HBO: Autism the musical

[MinnieVanMom]

I have seen and recorded a show from HBO: Autism the musical about a woman who puts on a musicial show each year with children who have autism.

Although not earth shattering it was nice to see. FYI

 

[ecki]

I missed a bit of the beginning. The one bit that hit home was when one of the moms was saying she can't make society value her child as a person. I was crying at that because I totally understood what she was saying.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We saw this movie a couple of weeks ago at a film festival in our city. As parents of a son with Asperger's, my husband and I found it to be absolutely wonderful! I mean really awesome (and I don't use that word very often). The film maker did a Q&A afterward. She said she wanted to make a film about autism but needed a "hook." She didn't think anyone outside of the autism community would want to see a movie about autism. When she was presented with the idea of following a group of autistic kids putting on a musical, she was convinced that it would work. The movie was mainly about the 5 kids and their families that she was following.

We found so many things we could relate to - the battle with the school district, worries about your child's future, your child realizing he's different, bullies...and the list goes on. All of the kids were at different levels of functioning from the boy with Asperger's to the very severe and almost non-verbal boy. During the Q&A, a young man with autism (he was around 20) raised his hand. His mom read something he had typed into his communicator - he said, "This is the first movie I was able to watch without eating popcorn." The film maker said that was the highest compliment she's ever received!

I would highly recommend this film to anyone!

 

[MinnieVanMom]

I can relate. It was when the one woman was talking about her son and then the blonde said that it is just the world that doesn't accept her daughter. It hit home with me. I knew exactly her feelings and frustrations.

 

[Disneylvr]

I missed a bit of the beginning. The one bit that hit home was when one of the moms was saying she can't make society value her child as a person. I was crying at that because I totally understood what she was saying.

That was the part that really got to me. And thinking about who is going to love her, value her enough and see that she is taken care of after I am gone keeps me up many nights.

 

[tparbs]

I DVR'd it(how did I live without DVR before!! ) and we really, really enjoyed it. I totally feel in love with Wyatt! He was the boy on the swing talking about bullies.

Like you other parents, I could totally relate to so many things other mom's and dad's were saying, especially the school system........btw, I've decided to fight for my son. He is OUT of that self-contained room and going full mainstream, beginning with an aid. He is very high-functioning, verbal, and social. Okay...I won't get started with THAT subject!

CNN also had specials and incredible programs all day on Wednesday, the 1st World Autism Day. Anyone see Finding Amanda? Wow..that blew me away!

 

[disney-super-mom]

It definately hit home with us too!

I'm sorry, I can't remember the 14 year old girl's name, but she sure was a nice singer I thought. Wyatt was adorable, and Henry was a crack-up with all his dinosaur talk and pretend play. LOL

Interestingly, I always thought people with lots of money (who have ASD children) didn't face the same challanges as us "regular folk" with ASD children, but I learned that money doesn't buy solutions. We ALL face the same challenges, dilemas, and tough choices.

My son is high functioning, and he doesn't have any behavorial issues, but he does have problems with language/communications (mainly abstract concepts), writing, reading, and math, and a bit in physical strength as well. He's about a year behind his same-grade peers. He spends about 1/2 the school day in resource room and the other 1/2 in his regular 2nd grade class. Actually he's very much like Forest Gump (except Ryan has a great sense of humor and likes to tell jokes and do tricks and people). He'll be in third grade next year, and I was told by a district education specialist that third grade teachers are still very accomodating regarding the curriculum, but by fourth grade Ryan most likely will be too far behind to keep up with the curriculum, and they are suggesting Ryan go to a special education class at another school in our district.

(You know, maybe Ryan wouldn't be so far behind if you would quit making him practice writing his letters for the THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR, which by the way hasn't improved his chicken-scratch writing since kindergarten!.....not to mention making him very bored and frustrated doing the samething and making the same mistakes over and over again, year after year.....and instead let him write using a keyboard, which he can already do, and then he could actually, um, "write" something. Good grief!!!)

As far as I'm concerned, that's not going to happen. NO WAY is Ryan going to be in a self-contained special education class. I can't imagine how out of place he would feel in there! So, I think I'll be home schooling him when that time comes.

Yep, it's so nice to have my Washington State tax dollars working for us in our schools. (sarcasm)