Craig and Dana are the producers for True Life: I Have Autism. They had an amazing experience working with these young people over several months, and wanted to share their notes from their journey.

Check out their thoughts on these extraordinary young people and the exclusive extra footage from the show.

Click for Jonathan's Section
Click for Jeremy's Section
Click for Elijah's Section

Craig, the Producer:

Before we started researching, I knew very little about autism. In fact, I don't think I'd ever known anyone with autism. All I knew was what I had seen in the media. When you only hear about people through the media, you get stereotypes and myths.

There are a lot of widely-held mistaken beliefs about people with autism. Two of these myths are that people with autism are distant or not emotional, and they aren't social and can't have relationships. Our first few days of the shoot, Jeremy, Jonathan and Elijah blew those myths away. What we learned probably should've been obvious: people with autism come in the same varieties as "neuro-typical" people. Some are shy, while some are outgoing. But all people have emotions and need relationships.

Thankfully, I got over my stereotypes, and I was lucky to become friends with all three of these amazing guys.

Jonathan
From Craig, the Producer

Jon's really extroverted. He's funny and he knows he's funny. Sometimes he'd be off by himself, laughing and giggling, and I wouldn't really know what was amusing him. But most of the time, he'd let us in on the joke:

Jonathan: Segment 1

He loves rock -- especially heavy metal. It's funny -- he's so sensitive to loud noises he has to wear sound-reducing headphones in public. But then he gets home and puts on a Killswitch Engage album and cranks it up. His room is covered in posters of his favorite bands:

Jonathan: Segment 2

Jon's obviously a very talented artist. But he's also an art lover. He's really into Picasso, Cezanne and Jackson Pollock. He loves to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan and study the masters' techniques. Then he tries to incorporate those techniques into his own art. But when he goes to the museum, he's so focused on the paintings that his dad has to remind him not to touch them.

Jonathan: Segment 3

About the only time when Jonathan isn't social is when he's drawing. He's so focused that he doesn't like to talk. He can do an entire drawing in less than ten minutes. When he's done, he just signs his initials and moves on to the next piece.

Jonathan: Segment 4

Jeremy

Jeremy had a chance to watch the show. Check out his thoughts on his experience.

From Dana, the Segment Producer

Before meeting Jeremy for the first time, I didn't know what to expect. I never imagined that a kid who couldn't speak would have so much to say. And I never imagined what an impact he would make on my life and work. Jeremy is an inspiration. What was most eye-opening for me was that, even though he deals with autism, the people who surround him insist that he experiences life as any other teenager would. His mom has the same expectations for him as she does for his sister, Rebecca. And believe me, Jeremy has exceeded those expectations.

The first time I met Jeremy's mom she explained to me that she didn't want Jeremy to be relegated to a menial job later in life, but hoped that he would feel he had the opportunities that any other teenager leaving high school would have. One important part of this lesson was teaching Jeremy the value of a dollar. Jeremy was looking for a way to interact with other students at school and was eager to earn and save money. He came up with an idea to sell roses at school during lunch break.

He travels every Friday morning to the local rose distributor, buys roses in bulk, then packages them and sells each individually to students at lunch. It's a great way for Jeremy to interact with the other students, as well as learn the basics of saving and spending money. We visited Jeremy at school the week before Valentine's Day to check out his business. He was a little overwhelmed by the crowds and noise, as it's a lot of stimulation for someone who's dealing with autism. He had to take frequent breaks, and found it difficult to stay focused, but always managed to make his way back to the stand.

Jeremy: Segment 1

Since Jeremy's business had been doing so well and he had been able to save a decent amount of money, he decided that he wanted to buy a dog. Not just any dog, but one specially trained to deal with people like Jeremy who have autism. Jeremy's dog, Handsome, has been trained by a professional to be a lead dog. He can guide Jeremy when crossing the street and can sense when something in the immediate environment is wrong. They are slowly easing Jeremy into his ownership. The dog visits each weekend and will be with Jeremy permanently next fall. Jeremy will have the option to take the dog to school with him as well.

The dog will attract attention, therefore allowing Jeremy the chance to interact with even more people his own age. Right before his birthday party, Jeremy took Handsome to the local San Diego beach, "Dog Beach", designated specifically for dogs and their owners.

Jeremy: Segment 2

Over the course of the past six months, while filming Jeremy, he had never addressed me directly. I knew he was aware of our presence; the cameras, the microphones and the lights. He had no problem telling us when he needed a break or wanted some alone time or privacy. Then, on the final day of shooting, we had to say our goodbyes to Jeremy. Not knowing when we'd see him again, we wanted Jeremy to know that his story was going to make a real difference, touch lives and shed new light to issues of autism.

It turned out to be a bit awkward and rushed, considering Jeremy was in the middle of English class at the time. It was not the ideal situation or how I'd imagined an appropriate goodbye would be. As we were leaving, Jeremy reached out for the Lightwriter. Without hesitation, he began to type...and what he had to say to our crew will never be forgotten. He wrote, "You are my voice to the world. Thank you for all you are doing."

Jeremy: Segment 3

Elijah

Elijah had a chance to watch the show. Check out his thoughts on his experience.

From Craig, the Producer

The best thing about following Elijah is that he's just as funny in everyday situations as he is on stage. His mom says that when he was a little kid, he couldn't converse like other kids his age, so he'd just repeat funny lines from movies that often didn't make sense to anyone but Elijah. Today, you can still see traces of the way he used to communicate, and I'm sure some people still find his jokes weird. But I think they're hilarious.

Elijah: Segment 1

Elijah gets a little help on his comedy routines from his mom and other funny people in his life. But for the most part, all the jokes are his. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to put his entire act into our show, but here's one complete routine:

Elijah: Segment 2

People on the autism spectrum sometimes struggle with social cues that most of us take for granted. For instance, it can sometimes be hard for a person on the spectrum to catch sarcasm or irony, so they often take what you're saying literally even if you're being facetious. You can imagine what that means for Elijah when he's around comedians. Once when we were at the Las Vegas Comedy Festival, Elijah met Debra Wilson from MADtv. Debra said hello and then went into a character, pretending she was mad at Elijah for letting me film her. It was clear to everyone but Elijah that Debra was kidding, and Elijah got scared that he'd upset someone he admired. Eventually, though, other comedians explained the joke to Elijah, and he did something really cool - instead of being embarrassed, he proudly took it as a free lesson in comedy.

Elijah: Segment 3

When Elijah worked with professional comedians at the Las Vegas Comedy Festival, he was happy to get their input, but he was very concerned about appearing like he was stealing other comedians' jokes. In his final routine, he used little bits and premises from the professionals, but the end result was all Elijah.

Elijah: Segment 4

Dana, the Segment Producer:

I know for many people it can be difficult or challenging at times to reach out or connect with those who we see as being different or separate from us and our lives. Sometimes we wonder what's going on inside these people, what they're thinking, what they're feeling, what they're dreams are.

If I can shed any light, from my personal experiences with Jeremy, Jonathan and Elijah, it would be that when you see or meet people on the autism spectrum, don't be afraid to ask, introduce, explore, reach out, question and wonder. They've shown me that it's those people you sit next to in class but never speak to; or pass in your neighborhood but never meet; or who you see on television and want to know more about, who have so much to offer...even if they can't talk.