SPELLERS
Hosted by Casey DePriest
On-demand
Available
Nov 16, 12:00 PM CST - Dec 16, 12:00 PM CST
Price
$10.00 USD per person
Available in
Worldwide
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SPELLERS - On Demand Screening
Join us to celebrate SPELLERS and the estimated 40% of autistics who are nonspeaking (also minimally speaking, unreliably speaking), many of whom are underserved and underestimated in our schools, clinics, and communities.
Neuroscience has revealed that nonspeaking individuals are experiencing a common and significant movement disorder, Apraxia, which impacts their ability to feel their bodies and move with intention. Consider what we may have been missing about this vulnerable population. Celebrate the potential that is being unleashed through literacy-based communication methods.
Tickets ONLY $10
Proceeds support Optimal ACCESS to allow us to continue to support the needs of nonspeaking students and their families.
About the film
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.”
Genre
Documentary
Runtime
1h 23m
Released
2023
Director
Pat Notaro
Executive Producer
Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, Donnie Wahlberg, Dawnmarie Gaivin, Dana Johnson, Gail Tanner
Cast
Aydan Boden, Jamie Handley, Cade Larson, Vince Rinicella, Madison Hollman, Evan Tastor, Elizabeth Bonker, Sid Sarathy