After hearing a caller today and her struggles with her autistic child, I thought I should write to let you and your listeners know of a film about a family's journey with their autistic son, Owen Suskind.
The film is "Life, Animated" and is based on a book written by his father, Ron Suskind, who was a WSJ reporter. I had an opportunity to see this film at a festival, and both Owen's parents were present to relay some additional first-hand experiences. It is a delightful and very well-done film. It will leave you standing and cheering for Owen, who is now 23.
Owen's parents were able to begin communicating with Owen when they noticed he was repeating dialogue word-for-word from Disney animated features and could even imitate the voices. He was making sense of his world through the characters, whether it be joy, disappointment, friendship, etc. Owen began a "Disney Club" at the special school he was attending. He would lead meetings by showing a part of the movie and then stop it and ask questions of his classmates, and they would talk about their thoughts. It is a movie the entire family can view, enjoy and learn from.
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