‘My visual world can be utterly overwhelming’: Chris Packham reveals how Asperger’s syndrome means his brain processes nature in such intense detail that he sees ‘every branch, every trunk’
- The Springwatch star, 61, was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in 2015
- In new two-part BBC show on autism, he says there’s ‘hidden crisis’ of sufferers
- Read more: Chris Packham cancels all TV work after feeling ‘burnt out’ as he announces surprising new career change
Springwatch star Chris Packham says even being immersed in the natural environment he loves so much can be ‘overwhelming’ for him, as he discusses his Asperger’s syndrome in a new two-part BBC documentary on autism.
The conservationist, 61, who has enjoyed a four-decade career as one of the UK’s most popular naturalists, opens up about his own 2005 diagnosis in Inside Our Autistic Minds, the first episode of which airs on BBC Two on Tuesday.
Describing how people without Asperger’s syndrome might just see a beautiful woodland scene when they venture into a forest, he explains that he experiences it very differently, seeing ‘every trunk, every branch’.
Packham says his version of autism is ‘enormously beneficial’ for a naturalist, but also admits that sometimes the ‘visual part of my world’ is simply too much, saying ‘it becomes utterly overwhelming’.
Last month, the nature lover revealed he’s cancelled all TV work for the next three months after feeling completely ‘burnt out’.
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The host of BBC’s Winterwatch and Springwatch, 61, was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in 2005, and fronts a new two-part BBC documentary, Inside Our Autistic Minds, which airs on Tuesday night
The two-part series sees him meeting people of different ages with autism in a bid to help convey the world that they experience. It sees Packham helping a stand-up comedian to reveal her true autistic self to her mother, as well as providing a voice for radio DJ Ken Bruce’s son Murray, who is non-verbal and communicates via an electronic letter board.
The host of BBC’s Winterwatch and Springwatch went public with his own Asperger’s syndrome in 2016, and the following year made a BBC documentary on the subject titled, Asperger’s and Me.
He says people with autism should be understood not ‘tolerated’ as he voiced his fears about the impact of social media on youngsters living with the condition.
The presenter says he is still ‘scarred’ from the ‘horrific’ bullying he faced as a child and said his life would have been ‘absolute hell’ if one particular bully could have continued to abuse him online too.
The programme sees the naturalist reveal how his brain processes a beautiful woodland scene differently to how others might, focusing on granular details in which he scans ‘every trunk, every branch’
The naturalist will focus on other people’s experience of autism in his latest BBC documentary (Pictured with Springwatch co-host Michaela Strachan)
Packham says his version of autism is ‘enormously beneficial’ for a naturalist, but also admits that sometimes the ‘visual part of my world’ is ‘simply too much’
He said: ‘When I went to my bedroom in the 1970s and I closed the door and there was no way of reaching me, I found security. ‘I was in that space where I could just carry on existing.
‘But now that bedroom has been penetrated by social media because those kids will have their phones and they will have access to those people who misunderstand them.’
Explaining how it’s estimated that 700,000 people in the UK could have autism, he continued: ‘I can see because of my visual memory some of the most horrific things that other young people said to me when I was a kid and they still hurt now which means they’ve carried a burden to now.
‘They’ve tattooed something unpleasant in my psyche that will still have an influence now. If that’s coming through Instagram or TikTok or Facebook, that can be pretty damaging.
‘I’m so pleased that a particular child in my early life could never get to me in my bedroom because he made my life absolute hell… the damage is done. It just never goes away.’
Packham did acknowledge that social media could provide a space for ‘finding like-minded people who are not in your classroom’ and urged those with an ‘enormous voice’ to use it to raise awareness for autism.
‘We just need to find people who have a voice and have the bravery to speak out but that is hard,’ he said. ‘There are some great people with great voices who you know could be using for great good but they’re just not doing it. It’s pretty sad.’
Packham, who was 44 when he was diagnosed, said the ‘overwhelming’ response to the show inspired him to make upcoming two-parter, Inside Our Autistic Minds, in a bid to help people to understand the complexities of autism.
He said he’d received many letters after going public about his Asperger’s syndrome in 2016 – and said there could be up to 700,000 people living with autism in the UK
Time out: The wildlife presenter is taking a break from the cameras for the first time in nearly four decades (pictured with Michaela Strachan and Gillian Burke)
Scars: Packham says he was bullied at school and feels relief that there wasn’t social media around at the time so his tormenters ‘could never get to me in my bedroom’ (Pictured as a child, and in the new BBC2 series)
Career: Chris says this is the first time in his TV career he has taken a break (pictured filming The Really Wild Show which ran from 1986 to 1995)
He said: ‘It does take courage even as an adult to say “I acknowledge my difference”… [The] principal of what you’re saying is “I would like you to embrace it too. I’m asking you for understanding”.
‘Sometimes people say “tolerance” and I don’t think we should be tolerated. We should be understood.’
Packham said he spent years ‘masking’ his condition – suppressing certain behaviours that others may regard as weird – but would make ‘catastrophic mistakes’ that damaged close relationships when he accidentally dropped the habit.
‘I have to be constantly cautious about what I say to the people that I work with and the people that I live with because I don’t want to harm them,’ he said.
In January, Packham revealed he’d cancelled all TV work for the next three months after feeling completely ‘burnt out’.
He said he’s taking a break from cameras for the first time in nearly four decades after saying he feels like he’s been constantly running on a treadmill – using the start of the year to create abstract sculptures of animals.
‘I’m not going to buy a Ferrari and run off with a 20-year-old,’ he told The Mirror.
‘I’ve never taken three months off work. Never. I can barely sleep I am so excited. I might have to ban [partner] Charlotte from the studios.’
Of his new art project, Chris added: ‘I don’t want any interference or disruption, I want to get on with it. It will be good to clear my head and focus on something completely different.’
Inside Our Autistic Minds airs on BBC Two on February 14th
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