Autism:The Musical

Now, if you think that's a strange title for a post, it's an even stranger name for a movie. I saw the documentary Autism: The Musical" last weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival. Joanie got some tickets for my birthday, and It was really worth getting up early (after scrapping so late on NSD the night before) to see it.

So while it may sound like an odd idea, it was really pretty cool. A woman who had a son with autism organized a group of kids and they put on their own little musical. The film followed the kids and their parents and the behind-the-scenes of the show. The kids were all really amazing, and they were all so different. It was fascinating to see the different degrees of autism - from a kid who knew everything about dinosaurs (he was such a cutie too!) to a girl who repeated anything said to her and could sing beautifully. There were moments where everyone was laughing hysterically and times when you wanted to cry.

The director, Tricia Regan, hung around and answered from questions from the audience. Some of the people there said they worked with people with autism and that the film did a great job in representing what they are really like. They are hoping to get a wider release soon, so Autism: The Musical could be coming to a theater near you soon.