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Beth DiPasquale

SPELLERS

Pat Notaro

Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg

Donnie Wahlberg

Dawnmarie Gaivin

Dana Johnson

Gail Tanner

Aydan Boden

Jamie Handley

Cade Larson

Vince Rinicella

Madison Hollman

Evan Tastor

Elizabeth Bonker

Sid Sarathy

Inspired by the book Underestimated, the new full-length documentary SPELLERS challenges conventional wisdom regarding a group relegated to society’s margins: nonspeakers with autism, who most “experts” believe are cognitively disabled. As the film opening asks, “What if we’ve been wrong…about every single one of them?” SPELLERS answers that question, in convincing fashion, through the stories of eight nonspeakers—Aydan, Evan, Sid, Maddie, Jamie, Vince, Cade, and Elizabeth—who all found their voice through the miraculous process of using a letterboard to communicate their thoughts and feelings. As Jamie explains, “we think, feel, and learn just like everyone else.”

Documentary