'Autism: The Misunderstood Child' Film Review

Autism: The Misunderstood Child *****

“I just want to encourage others who feel hopeless, to instead feel hopeful.” These are the words of Kathy Winters, the woman who made this delightful short video entitled Autism: The Misunderstood Child, a dedication to her son Ayden who was diagnosed with Autism in January 2008. Yes, it is essentially just a collection of pictures but it is a collection of pictures that is full of heart, accompanied by a beautiful and inspirational piece of music, statistics and facts about Autism and a superb poem by Kathy that truly comes from the heart, detailing both the plight of her son’s Autism and the wonder that comes from it as well. This short film may only be a homemade video but it is a well made one and one that conveys plenty about what it is like living with Autism and what it truly means to love some who has the condition. Kathy says this of Ayden: “He is special, not because of his limitations, but because of his heart” – simple words that perfectly say why individuals with Autism truly are special. And the closing words – “It’s not hopeless if you love them and believe in their potential” – say so much. If everyone saw this video, perhaps there would be less ignorance in the world about what it means to have Autism.

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This is a follow up to my previous post which contains the full film of Autism: The Misunderstood Child and can be found here: http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/10/short-film-autism-misunderstood-child.html

Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Short Film: 'Autism: The Misunderstood Child'

The original source for this video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ5JXeGghkc

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Autism: The Misunderstood Child is a very sweet short video that I came across made by a woman as a dedication to her Autistic son. It is both honest and insightful.

A full review of this video will follow shortly.

Robert Mann BA (Hons)

'Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism' Film Review

Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism *****

I am a man living with Aspergers Syndrome, a form of Autism. And with this comes a range of difficulties, feelings and emotions. Yet, the nature of Autism is such that no two individuals diagnosed with it will ever be completely the same and thus I am unable to fully appreciate how the condition affects others who have it. This is particularly true of the opposite sex. It has been established that females with the condition experience a very different set of problems resulting from it, problems that I am not fully able to understand, and also that many women can slip through the cracks, going completely undetected – hence a key reason why so many fewer women are diagnosed than men. After watching this short video, Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism, however, I am much closer to such an understanding than I was before.

“This video describes the feelings often faced by girls with Asperger Syndrome”
- Laura Paxton

Just like other short videos on Autism that I have reviewed, this film features a succession of still images – intercut with text segments – set to music and just like every one of the others it also manages to put across a unique (uniqueness is something that is very much synonymous with Autism) perspective and the manner in which it paints the struggle of girls and women with Autism proves very effective, the imagery (both photos and artwork that illustrate the points being made) used being both hauntingly beautiful and heartbreakingly sad at the same time, the words used to describe the feelings being very eloquent and poetic, and the musical accompaniment being suitably enchanting and appropriate to the mood the film is trying to create. While the film is very short it successfully says a lot about key feelings being experienced by females with Autism – the lack of understanding of social cues, the desire to have friends and fit in, the feeling of loneliness, the fantasy worlds that girls with the condition often lose themselves in, the “special interests” they comfort themselves with, the “social vortex” they get lost in, the way they imitate others in an effort to fit in, the fact that the condition can affect anyone regardless of culture and the stress and exhaustion that can result from the condition – and if you watch this beautifully made video you are sure to have a greatly improved understanding of the difficulties faced by girls and women with Autism with afterwards. I certainly did.

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This is a follow up to my previous post which included the full film of Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism and can be found here:
http://thewonderfulworldofautism.blogspot.com/2010/10/short-film-feelings-of-girls-and-women.html

Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Short Film: 'Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism'

The original source for this video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNFLe2FLKj4

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Feelings of Girls and Women with Autism is a delightful short video that effectively conveys the feelings, emotions and difficulties experienced by females diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. It is a very beautiful and emotive piece of work that conveys its messages quite eloquently.

A full review for this film will follow shortly.

Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Short Film: 'I Love Somebody with Autism'

The original source for this video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPoKVsw1I9Y

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I Love Somebody with Autism is a delightful homemade movie about a young boy called Jonathan who has Autism and whose gifts make up for the difficulties the condition creates for him to an extent. The movie is a compilation of images that he has drawn set to music.

A full review of this film will follow shortly.

Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Short Film: 'Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger's Syndrome'

The original source for this video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqGhDPhaRrc

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Aspie Eyes: The beautiful eyes of Asperger's Syndrome is another delightful video about Autism that I have come across while scouring the internet. It shows images of the eyes of Aspereger's Syndrome accompanied by some very enchanting music. That may not sound like much, believe me, there really is something quite special about this video.

A full review for this film will follow shortly.

Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Short Film: 'Taste on Autism'

The original source for this video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n80_S1Gn7UM

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Taste on Autism is the first of many delightful videos I have found about Autism while scouring the web and that I will be aiming to post on here in the near future. It is an 8 minute short animated film that is basically about a romance between a woman and a man diagnosed with Autism. A truly delightful film.

A full review for this film will follow shortly.

Robert Mann BA (Hons)

'Reality Checked': Behind the scenes of 'Reality Check'

Reality Checked - Behind the scenes of Reality Check from Jack Green on Vimeo.

Almost a month ago I posted a film called Reality Check on my blog, which featured a segment about a character with Autism.

Reality Checked goes behind the scenes of that film, featuring interviews with all the major players behind the film, me included, and provides a few views about the film's presentation of Autism.

Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Short Film: 'Reality Check'

Reality Check from Jack Green on Vimeo.

This is a film I worked on as part of a group project for my Bachelors Degree in Creative Studies at Bangor University. I am posting it here because one of the stories within the film is about a character with Autism.

Reality Check is a short film consisting of three different stories based around perceptions of reality.

The first Jigsaw is about how a man with Autism views the world.

The second Mobile is about a man who becomes convinced that he is living the events of certain films.

The third and last Coma is about a woman who is unsure of whether she is dreaming or awake.

I mainly did camera work but also played a small part in the second story (sorry for that - I know I can't act).

The real talents behind the film are Jack Green, David Pallant, Rhi McCrorie, Iain Williamson and Tom Ensor.

Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Video: 'Learning to Love'

The original source for this video can be found here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6955074

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Following up my previous post about Lindsey Nebeker and Dave Hamrick, here is a lovely news piece that was done about them on ABC News shortly after the story was published in Glamour magazine.

Enjoy.

Robert Mann BA (Hons)

'Adam' Movie Trailer

Following up my previous post, here is the trailer for Adam starring Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne, and written and directed by Max Mayer.

Don't forget - Adam is out on DVD on Monday 15th February so make sure you get your copy and give this film the attention it deserves.

Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Documentary: 'Beautiful Young Minds'

Beautiful Young Minds Part 1 of 4

Beautiful Young Minds Part 2 of 4

Beautiful Young Minds Part 3 of 4


Watch Beautiful Young Minds [Part 3] in Educational View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

NOTE: Part 3 is included as an embedded video due to the file size being too large for upload.

Beautiful Young Minds Part 4 of 4

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Here is a BAFTA nominated British documentary by Morgan Matthews entitled Beautiful Young Minds which tells the story of several individuals gifted with impressive mathematical abilities who are trying to get accepted into the International Mathematical Olympiad. Among the individuals, most of whom have some degree of Autism, hoping to get accepted is Daniel Lightwing. This film focuses particularly on his efforts, as well as the difficulties he faces in his day to day life, and also his relationship with Zhu Yan, their marriage actually being filmed for this documentary. The film not only manages to be entertaining but also gives an honest, sincere, sensitive and heartfelt look into the lives of its subjects and is very well done in every respect.

Robert Mann BA (Hons)

'Mozart and the Whale' Movie Trailer

Following up my previous post, here is the trailer for Mozart and the Whale starring Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell, written by Ronald Bass and directed by Petter Næss.

It may not be the most authentic and true to life of Aspergers related films - personally I found Adam to be better in that regard - and it may have its flaws, but it is nonetheless an extremely charming and moving film that any Autistic person who has ever felt out of place in the world should not fail to be moved and inspired by, and it does a pretty job of both representing the difficulties that Autistic adults face frequently and also being pretty entertaining as well.

Robert Mann BA (Hons)