How a bird-watching comedy turned this autistic teen's life around

Josh Crickmay's life was saved by a comedy film about bird-watching.

At the age of 15, Crickmay, of Pietermaritzburg - psychologically crippled by Asperger syndrome, a form of autism - had dropped out of school, spiralled into depression, been hospitalised and had begun to display suicidal traits.

At their wits' end, his parents looked for a way to give their son's life meaning. He had always been fascinated by wildlife, birds in particular, and so the outlandish idea of taking a "big year" was conceived.

The 2011 comedy The Big Year revolved around characters played by Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson trying to identify as many North American birds as possible during a calendar year.

"We had just watched the movie," said Crickmay's mother, Kathy. "It resonated with us. It wouldn't be a random trip: there would be a purpose, a target."

Crickmay's challenge was to identify more than 1,000 birds from two different parts of the world - 500in Southern Africa and 500 in the jungles of Ecuador, South America.

For the family, the "big year" meant Kathy resigning as a teacher and Andrew, Josh's father, leaving his business in the hands of his brother.

Andrew set up a blog for his son on which to record his travels and sightings.

"We were buying time for him to get better," he said.

The "big year" turned Josh's life around.

Since his return three years ago he has taken a number of conservation courses, written for birding sites and started producing a series of birding videos.

Last week he launched a wonderful 300-page coffee-table book titled Josh's Big Year. He was responsible for the photography, layout and design of the book, which took more than two years to produce.

"The goal of the book was to inspire; to show people and the family of people with Asperger's that finding and pursuing your passion will give you the strength to continue," Josh said.

• This article was originally published in The Times.