Filmmaker Explores Struggles With Autism In New Documentary
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A new film explores the hardships fathers face when their child is diagnosed with autism. NY1’s Cheryl Wills filed the following report, the first in a series about autism.Charles Jones is telling the little family secret about autism that few people talk about openly: That many fathers of children with special needs have a tough time facing it.
“I felt a lot of guilt, shame, a lot of things—anger. Didn’t know who to be mad at. God, why did you do this to him? What did this little boy do?” says Jones.
Jones' son Charles Malik was diagnosed with autism as a toddler in 2006, and the filmmaker says he was overwhelmed and even embarrassed.
"There was a time I couldn’t talk about my son’s condition. When I told my dad, I begged him, please don’t tell anybody," says Jones.
Embarrassed no more, Charles Jones is the director of a documentary called "Autistic Like Me: A Father's Perspective." After years of therapy for both his son and himself, Jones learned how to embrace his son's condition and even be empowered by it, and he's trying to help other fathers do the same.
With his cameras rolling at a retreat for father of autistic children, Jones helped 14 fathers open about their autistic children. He says it was a healing experience that he wants to catch on across the country.
“I think this film is a demonstration to men that you don’t have to do this by yourself,” says Jones. “That child needs you. You may not think they understand what’s going on, but they do.”
In the film, Jones also charts his son's therapy and progress through the years to help erase the stigmas associated with autism.
“In the beginning I didn’t see the value in it. I thought it was all nonsense because it was the slowest walk,” says Jones. “I couldn’t see the progress when the therapist would come to the house.”
His viewpoint has changed.
“Now I see changes in big steps,” says Jones. “He’s come a long way. He’s come a long way.”
In NY1’s next report, you will hear from doctors who explain why fathers of autistic children are sometimes reluctant to face their special needs and the programs that are available to help them.