The A Word

In the world of five year old Joe Hughes there is punk, new wave and indie music. There is colour, family, shapes and all that the wonder of nature provides.

But there is also limited expression and stilted communication due to Joe being diagnosed with autism.

In the six part BBC series The A Word, Joe’s young parents don’t yet know their son will follow a different path to most other children. This begins as they are challenged on these revelations.

Alison (Morven Christie) and Paul (Lee Ingleby) Hughes live in the Lakes District, a picturesque countryside of rolling plains and green villages. Joe (Max Vento) is their youngest son, while Rebecca (Molly Wright) is his teenage sister. This is quite a dysfunctional, extended clan including Joe’s grandfather Maurice (Christopher Eccleston), plus Alison’s brother Eddie (Greg McHugh) and wife Nicola (Vinette Robinson).

When Eddie and Nicola move back to the family home to try and rebuild their relationship after an affair, Nicola’s medical experience identifies Joe’s communication difficulties. But parents Alison and Paul reject her advice, in a frosty family exchange. A birthday party incident is dismissed as a typical child tantrum.

“Who didn’t have a tantrum on their own birthday?” Paul insists.

But in an earnest parenting moment, grandfather Maurice takes young Joe for medical tests which suggest otherwise, setting in motion a series of revelations and angry family arguments that touch upon truth, respect and responsibility.

Young parents Alison and Paul are told Joe is a child with autism, a concept they struggle to grasp.

A specialist advises he has problems with auditory and emotional processing and while it isn’t a ‘disease’, it will limit his capacity to learn and change.

“He has trouble making sense of what he hears and prioritising them,” they are told.

While the family themselves struggle to process the information, young Joe is frequently seen wearing headphones, happy in a world of music found on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. It contrasts the simplicity of a child’s perspective with that of harried adults.

The script by Peter Bowker rings true to a young family facing a life-changing diagnosis and helps to debunk myths about autism.

Morven Christie and Lee Ingleby portray caring parents, divided by their ideals and a medical diagnosis. Both are powderkegs of emotion that provide plenty of short fuses for a dramatic screenplay.

It has to be said none of The A Word would work without the quiet performance of Max Vento as young Joe. While a whirlwind of adult actors fuss about him, he follows a steady path respectful of his character’s condition, and neither resorts to pulling focus.

Christopher Ecclestone as always adds a strong backbone to this ensemble, as the grandfather still challenging his children to face up to their respective problems.

The A Word may not attract the same attention as Rain Man or juvenile performances such as Little Miss Sunshine, but it shows how a young family deal with their own new realities.

Sundays at 8.30pm from September 4 on BBC First.