The A Word

He talks, laughs, looks you in the eye, smiles, how's he autistic?

- I don't understand! - Right, no-one uses that word, not in this house.

If we label him now, it's over.

- You're a genius, what are ya? - A genius.

If you're hiking or cycling, the diner does the job, doesn't it?

Why build a restaurant?

Bit of advice on your first day, do not let them Polish lads

take advantage. I learnt that the hard way.

- I need a second opinion. - I won't do it because it's Michael...

- Michael? - ...who I had an affair with.

Wouldn't be fair on Eddie.

What wouldn't be fair on Eddie?

Thank you.

Joe. No, no, not today, sweetheart.

- I'll swing you round, if you like, Joe. - No, love. Come on.

He really doesn't need swinging round.

If we do this every day, then we are reinforcing him

- walking out on the road every morning. - I want Dad.

All right?

What are you doing?

Saving a hundred quid a day in labour costs.

If you're paying them a hundred quid a day, no wonder you're in trouble.

You're getting in the way of my guys.

I can dig an hole, Sally.

You always could, Paul. You always could.

Morning.

Joe, you might want to go in now. Go in now.

Morning.

Bye.

Nice and slowly...

That's it, well done.

Mozart! Come on, then! Let's go.

Hey. What you doing?

Having fun. I think that's allowed,

don't you? Full day at school?

Can you do something else for five minutes?

Just, just, take a break from the music.

Yeah.

Now?

Right...

Hey, look. Joe, look. Shall we do this?

Joe? Look, I've got a little zebra on the move here.

Joe?

Look, I've got a monkey.

Hey, you might want to turn the music off, just... Take it away.

There we go...

Right.

Yey! That's it! Good lad!

You're a great dad.

You're a great mum.

Listen, will you take him out of school? It's for the best.

What?

Look, come here. Come here. Come with me.

Back in a bit.

Have you seen him in the playground?

Have you seen any other kid talk to him?

It's early days. The school know what they're doing, love.

Joe goes to school, he gets labelled, it's over.

He's been labelled already by an expert in autism.

One expert! Just one! And she was all over the place!

And she's on Facebook every night!

It's two, seeing as we're counting. And how do you know that?

- Joe, turn that down! - Hey, hey, hey, don't shout at him.

I'm not shouting at him. I'm raising my voice.

Don't get angry with me because you're upset.

So, what if another expert tells you something that you don't want to hear?

Do we find another one and then another one?

You got a better plan?

Yes, we do what normal people do. We talk to the school

and we tell them about the diagnosis.

You see, I am DOING something, Paul.

You're talking about doing something...

In case you hadn't noticed, Alison, I am building a restaurant!

Really?

I was wondering what that pile of rubble by the diner was.

Joe! Turn that down!

Home schooling? What?

I'm not meaning to be offensive, but if Joe's damaged stock already,

won't that make him even more of an oddball?

- That's you not meaning to be offensive? - Home schooling's not that unusual, Maurice.

In London, perhaps.

I've broken the day down into sections.

There's a list of activities on the notice board.

People just fill in when they think they can help and what they can offer.

Are you getting advice on this or just diving in...?

We're going to get advice, expert advice, aren't we, Nicola?

We'll take all the advice we can, as long as Alison agrees with it.

You going to help with any sessions with Joe? Yes or no?

Yeah, I could do some early mornings, late afternoons, sure.

Great. Nicola, I was going to put you down for more sessions than anyone else,

mainly because of your expertise, but also because you're not

- working at the moment. - I'm hoping that might change. - Really?

- No need to sound so surprised. - Glad to hear it.

- The more you settle in, the more you'll be able to put the past behind you. - I already have, Maurice.

Now, perhaps YOU can put my past behind you too.

Is this kid going to have any spare time at all?

Not if I can help it, no.

And then maybe after all this intensive input, he'll be able to go back to school and cope.

And then he can have a long and unhappy life like the rest of us.

The older he gets, the more distressing it is for him

to be in a world that he doesn't understand.

That's real distress, Paul. Real pain.

Our son.

Hiya. What's happening?

We're putting together a rota for home schooling Joe.

One, that's insane, and two, I'm going to miss my bus.

That doesn't get you off the hook with the Joe rota, young lady.

Is that what we're calling him now? Joe Rota. He's Joe.

He's always been Joe. Why wouldn't we want him to be Joe?

How exactly are you going to work if he's at home all day?

I'll give up work if I have to.

And what are you going to eat, wishful thinking on toast?

I haven't planned every detail yet.

- All I need to know at the moment is whether you're going to help me or not. - Even if I disagree with it?

Are you going to help me or not?

Why can't you be more like your mother?

Great.

What do you think about that, then, Joe?

Standing on top of the world.

This time next year, we'll be running up here, you and me.

No danger.

Can you see the diner? Joe? Your dad's new pub?

Just... just follow the river.

Does Dad know that Maya's still temping here?

Is that what you came here to ask me?

No.

I want your blessing for me to send Joe's reports to Michael

and for Michael to talk them through with Nicola.

Michael who?

You know very well.

Nicola's ex-lover. That Michael.

Yeah. You said it yourself, we need an expert.

He's a real expert.

He's certainly that.

Nicola won't speak to him unless you're OK with it. Do you mind?

Would it make any difference to you if I did?

No. Not really.

Then, it isn't a question.

Don't make it difficult for me.

No, I mean, a question requires an answer. There is no answer, so it's not really a question.

- Christ, it must be hard being you sometimes! - Yes.

It is.

If you want Nicola to talk to Michael about Joe, then... do it.

But don't ask me to like it.

You should speak to Michael about Joe.

I mean, it's his specialist subject, so...

Alison spoke to you?

Yeah. And, I mean, it's for Joe.

I was... I was thinking that, too.

Were you?

Yeah, Michael's teaching two days a week in Manchester at the moment.

How do you know that?

I get e-mailed all the courses, the... the BMJ training courses.

Well. There you go. Perfect opportunity.

You'd be all right with it?

I've said so, haven't I?

OK.

'I think there are ways of engaging him,

'even when he's locked into these self-soothing behaviours.

'I think we need to maybe move towards him,

'so that he can move towards us.

'It might be a case of using the object he's fixated on...'

'..his three-month check, his six-month check...'

Is there any cereal left?

Only the stuff that's good for you, unfortunately.

We could borrow Tom's tent.

A tent? Are you serious? A tent?

If you want it as much as I do, then a tent'd be fine.

OK, yeah, you've convinced me(!) Let's borrow a tent,

so we can screw on a clammy groundsheet with sheep outside.

No need to make it sound so sordid.

On the other hand, your tent blackmail line was class itself.

Piss off, Tom!

You let Nicola go and see Michael, just like that?

Are you insane?

It's called trust. It's called being a grown-up.

It's called being a soft touch. Don't you think it was a mistake?

The only mistake I made was telling you.

She wanted you to stop her. Don't you see?

- What? - Do you think Michael's the only autism expert in the country?

- It was a test. - I'm not sure it's any of your business, Dad.

No, you're right. It's not.

But it's the lack of decisiveness I'm concerned about.

I see Maya's still here.

Yes. She is.

Same problem again. Too nice.

You were always the talented one but too nice.

You think I'm the talented one?

- Hello, Maya, you all right, darling? - Hello! Hello, lovely.

Listen Maya, love, I'm going to have to let you go, I'm afraid.

What?

I'm very sorry about that. OK?

'Hello?'