Autistic 28 year-old Samuel Turner has been making videos for more than a decade.
Well, it’s a long story. When I was eleven years old I was having problems with my autism and ADHD diagnosis. I was beginning to lose hope, and then I became interested in learning some communication skills. I learned some computer techniques, and this was how I learned how to invent a way in my own personal way to create inspiring stories. I learned how to explain my own story by making videos on computers.
Throughout the years of being a filmmaker after that, I highlighted why it’s important for people like me with autism, ADHD and special needs, to get our message across.
I made some films which were quite surreal to begin with. Later I made a film called When Efforts Begin with Cerebra, which is a short film story about how I was a staff volunteer with Cerebra, which is a Welsh children’s charity based in Carmarthenshire in West Wales. That short film won the Wales International Film Festival’s Jury’s Prize Award for Welsh Documentary Short Film in 2019. It showed why Cerebra is providing important support for children with a neurological condition.
I have made lots of interesting, inspiring animated short films. Another one was an animated short film called The Adventures in Bermuda in 2021 which was animated originally for the Wales International Film Festival. It was basically a short film based on a story about a young Bermudan man who’s passionate about his experience of being a British Bermudian citizen, about his country, and the legacy of Bermuda as an overseas territory.
It’s not only Bermuda I made a short film about. I made another award-winning short film called The Referendum Day of Gibraltar, which is a story about how Gibraltar and their islanders, known as Gibraltarian citizens, voted to remain British. My brother was in the Royal Anglian Regiment, stationed in Gibraltar there and that’s what caught my attention to what Gibraltar was like when I was visiting Spain in 2012. Later, as a result of my film, I had the amazing opportunity to meet Her Worship the Mayor of Gibraltar, Carmen Gomez at City Hall, for a lovely breakfast meeting. I went with my parents Jacqui and Barrie and my friend Angel, and we explained why it’s important to promote the acceptance of autism and diversity, not just in the UK, but on the Rock of Gibraltar and in other overseas territories as well.
So I had the idea of creating stories, but the reason I did this was not just my autism or my ADHD or special needs, but I wanted to show the acceptance of myself, and that, even though people may have special needs, autism or ADHD, it doesn’t matter if you want to be a filmmaker or a baker or anything. They think it’s not the case, but it is. For anyone who has his time to do things. And that’s what makes me feel like I’m an inspiration.
I’m now supporting the charitable cause Friends of Treetop Schools, which is in Grays, Essex. I used to be a student there, from 2005 to 2016. At the time, before Treetop School, I was having a challenging experience with my autism, my ADHD and my special needs. And the great thing about that school is the staff, who all gathered up to support my issues with my autism. When I left in 2016, I was emotional because I love that school very dearly.
I’ve written books, including The Autistic Side of Love, a storybook which I wrote during the pandemic in 2021. It was loved by everyone, also by Buckingham Palace, and even the King. It received lots of five-star ratings.