Brendan Fraser is sharing his experiences as a parent of an autistic child.
During a recent interview with Howard Stern for his SiriusXM radio show, the 54-year-old actor of The Whale talked about his experiences parenting his 20-year-old son Griffin and how he tries to connect with people who have autism at public events.
“There are only those people who, for whatever personal reasons, are truly content or delighted to meet you, even for a short time. And I find that to be incredibly fulfilling and encouraging. In some cases, I can tell someone is on the spectrum just by looking at them from across a convention hall “The actor said.
“You are aware that there are people that require a little more patience and love because they are autistic or have Asperger’s syndrome and this is their world. They are meant to be here “He goes on.
“I always, always stop the train to have a moment with them,” the passenger said, “regardless of all the commotion surrounding the excitement that goes into the whole celebrity bulls—-.”
Fraser continued, “I feel,” “since I have an autistic son and understand how important it is to their families and to them. To sense that you can satisfy someone simply by showing up implies a lot.”
Several parents of autistic children, according to Stern, have expressed concern about how their child will be cared for if both parents pass away.
What else can we do but take a break, struggle through it together, do what works, keep doing what works until it stops working, and then find something new? Fraser pondered.
He continued by outlining some of the challenges parents have when speaking up for their autistic kids. “You’ll need to battle school boards. Certainly, you will encounter strange individuals along the way who are motivated by goals quite unrelated to those of sending a child to a special needs school.”
You’re going to meet a lot of extremely interesting characters, and how you handle that depends on how confident you are in the outcome, according to Fraser. “Despite everything, you have to believe that.”
Fraser then described how, when they first learned of his son’s illness, he found it difficult to comprehend.
“I was, to put it mildly, devastated when my child was diagnosed at 22 or 24 months. I immediately thought, “I want to know how to repair this. What is the remedy? Why does this matter? “asked he.
“Just now, a baseball bat struck the side of your skull behind you. in what way? It’s not supposed to go down like this, “He went on. You start blaming yourself for the reasons why, saying things like, “My genealogy” or “I tried pot in college,” etc.
He referred to it as “like trying to get a straight answer out of an f——— leprechaun,” describing how challenging it is to believe that autism happens “for reasons unknown,” which is the best explanation experts currently have.
Fraser said, “Then you realize that I wouldn’t have any other way. “The most joyful child I know is this one, who also happens to be linked to me because he is my son. I’m curious as to what he finds to be so really hilarious that he cracks up all day long. He enjoys taking rides in the automobile. What matters is not where you are taking him.”
“He would sit on, get on, and take enormous commuter aircraft from here to Philly every day because that’s what brings him delight,” he said.
Fraser responded to a question about whether Griffin’s diagnosis was a factor in his marital problems with ex-wife Afton Smith, with whom he also had sons Leland, 16, and Holden, 18, by saying, “I gave my professional life more consideration than my personal life. Just me, I suppose.”
“All bets, though, are off with Griffin. Who cares if we have issues with one another? That is irrelevant “He emphasized. “It’s beneath a white flag, and we go above and beyond to meet this boy’s and his brother’s demands. I was able to make the most significant commitment to that.”
