20 April 2021

A new cartoon series, inspired by the experiences of children on the autistic spectrum begins on Cyw on 28 April.

Pablo tells the story of a resourceful little boy with autism, who approaches everyday situations in a novel way.

Using magic crayons, he creates an imaginary 'art world' filled with animal characters which turn life's challenges into adventures.

Each animal is inspired by features of autism – from a llama that repeats things that people say to a dinosaur who struggles with speech.

All of these characters are voiced by young people on the autism spectrum themselves.

Pablo, the main character, is voiced by 12 year-old Owain Gwyn, who is a pupil at Ysgol Tryfan, Bangor, and this experience is new to him.

His mother, Nia Gwynn recognizes how valuable the experience is to him:

"Owain has never done anything like this before. He has read things out in chapel and so on, but he's not a public person.

A new cartoon series, inspired by the experiences of children on the autistic spectrum begins on Cyw on 28 April.

Pablo tells the story of a resourceful little boy with autism, who approaches everyday situations in a novel way.

Using magic crayons, he creates an imaginary 'art world' filled with animal characters which turn life's challenges into adventures.

Each animal is inspired by features of autism – from a llama that repeats things that people say to a dinosaur who struggles with speech. All of these characters are voiced by young people on the autism spectrum themselves.

Pablo, the main character, is voiced by 12 year-old Owain Gwyn, who is a pupil at Ysgol Tryfan, Bangor, and this experience is new to him. His mother, Nia Gwynn recognizes how valuable the experience is to him:

"Owain has never done anything like this before. He has read things out in chapel and so on, but he's not a public person.

"He can be shy socially, and much of his autism circles around social problems.

"He has trouble making friends and so on. He doesn't find it easy to cope in groups, and has difficulties playing games – not following the rules and contradicts the rules without realizing.

"He has enjoyed the experience, and the feeling that he has a job or duty. He's enjoyed going to a recording studio and being part of a production that will go out on TV.

"Producing a programme like this is a brave move for the production company, because working with children isn't easy anyway, but there are extra challenges with those on the spectrum.

"It offers the children involved an invaluable experience in an incredibly safe environment, where the staff are all aware of how to handle them.

"It has been reassuring for us, to know that Owain isn't being put in situations where he can't cope or feels uncomfortable.

As is the case with many autistic children, the journey to diagnose Owain in the first place was not straightforward:

"For a long time, we as parents didn't know what was wrong. As he was growing up, we weren't sure if it was immaturity, personality or development issues.

"It took us years to get a diagnosis. We picked up something wasn't quite right when he was about 6 or 7, and it wasn't until his last day at Primary School that he got the diagnosis.

"It was a relief for us to know what it was; it helped us cope, and it helped me to understand a little more. Owain's school has been fantastic.

"They have all sorts of things set in place to help him, such as navigating the order of the day, and avoiding situations that would create difficult reactions for everyone, but of course, this lockdown period has brought that to a halt."

The series hopes to promote a positive understanding and empathy about the condition; something that Nia sees as crucial: All of these characters are voiced by young actors on the autism spectrum themselves.

"It's vital that Cyw has something like this, because it brings the autism spectrum, and the reality of it into people's daily lives. It makes people realize that those with autism have so much to offer.

"Owain leads more towards Asperger's, which typically struggles with the social side of things. So it's not obvious that someone may have the condition.

"It is often just situations that trigger autism, and this cartoon shows the kinds of scenarios that can be a trigger.

If people are more aware of it, and it's being normalized so that it's not a stigma, that's great – especially because it's watched by young children.

"It's just going to become something that's a natural part of everyday life."