Emily Chalk.
Like many other young men, James and Max Leon are eager to master anything with a wheel, and simply want the freedom of getting their licences as soon as possible so that they can take their fiancées out on dates.
The 23-year-old identical twins are both autistic and have several learning difficulties, which presents a unique set of challenges as they work towards conquering their learner’s test on the Road Code.
With infectious grins and a zest for life, the brothers are sharing their journey to ride on the new local series Licence to Drive.
On the road to independence
It follows a cast of Kiwi learner drivers, each with a disability, as they navigate the realm of the road alongside their family members. It captures their triumphs, challenges and occasional mishaps with heart and humour.
James and Max live with their parents Emma, 55, and Will, 58, on a farm north of Auckland. As teens, they got used to driving a quad bike and a Polaris off-road vehicle, but have recently been practising in an old farm car with support worker Karen Moore around their 17-hectare property.
From fence posts to fiancées
One of their biggest hurdles is learning to avoid obstacles around the farm – namely fence posts – and to keep the vehicle in one piece (“Goodbye, wing mirror!”). But their shared goal of being able to pick up their fiancées for an outing is keeping them motivated. James proposed to his girlfriend Emily in November and a month later, Max got engaged to Kelsey.
Wedding bells on the horizon
So will the siblings be having a double wedding?
“Well, I don’t know,” says James, who’s attended the Special Olympics with his fiancée Emily.
Mum Emma shares, “They’ll probably have separate ceremonies because Kelsey wants to get married in a church and Emily wants to get married on the farm. But they might have a double reception. “Who knows, they might not all be ready to get married at the same time. They’re all young adults who are being supported by others, so there are a lot of moving parts. We’re all pretty excited though and all the families get along really well.”
Emma describes her sons as “chalk and cheese”.
Two very different personalities
James is a deep thinker, who enjoys keeping up with current affairs and wants to discuss politics, while joker Max is happiest going to the pub with mates and having a laugh over a beer. Looking back, she says it was a very rocky road to getting them diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder, global developmental delay and dyspraxia when they were five years old.
The family moved back to New Zealand from Canada when the twins were nearly one and Emma remembers that as babies, her boys were slow to sit, crawl and babble.
“I was a first-time mum,” she reflects.
“I didn’t know if that was because they were twins and I wasn’t spending enough time with each of them invidually. “Max would use non-verbal cues to get his way. He would pull me and point to things he wanted, like a cookie. When they would have baths together, they would bite each other on their backs. So even negotiating between the two of them for space used non-verbal behaviour.”
Noticing the first red flags
When the twins were 18 months old and she had joined a coffee group, Emma noticed the boys weren’t playing with toys the way other children were.
“At two, I took them to a drop-in crèche at a YMCA,” she recalls.
“I came back and the woman there asked me if I spoke to my children. I replied, ‘Yes, I speak to them all the time.’ “I felt insulted and also worried as to why she asked that. It was then I knew there was something going on, so I took them to the doctor and started asking for help. But I had to fight for a diagnosis.”
Max and James attended mainstream classes at the local schools. However, they are still emergent readers who struggle to process words and their written learning.
“It was at a certain point when others kept telling me all that my boys couldn’t achieve that I thought that’s not fair to them,” says account manager Emma.
“As parents, we made a decision to focus on the positive things they can do. “We want them to have a life where they feel successful. That’s why we started doing Special Olympics swimming because they’re amazing in the water. They’re amazing skiers and also artists.”
Max reckons having autism is a fun challenge that’s also very irritating.
“I find it annoying because I’m slower than other people,” he says.
“Sometimes it’s frustrating when people just don’t understand what I’m saying. Or take time to listen to me. Agrees James, “Yeah, there are some knuckleheads out there.”
Quick Fire
What’s your future goal?
Max: I want to get on the next season of Licence to Drive. I also wanted to get a hippy Kombi van, but my fiancée said, “I’m never living in one of those!”
When you get your licence, is there a special place you want to drive to?
James: To the mall.
Max: Wellington.
You both attend a weekly open craft workshop in Helensville. What do you like making?
James: I’ve been learning to knit.
Max: I’ve been making Crocs gumboots.
Emma: He finds gumboots at op shops and punches holes in them to put Jibbitz [shoe charms] through. But he’s doing the holes at the top of the gumboots now after realising the flaw in his design – the holes further down let the water in!
Licence to Drive screens Wednesdays at 7.30pm on Sky Open.
