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HBO
What brought you to this project?
Tricia Regan
I became interested in autism in high school.
Then when I was in college I worked in a
clinic for autistic kids. At that time autism
was not that common. I really never expected
to come across it again. But then one of my
good friends had a son who was diagnosed
with autism. She was approached by a group
of parents that wanted to make a film about
autistic kids. She suggested they talk to me
because they had never made a film. That
connection started a series of conversations
with me just advising them.
After hearing what they wanted to do, which
was to reach a broader audience, and to sort
of show the world how great these kids are, I
said, I don't think that you really want to
make a film about autism. Because if you
make a film solely about autism you're not
gonna reach a broad audience because people
aren't going to want to sit through an hour
and a half of that. You know, it's difficult, it's
painful. Most folks would rather go to a
movie that gives them drama and
entertainment. So I suggested that they find
a structure where it's about kids with autism
but autism isn't the subject. Autism is their
obstacle while they try to achieve something
greater than people would expect them to.
I suggested something like a play or an
athletic event. And they jumped on the idea
because they knew this woman, Elaine Hall,
who had just started something called The
Miracle Project, where she was taking a group
of kids with autism and working with them,
and trying to create and perform an original
musical. So I suggested that they shoot some
footage of that and cut a trailer and try to
raise money. And they did that and then
asked me to direct it.
HBO
Seeing these kids accomplish something
greater than people would expect is one of the
joys in watching the film.
Tricia Regan
Well, it's a classic movie structure which is so
satisfying because you have a group of people
struggling against the odds to achieve
something great. In this movie the kids are
struggling, trying to make their way in a world
that doesn't understand or accept them and
that they don't understand and accept. And
the parents are struggling in a world where
their lives have taken a left turn they never
could have predicted.
Just trying to be parents in this world that
has no real place for kids with autism is a
heartbreak every single day, from getting
them into school to teaching them, to things
like impulse control or something as simple
as taking them to the supermarket. Often it
is impossible with a kid with autism. So in
the course of this movie, we go through that
emotional journey of trying to lead a life that
is productive and happy and fruitful and
successful, where there's this constant
obstacle, which is oftentimes societal and has
nothing to do with the disorder.
HBO
One of the many myths the film shatters is
that autistic individuals are somehow lacking
in intelligence.
Tricia Regan
In my experience, these kids all have a
profound sense of intelligence. I'm not gonna
say that they're all smarter than the next kid,
because I don't know if that's true. But a lot
of them do have these specific quirks that
make them kind of genius in particular areas.
And they all have a real sense of intelligence
of what's going on around them.
HBO
Autism is now called a modern day epidemic.
Why?
Tricia Regan
In 1980, the rate of autism in the U.S. was
one in ten thousand kids. This year it's one
in a hundred and fifty. And those are
Center's for Disease Control statistics. Some
people argue that it's just over-diagnosis. I
don't find that to be true because I have
spoken with a lot of pediatricians and
educators who have been working with
children for thirty, forty years. And they will
say to you, there are more sick kids now than
ever before. And it's not just autism. It's
diabetes; it's childhood cancers. It's all sorts
of learning disorders and mood disorders.
Now, we can all guess that it probably has to
with the rate of pollution and inorganic
materials that we're surrounded by. But who
knows? I think people are trying to figure out
how to cure it, how to treat it, and what the
gene is that causes autism. But as far as I
can see, there are scarce resources being
spent investigating what might be causing
this sudden and massive rise in numbers of
those afflicted. There are no genetic
epidemics, so there must be a "second hit" so
to speak, something that happens outside of
the body, that is triggering this rise in
numbers. That is what has kept me up at
nights, wondering what that thing is, or what
combination of things.
HBO
The film has played at festivals all over the
world. How have audiences reacted?
Tricia Regan
Showing this film to audiences has become
one of the greatest pleasures of my life
because people are so moved. And it's not
just that they cry, which they tend to. And
it's not just that they laugh, which they
always do. It's not just that they are so
overwhelmed with feelings of love at the end of
this movie for these kids, which they always
are. It's all of those things. And for the
parents, I think because they've been living
this secret life of suffering for so long it gives
them validation for their struggle, and also the
validation that their kids really are pretty
great.
I find that people who have had no
association with autism at all come out really
with not only an understanding of what it is
but a curiosity and an acceptance and a
desire to know a person with autism. It opens
their hearts and allows them to look at their
own lives in a new way.
I've always said - and people always thought I
was joking - all I want is for this movie to
change the world. Now, that may seem a little
ambitious but I think the world is changed
one mind, one heart at a time. And to me,
there's this whole generation of kids with
autism coming up and they are soon going to
be adults. They're going to be in our
universities. They're going to be in our
workplaces. And eventually they'll be in our
senior citizens' homes. They are here to stay.
They're not going away. And we need to make
room for them.
And in a larger symbolic way, I feel like we all
are a little autistic. For all of us there are
ways that we feel freakish, or we just don't fit
in. And I think that this movie can open your
heart to begin to accept ourselves and others
for exactly who they are, and understanding
that if we can accept ourselves and the people
in our lives for exactly who they are that we'll
all be a lot better off.
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