Growing Children

Autism is a complicated and often misunderstood condition. In this film, child psychologist Laverne Antrobus goes on a quest to discover the different way that the brain works in children with autism and to explore the latest scientific research. Laverne meets Tony, a severely autistic teenager who requires full-time care from his family, and learns some of the difficult sensory problems that children with autism can have. The autistic brain cannot always process light and sound in the correct way, leading to an overwhelming and exhausting overload of noise and color. Laverne travels to the University of Cardiff to investigate new research into the link between sensory issues and the autistic brain. She also goes to the University of Nottingham to try and uncover why people like Tony appear to be so socially isolated. She begins to learn the amazing way our brains work when confronted with social situations and how we understand the social cues that we encounter every day - and what happens when this goes wrong. With a better understanding of Tony's difficulties, Laverne then continues to follow his story as this family go through the difficult and highly emotional transition of putting their son into full-time residential care. Laverne also meets a family with two young boys, Jake and Zaine. Jake has been diagnosed with high functioning autism - the opposite end of the spectrum to Tony. By spending time with Jake, Laverne sees some of the social difficulties associated with the condition, such as the daily struggle with school and making friends. Jake's younger brother Zaine is also beginning to show autistic traits and in a particularly poignant sequence Laverne attends a diagnosis session with the family. With amazing access to this emotional day, Laverne explores the complicated process of diagnosis and the symptoms that are looked for in order to reach the correct conclusion. Laverne also investigates some exciting and pioneering research being carried

In this fascinating film, Laverne Antrobus explores the complicated and often misunderstood condition of obsessive compulsive disorder. Laverne reveals what is actually happening in the brains of children with OCD that makes them so different from other youngsters. She meets OCD sufferers, examines the causes of such a debilitating disorder and takes a look at the innovative methods being used to overcome it. She meets the parents whose lives have been overtaken by caring for their child and interviews the scientists investigating the causes. As Laverne learns about the illness, we get an amazing insight into the developing mind and how we all process day-to-day anxieties and stress. OCD is one of the most common anxiety disorders in children, affecting over 1 per cent of people in the UK. Sufferers have intrusive obsessive thoughts that can cause extreme anxiety which compels them to repeatedly perform compulsive behaviors aimed at reducing that anxiety. Symptoms can range broadly, something that Laverne discovers through visiting two different teenagers. Anna suffers from obsessive hand washing, something which is beginning to dominate her life more and more. In a powerful interview with Laverne we learn just how much control OCD has over her and the way she thinks. The next teenager that Laverne meets is Jonathan. In contrast to Anna his OCD is characterized by obsessive irrational thoughts in which he thinks he has harmed someone, even though it is something he has never done. Laverne embarks on a quest to discover why anxiety is part of human nature and what happens when it goes too far. At King's College London she conducts a test to measure her response to threats and the theory that anxiety has evolved as a defensive response. Laverne also confronts her own fear of spiders at an anxiety workshop where she is made to handle a tarantula. Laverne then examines the different way that brains of children with OCD actually develop. Why are they so over-anx

Laverne Antrobus looks into one of the most common problems for children, dyslexia, and uncovers some incredible developments in neuroscience that are showing how the dyslexic brain works. As many as one in ten are now thought to be affected by this condition. Laverne discovers that when dyslexia is combined with that crucial period of children's lives when they are first starting to learn, it can be disastrous and lead to poor self-esteem, high stress and low achievement. Laverne also learns that dyslexia is not just something that affects children when they are learning to read - it is a lifelong incurable condition that can affect many aspects of someone's life. How can someone with dyslexia cope as they start the process of entering the working world? We live in a world of words. Almost everything we do involves reading - instructions, computers, phones, newspapers. It's a skill that is fundamental to functioning properly in today's society, and with the internet it has become ever more crucial. It has now been estimated that we see or hear over 100,000 words every day. Laverne meets Lettie, a ten-year-old girl who faces a daily battle with reading. Through an insightful interview, Laverne learns just how challenging this can make things for her. In a fascinating experiment, Laverne also uses computer animations to make her favorite book - Jane Eyre - difficult for her to read. Through this we begin to see the different way in which a dyslexic views the world. Laverne also meets Alyce, who has just completed her GCSEs and is thinking about her future. How can dyslexia affect someone's working life? Laverne follows her through her child care course and sees how she struggles with reading to the children, but also her determination to follow her chosen career despite her dyslexia. She also accompanies her in a very emotional sequence where she is reassessed to reveal the extent of her dyslexia. Laverne then investigates how children in the UK are taught t