Did you know that 1 in 150 kids in the USA has autism? Did you know that in 1980 it was 1 in 10,000 kids? I didn’t know if until last night.
I’ve watched last night “Autism: The Musical” (the web site is not very good – please, don’t judge the movie from the site!).
Created by my friend Tricia Regan, it is part of the official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival.
It’s another sad, and touching movie. It talks about Autism with kids, and the impact it has on their parents, and the society.
It made me cry with every new character (the cast, as they were named), with the stories, being told by the parents. It’s a movie that shows not only the tragedy, but actually the heroism of the parents, having to deal with their autistic kids.
Some scenes, which I find quite amazing:
– adopted from Russia Neal learnt to talk to his parents with a talking machine (he types the letters, the machine announces what’s written), and one of the first things he told his Mom was that she needs to listen to him.
– a scene between Adam’s Mother and Elaine, the organizer of the Miracle Project
But to count only two out of the tens of scenes from the movie that made me think what I am doing to help autistic kids, is not fair. You should definitely go and watch it, or ask for a DVD at the nearest store.
You can watch it still on May 3, 5, and 6. See the official TFF site for more information.
I’ve checked what’s the situation in Bulgaria (linked article is in Bulgarian) – today 3 out of 1000 kids have autism. In 1980s it was only one. If you have information about other countries, please, share it here.
Check this site, mentioned in the night of the movie: Autism Speaks, and Cure Autism Now.
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Updated.
Some media reporting:
May 17: Beautiful article in Reuters India. A must read!
May 8: The New York Sun notes the movie.
May 6: New York 1 made a good coverage of the movie. Read it here. See it here (low bandwidth / high bandwidth, both require real player).
May 1: Variety.com gives a good review.
May 1: Cinema Blend gives a good review, too. (beware of pop-up window on that site!)
April 29: New York Times mentioned the movie last Sunday. But to call this movie “unsentimental” means only the author Caryn James probably has not seen it.
Steven Snyder of the TFF says on the official Tribeca Film Festival site, “(quote cut becaus TFF copyright policy is extremly restrictive)”, so go to the movie page, click on the headline, find Program Notes, and click on “Show All” to read what he says. I am sorry, but TFF is strict in their copyright policy.
Or check with Google – they know how to find the news about the movie.
Is a little complicated if you talk about the autism treatment and many professional searching a good solution and of course depend of the kind of step that the teenager or adult have, autism treatment can be many varieties like for example, For many kids and teenagers, autism treatment involves some combination of intensive behavioural therapy, speech and language therapy and special education in public schools.