Autism: The Musical [video:trailer]
Has anyone seen this yet? I haven't, but I am curious because I've heard so many mixed reviews.
These controversies often leave me wondering if it has to do with perception and others not accepting the realities of someone else's personal autism experience?
Really? A musical?
Pardon me for not taking this too seriously, but it seems a little...well...I just can't find the word.
The title brings to mind similar titles that could be potentially produced, such as "Down's Syndrome: The Musical!", or "Dyslexia, The Musical!"
Yet as I was told by a friend of mine, many neurotypicals find it hard to understand Autism without being informed from a personal & emotional perspective. As strange as this is to me, it explains why the aforementioned was produced.
I leave judgement after I view the material.
The title is really a bit misleading. It's not actually a musical...it's a documentary about a group of kids with autism making a musical (and actually you don't see much of the musical itself...you see more of the behind the scenes stuff)
To get a sense of what it's about-see the below link for an interview clip with Coach E, one of the children from the documentary, and his mother.
http://cnettv.cnet.com/autism-musical-pt-1/9742-1_53-50026798.html
Coach E (Elaine Hall): "I think that the most important thing is for the world to value our kids with autism and to see them...they're kids first who happen to have autism...and incredibly courageous children that every single day, they're overcoming tremendous obstacles."
^Thanks for the info.
Just saw it at a meeting for my fellow co-workers at my job. While it did have some good points, I was disappointed overall in the fact that it covered autism not as a documentary, but as more of a docu-drama.
The film seems to be produced more for parents and persons that are around people with autism rather than those with autism. This perspective is most prevalent when showing one of the mothers of a child with autism 'letting off steam' about how she feels about her daughter with autism and the futility of her future. The mother makes quite a few statements that, while may be emotionally justified for her situation (judge that for yourself), seem to be quite inappropriate for a documentary about people with autism, regardless of the severity of their condition.
I do understand what the movie's message is - yet the same social stereotypes it claims to be confronting and trying to defeat are replaced by similar ones; namely, affliction, courage, and inspiration - simply by having autism.
I saw this documentary on the weekend. I loved the idea of the Miracle Project. What a fantastic idea! You could really see some of these kids grow in confidence and self-esteem as the documentary progressed. I really hope Coach E is able to keep this project going.
However, some of the parents really annoyed me, especially Lexi's mother. Part of me understands her anger, but it just seemed to overwhelm her and seems to heavily influence her relationship with her daughter. Lexi's father seemed to have a much healthier mindset.
I saw it and really enjoyed it. There are a mix of attitudes among the parents, as there are in the community, some whose attitudes you may agree with, some not...
What I do know, is that I identified quite a bit with several of the children, especially with Henry (who has Asperger's), Lexi, and Wyatt. What I like about it is the attitude that Coach E has toward the students in her program...she focuses on creating an environment where they can just be loved and accepted and did not buy into stereotypes of what they could and could not do.
On the DVD, there's a great scene (cut from the original) which really drives home the discrimination that's out there in the school system. She describes how, when she tried to put her non-verbal son in mainstream classes, the teacher wrote a letter indicating that she didn't want a "child like that" in her classroom...then juxtaposes scenes showing just how successful he is in that mainstream class.
Certain individuals profiled have attitudes that are not exactly PC. Not everyone will like everything that's said in it...but I think that's true anytime you get a group together across different sections of the community.
Lynne Soraya
Asperger's Diary on Psychology Today
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/aspergers-diary
The AspieLife
http://aspielife.blogspot.com