivor,” which has been on CBS since 2000. This is the one where a bunch of people are put on an island and vote one player out of the game every episode until the last person remaining wins $1 million.
The season that began in February was different because one of the players, a 24-year-old named Eva, confided on camera at the start that she has autism. She told one other contestant, a 45-year-old firefighter named Joe, about her condition.
She told him that when she gets overstimulated, her autism leads to “episodes,” and asked for his help returning her to normal if one occurred.
Well, one occured Wednesday night. Four members of each of the three tribes had to navigate a ball through a board maze, and Eva couldn’t do it. She kept getting more intense and frustrated, but finally got the ball through and protected her tribe from having to vote out one of its members.
As her team hugged her and celebrated, Eva lost control. The overstimulation brought on crying, screams and gasping breaths. Nobody else in the game knew she was having a autism meltdown except Joe, who had been moved to a different tribe and was 30 feet away, unable to help.
Finally the host, Jeff Probst, who also knew that Eva had told Joe about her condition, suggested he give her a hug. Joe wrapped her up, clutched her hands as she had told him several days before to do, reminded her to take deep breaths, and gently got her off the ledge.
It was as if he’d been working with autism patients all his life. More important, it was a basic act of kindness that we rarely see on TV these days.
That was interesting enough, but it’s what Joe and Eva said afterward that made for remarkable television.
Probst noted that Joe, by going over to Eva and calming her in front of all the other players, had revealed their close friendship to the rest of the group. That can be costly when everyone is trying to win $1 million, and having too many allies can get you voted out.
Joe said that didn’t matter because Eva needed help. He said he would want someone to tend to his daughter in this way if she were in trouble.
Every parent understands that, and good firefighter that he is, Joe took action.
Eva then told all the players about her condition. What she said was compelling.
“I have autism,” she said. “I was diagnosed when I was very, very young. Doctors told my parents that I would never live independently, that I would never hold a job, that at most, I could hope to marry someone else with autism.
“And my parents, they did not give up on me, and they put me through so many different treatments to help me get all the support that I needed.
“I’ve never viewed my autism as a roadblock to success,” she added. “It’s not something to work around, it’s just part of who I am. There’s nothing bad about it. But I still have so many things that I struggle with.”
She also said people who have autism “should not be ashamed to ask for help.”
Probst told her there would be children with autism watching the show, and what Eva had said would make a difference to them. And then, surprisingly, Probst teared up, saying he’s a parent too.
It was a big day for Eva, probably one of the best of her life. When her tribe returned to their camp, another player showed everyone a riddle that led to a reward. Eva solved it, and the player who had found the riddle let her keep the prize.
At first I thought all this made Eva a favorite to win the $1 million. But autism makes it difficult for her to read “social cues,” so she may not be able to tell when someone is lying. In this game, that is a massive handicap.
I also would mark Joe as a favorite, but more likely the other players will band together to vote him out, correctly reasoning they wouldn’t beat him at the end.
I did wonder if some of this week’s show was staged. It’s reality TV, after all. But none of the many websites I looked at, which analyze the game closely, said anything like that. Probst said in an interview that the show’s editors spent a lot of time working on Eva’s and Joe’s scene in order to present it properly.
Eva’s struggle, meltdown and recovery put a face on autism that we rarely see. By the way, the child who would never live independently or hold a job is a Georgia Tech graduate and an engineering Ph.D. candidate.
And unless I am mistaken, she soon will be an advocate for autism awareness.
