A Mother's Courage: Talking Back to Autism Debuts on HBO
Film Premiere on International Autism Day
"A Mother's Courage: Talking Back to Autism" is the real life story of Margret, whose ten-year-old son Keli is severely autistic. Consumed by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge about about autism, Margret has tried many treatments to help her son.
Margret travel from her Iceland home United States and Europe, to meet with scientists and autism experts . She also meets other families touched by autism. The stakes in autism are high, as one in 150 children is diagnosed with autism every year. Boys are more likely to be autistic, outnumbering girls four to one.
Margret worries that her son may never be able to express himself or be self sufficient. As Margret travels she learns how the brains of autistic children are different from 'normal' children. She learns about new treatments that may offer hope to children with autism.
As Margret connects with families with autistic children, she finds that she is not alone in her struggles. The families share stories about different medical experiences, endless doctor visits, treatments and the complications of everyday life with an autistic child. Many of the families share information about promising new therapies, giving Margret a feeling of hope.
After the family returns home, Margret says, "Before, we used to talk about Keli in front of him, but now we talk to him." With new hope for the future, she adds, "I can start to get to know my own child."
Among the experts and advocates Margret encounters are:
Dr. David G. Amaral, Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen, Dr. Geraldine Dawson, Dr. Temple Grandin, Joseph E. Morrow and Soma Mukhopadhyay, Margret also meets with Portia Iverson and Jonathan Shestack, parents of an autistic child and founders of Cure Autism Now.
A Mother's Courage: Talking Back to Autism was directed by Fridrik Thor Fridr executive producer, Kristin Olafsdottir; producer, Margret Dagmar Ericsdottir; narrated by Kate Winslet; director of photography, Jon Karl Helgason; editor, Thuridur Einarsdottir; music by Sigur Rós and Björk.
A Mother's Courage: Talking back to Autism debuts on HBO on Friday, April l2, 2010 and will air for several additional airdates thereafter.
Source: HBO
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As the sister of a severely autistic brother and another brother with moderate special needs, I found this article interesting. I remember how many parents were refusing to allow their children to have the MMR vaccine not so long ago in the UK, as a doctor said he thought the vaccine causes autism. But his theory was not actually based on solid, medical research.
Sophie
Thanks for posting this, as the mother of an autistic child I'm thrilled that there is more and more attention being brought to ASD and the many treatments that are available and for some parents are amazing. Just an FYI, the CDC released their newest study on Christmas Eve of 2009 and the statistics for Autistic Children is actually 1 in 110 now, 1 in 150 is the old statistics from the 2007 (I believe) study. Pretty scary that it's risen that much in just two years, especially considering that the way the studies were conducted was questionably in favor of getting lower results and still there is a clear jump in cases. I hope everyday for an answer. I love my son, he is amazing, but it breaks my heart to see the roadblocks that autism puts in his way that keep him from easily being able to accomplish the most simple of tasks.
Great job I will be sure to watch.