q CROSSING SIGNAL CHIRPS HOPEFUL MUSIC HOPEFUL MUSIC CONTINUES Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2015 MELLOW MUSIC MELLOW MUSIC CONTINUES Damian Day has travelled to nearly every town in NZ, and yet there's no place that feels like home. He's got autism, which tends to get between him and others. (LAUGHS) MELLOW MUSIC CONTINUES q Soon after he left school, he was on the road. He wants to fit in, but trying to read others can trigger an autistic meltdown. It's easiest to be alone. I'm going to Te Kuiti as well. Do you wanna jump in? Yep. Chuck it in there? Yeah. Damian's got a lot to deal with ` autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia. He was even hit by a truck. WOMAN: How would you describe Damian? Sometimes cheerful. Somebody that I` you can go and have a good time with, especially if you're out tramping or out in the outdoors. Somebody you can have a sit down and have a natter to. SOFT, REFLECTIVE MUSIC You didn't really notice anything until he started doing the normal things, like walking, you know, talking. He never talked until he was 3�, 4. And then suddenly he was talking, and then it was just a... garble, garble, garble. And he didn't really do the actual baby talk. All those little fine things that you take for granted, we had to literally teach him. Probably one thing ` he doesn't know how to socialise. And when he does socialise, they don't understand him. SOFT, REFLECTIVE MUSIC CONTINUES I never really got to know that he was getting bullied until after his dad died. and I was talking to quite a few other people, and they was going, 'Oh, when he was...' um, we'll just say 10 or 11 or whatever. 'We noticed that he was getting bullied and all that,' but we never ever heard about it at home. SOFT, HOPEFUL MUSIC INTRIGUING MUSIC All he wanted to do was travel. We just thought, 'Oh yeah, he's just going through the stage, like everybody goes on an OE.' But for him, he wanted to move around, seeing everything he could see in NZ. With no true friends or sense of purpose, he just rode his bike up and down the country. SOFT, DREAMY MUSIC SOFT, DREAMY MUSIC CONTINUES q q For as long as he can remember, Damian hasn't been happy. He's questioned everything about himself. Yep. (CHUCKLES) WOMAN: What are you doing when you do that? When you're, like, closing your eyes and...? Tell me what you're doing. (LAUGHS) INTRIGUING MUSIC INTRIGUING MUSIC CONTINUES q It` It is a big step. Um, I don't think I would like to go through it, myself. But if it's really what she wants to do and she's happier in it... She seems to be not happy before. Uh, she was` That's probably why she was travelling a lot. SMOOTH MUSIC SMOOTH MUSIC CONTINUES I think she's probably... kind of puzzled with what she wants to do, and she's not really... knowing where she's going or what she's doing. That's my opinion. She must be feeling quite lost and not, uh` not knowing what she's wanting and where she's going, because she keeps saying, 'Oh, now where am I going to go or what I'm gonna do?' SMOOTH MUSIC CONTINUES Yeah, not like that. (LAUGHS) Just a moment. (LAUGHS) Why not? Look better. OK. (CHUCKLES) I s'pose` That better? Yeah, looks a bit better. Oh well. Right. OK. See ya. See ya later. INTRIGUING MUSIC INTRIGUING MUSIC CONTINUES q q What have you been up to? Easy. Has it been cold in your tent? Ooh. (CHUCKLES) Damiana would really like more friends. She met Anna Low a couple of years ago. Both your hands this way, and I want you to squeeze with that leg. All right? So take up contact. That's it. Both hands that way. That's it. Well done. Squeeze with your left leg. Left leg. Good. Good. Now look at me. Good. Now squeeze with your right leg. Good! > I've followed Damiana's journey for a while now, and her` she's just unbelievable. When she sets her mind to do something, she does it. 'I don't think any of us are normal, 'but I think that Damiana and I do get on because I don't judge her decisions.' That's it. Well done. Now look straight above. Straight above. That's it. > Well done. MELLOW MUSIC She's always had problems with balance. Cycling helps. MELLOW MUSIC CONTINUES q q q (KNOCKS ON DOOR) Hello. Oh, OK. Oh, you're more than welcome here, but I don't know you at all. Uh, I'm Dennis. Damiana. Pleased to meet you, Damiana. Yep. Yeah? How do you say it? (LAUGHS) Da` Damiana. Damiana. Yes. If you stayed on the lawn, then you could use our toilet or whatever. Cool. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. What about meals? Uh, up to you guys. If you put up your tent,... < Yep. ...and, um, we can come in and have a coffee and find out a little bit more about you. All good? All right. QUIRKY MUSIC QUIRKY MUSIC CONTINUES q WIND WHISTLES Almost every time she's been to Auckland, she's had an autistic meltdown. Damiana hopes her new self will make her more comfortable in the city. RELAXED MUSIC RELAXED MUSIC CONTINUES q q q Hi. How are you? Hi. Make-up? Yeah, yeah, sure. Take a seat here, love. Um, is there anything you were looking for in particular? Some fun stuff as well? Yeah. I'll start off with something light, and if you feel like you wanna go fuller coverage, we can definitely build it up for you. You're finding you're getting the beard area. What you wanna do is you wanna shave it a little bit more closer to the skin. Oh, OK. Yeah. Yeah, I found it pretty hard transitioning, myself. Uh, I'd probably say 3. Ever since, nothing's been holding me back. Um, and, I mean, it's` It's` It's, like, a very hard journey, um, but, I mean, it's rewarding. If you wanna live the way you are, then by all means, go for it. You don't have any siblings? One brother. (LAUGHS) Oh. I mean, yeah, all in good time. When you're, sort of, ready. (LAUGHS) Tough luck on that. Oh, OK. Maybe... BOTH LAUGH Heh. See ya later. Have you ever been to, like, any groups or... other than online? (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) I mean, would that be something you'd be, you know, interested in, in getting to know more` more of the LGBT community, sort of, in person? Um,... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely don't` don't worry about what other people say. I mean, you've got your` you know who you are as a person. You know what you want to be as a person. Um, and I think if you listen to negativity that's coming anyway towards you, it's not really gonna benefit you. What do you think? Uh, good. It's very natural. It's very subtle. (CHUCKLES) QUIRKY MUSIC Hi. I'm Rene. Damiana. Nice to meet ya. So, what are you after today? OK. Yep. What do you wanna put in for the initial piercing? Do you wanna use studs or do you wanna put rings in? Studs for a start? Sure. So, I'll just give you these` this form to fill out, if you just wanna have a little read. It's just a consent form for the piercing. OK. Damiana's cautious about the transition to becoming a woman. Even getting her ears pierced is a big step. Well, you've come to the right place, cos there's no` there's no discrimination here. No. I'm a freak. You're a freak. We're all freaks at the end of the day. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. It's better than being a mainstream robot. Are you all set? Yep. Just get you to take a nice deep breath. Here we go. DEVICE CLICKS OK. I'll just get you to take a nice deep breath again. Here we go. DEVICE CLICKS SMOOTH MUSIC SMOOTH MUSIC CONTINUES q INTRIGUING MUSIC INTRIGUING MUSIC CONTINUES q HOPEFUL MUSIC HOPEFUL MUSIC CONTINUES q MELLOW MUSIC It's very natural. It's very subtle. (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY, LAUGHS) See ya. See ya later. MELLOW MUSIC CONTINUES See more like this on attitudelive.com Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2015