Media commentator and blogger Russell Brown has had only one brief office job in 25 years — which is just the way he likes it. The father of two sons with Asperger’s, he fronts Media Take, which begins on Maori Television next week.
1. What kind of child were you?
Bright. I was always bright. I had bronchial issues for most of my childhood which meant quite a bit of time off school and I liked that, sitting around reading books and comics. I would occasionally annoy my teachers by correcting them. No, not a pompous little prick but I was aware I was bright and school didn't seem too much trouble which meant I possibly didn't try hard enough. I had one sister, two years younger than me, who died last year from a recurrence of breast cancer. It was terrible. It brought home to me that it was going to be me that has to bury my mum.
2. You were an early internet adopter: what has been the best of that for you?
I started Hard News as a radio commentary in 1991 then posted it online from about 1993. The internet's potential for global communication and research was amazing to me. I haven't had many proper jobs, always worked at home, and suddenly I realised that I had access to the kind of resources that were previously only available if you worked inside large organisations. That was really valuable for us when our eldest son was diagnosed as Asperger's. He was nearly 5 and the kindy thought he had trouble processing information. A woman from Special Education came around and said 'he's got Asperger's Syndrome' then left the house without telling us anything about it. Within 10 minutes of searching it online - and this was way before Google - I'd found a family support site and it all just fell into place.
3. You've been open about both your sons' Asperger's diagnoses: is that fair to them?
My younger son doesn't like me talking about him and the older one can talk for himself now but years ago [writer] David Cohen [who has a son on the autism spectrum] told me I should use my profile to raise awareness of it. Am I on the spectrum? Well, there's a hereditary element to it which no one really understands and I think that's the question every parent asks themselves. I don't think I am though I suspect I've got an attention deficit disorder to some extent, which I don't regard as a disability. It helps me process information quickly.
4. Has it been difficult having two children on the spectrum?
They're adults now and it can be really hard seeing your friends send their teenagers off into the world and those kids going and doing things and you are still there being a parent. People on the spectrum are late bloomers and it takes them longer to get their heads above it. The hardest years are absolutely past. We had two or three years of our younger boy having at least one autistic meltdown a day. I don't know how we got through it. It was a massive source of stress. Pulling him out of school helped. Home-schooling would be overstating the case - we did our best.