SUBJECTS: English
YEARS: 9–10
Jordan Gyss, who was born with Asperger's syndrome, says he found life before cycling 'one giant pain'.
In this Heywire audio story, he describes how competitive cycling helps him manage his condition while providing a source of excitement and challenge.
Could you write or record a similar story about yourself and/or your community?
The ABC's Heywire competition calls for stories from 16-22 year olds in regional Australia. Enter to get your story featured on the ABC and score an all-expenses-paid trip to the Heywire Regional Youth Summit in Canberra. More: https://www.abc.net.au/heywire/
Things to think about
- 1.What personality traits do you associate with the term 'Asperger's syndrome'? Find one or more reliable sources that note common symptoms of this condition.
- 2.Jordan begins his story with a vivid description of what it's like to ride bicycles competitively. What language does he use to grab the audience's attention? How did Jordan's Asperger's syndrome affect him when he was younger? How has he learnt to deal with this condition? How does Jordan use humour in his presentation?
- 3.What message about his Asperger's condition do you think Jordan wants to communicate? What elements of the story he presents support your conclusion? Do you think he is successful? What non-verbal elements have been added to this audio story to enrich the resource and engage listeners? What do you think is the function of the music that is played?
- 4.If you were going to add still or moving pictures to Jordan' story, what imagery would you use, and why? Prepare a storyboard that indicates the visual sources you would introduce at various stages.
Date of broadcast: 31 May 2013
Copyright
Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).