Blue Peter has been going strong for 51 years, so now's the time for those forum members living in the UK to share memories of the past and present. Who has been your favourite presenter or pet? Did you participate in a Bring and Buy Sale for an Appeal? And did you write in and get a Blue Peter Badge?
I wrote in a few weeks back, about my autism. This is what I wrote, minor spelling mistakes and all:
QUOTE
Dear Blue Peter,
I have been enthralled by your programming since 1992, the earliest I
can remember. This would probably make me the oldest of your viewing
audience recently (21 in August), so I hope the viewers won't mind me
having a say-in. While you have covered information and stories about
various disabilities, I for one haven't seen any about autism and
Asperger's Syndrome. Although it has been ages since I last saw Blue
Peter (the year 2001 was the last I saw), your recent book "Dear Blue
Peter" got me inspired to write to you.
I am a young adult with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, that
I've been diagnosed with since I was two years old. It wasn't until I
was three that I managed to speak out for myself, yet I always remained
somewhat shy at playschool and in Primary School. My Primary School
didn't have special needs rooms for people with autism or any other
mental disabilities, so I was constantly bullied by others because of
the way I behaved. "Blue Peter" kept me going on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays, and even items such as 'Children in Need' and 'Comic Relief'
inspired me to raise money with my friends at school, by telling jokes.
When it came to High School, I thought it was the worst years of my
life. The bullying didn't stop, and things around me got so bad that I
constantly lashed out at people, parents and students. I even developed
a skin condition called psoraiasis. The High School I went to, despite
having a special needs room, didn't know anything about autism. However,
through that period, I learnt all about autism, and why I was behaving
so boisterously: even my friends eventually found out, even if they were
constantly apologising! Eventually, my parents found me a Middle School
in Redditch that had a special needs room, BUT knew all about autism,
and that's when my life changed. I made new friends who were all in the
same boat as I was, and the teachers were all very nice and caring.
I kept on going: I transitioned into a High School, Kingsley College,
where everyone knew about me, and started to like me even more. I was
never bullied at that school, and I began to join clubs and help the
school become a much better place. I was the only autistic member of our
Student Council, and some of my ideas became reality. I won an award for
outstanding achievement in two consecutive Awards Nights. When I
graduated to Year 12, I was the very first person in the special needs
room to do so. My teacher was very proud. But the biggest
day was to come. I was nominated by the staff and became the first
person to win a Princess Diana Memorial Award for Outstanding
Achievement. My parents and I had our picture taken in two local
newspapers! Afterwards, Jacqui Smith, before she became a Member of
Parliament, invited me to talk about my autism at a big conference in
Worcester University. I was real nervous, but my teacher helped me to
rehearse and get ready. Now I know what it's like to speak to a big audience....like a BP
Presenter! Everyone clapped, even as I showed them my Princess Diana Award.
Coming back to my point, it would be interesting and ideal for other
viewers to learn about my condition, because it's not as painful or as
horrid to live with as they might think. I've learnt about cystic
fribrosis and meningitis in the past through Blue Peter, and so I think
it's time for the children of today to find out about autism. They may
even have friends with autism or Asperger's Syndrome that they might
relate with when they see the item on the television. With the Autistic
Bill currently passing through Parliament, I think it would be an
interesting, topical programme.
I think I might be a bit too old for a Blue Peter Badge, but I hope you
like my idea and will consider it for your show.
And just today, this is their reply:
QUOTE
Thank you for your email.
The Blue Peter Office receives a large number of interesting ideas and
suggestions every day and unfortunately it's not possible to follow up
every one of them. We have however, passed your email onto our Forward
Planning team who will be in touch if they would like to take your idea
further.
With best wishes from all of us at Blue Peter.
So, I may or may not actually
BE on Blue Peter, but stay tuned for further updates. In the meantime, here's one [topic] I prepared earlier!