It’s all about birds for Tuesday Rostrum guest speaker
Josh related how afterwards he put together a beautiful coffee table book, recording that year of travel, entitled 'Josh’s Big Year.'
Josh Crickmay, a very articulate young man, had his audience captivated at Tuesday Rostrum at Mbango Valley recently.
He began by stating that he has Aspergers (higher functioning autism) which covers a broad spectrum and is different for each person. He went on to detail his own difficulties and his way of overcoming and coping.
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“People with autism have to find a different way of processing conversations and of mentally and emotionally getting from A to B. They find it difficult to cope in social situations when language, intonations and body language don’t seem to make sense and they need time to understand. If they are not given that time this can lead to withdrawal or panic,” explained Josh.
He added that it is worse during puberty. “In 2013 I was in deep depression, having dropped out of school, unable to cope. I felt confused and overwhelmed. There are 10 000 birds in the world but I opted to concentrate on just 1000, as I wanted to study the birds and photograph them.”
Using numerous magnificent photographs of birds, reptiles and mammals he told with wit and dry humour of his family’s travels through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Ecuador to find and photograph his 1000 birds. Josh related how afterwards he put together a beautiful coffee table book, recording that year of travel, entitled ‘Josh’s Big Year.’
He expressed his thanks to his parents and said he felt that, having come through puberty with Aspergers, he was now in a position to help others in the same situation.
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