Sib documentary on PBS tonight!

[Guest guest]

Hello, all.

Below is a New York Times article about the documentary ³Today¹s Man.² It

airs tonight on PBS in most communities. I have not seen it, but it sounds

good!

Here is the PBS website with further information:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/todaysman/film.html

And here¹s how you can check when it is airing in your community:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/broadcast.html

Don

January 8, 2008

Navigating Life With Humor and Bewilderment

By FELICIA R. LEE

³I think the wind created me,² says Nicky Gottlieb, the subject of ³Today¹s

Man,² a documentary that has its television premiere on Tuesday night on

most PBS stations. Mr. Gottlieb, who in the film offers his theory of how

the world was formed, has Asperger¹s syndrome, a form of autism, and his

sister, Lizzie Gottlieb, spent six years committing his life to film. She

depicts a highly intelligent man addicted to television, socially

inappropriate, self-aware about his condition and negotiating the world with

both humor and bewilderment.

³Physically, I¹m a man,² Mr. Gottlieb says at the beginning of ³Today¹s

Man,² which tracks his quest, beginning at 21, to hold a job, get an

apartment, make friends. ³But mentally and emotionally, I¹m a boy; I¹m still

a child.²

His mother, the actress Tucci, has to remind Mr. Gottlieb to shower,

for example. We see his father, Gottlieb, a dance critic for The New

York Observer and a former editor in chief of The New Yorker, lovingly

shaving a son who is often too distracted for that task.

In another scene the younger Mr. Gottlieb, now 29, confides to his sister

that he likes ³the perks² of living at home.

³What is our future going to be like?² Ms. Gottlieb, 36, asks him, her only

sibling. ³I mean, what are you and I going to do when Mommy and Daddy aren¹t

around? What do you want your life to be like?²

Ms. Gottlieb and her parents are haunted by that question about her

brother¹s future, she said in a recent interview. His life and the intensity

of their family journey pushed her to make the film, casting light on an

adult with Asperger¹s, a neurobiological condition.

People with the syndrome show a wide range of intelligence ‹ some are

brilliant ‹ but characteristically have intense, narrow interests; odd

speech patterns; and few social skills, among other symptoms. Often they

seem to lack the ability to bond with others.

Mr. Gottlieb is high-functioning, bright enough to give Italian lessons and

tutor students in math. He was a late talker, but at around 4 or 5 he would

ask people their birth dates and instantly tell each of them the day of the

week on which the date fell.

³As a child, I thought I had this magical brother,² Ms. Gottlieb said. ³We

assumed there was no one else in the world like him. It¹s harder now, as it

became clearer that there is no magical answer to Nicky¹s problems.² He

still lives at home, she said, but is now seeing a young woman with

Asperger¹s.

Ms. Gottlieb, a theater and film director who was a founder and producer of

Pure Orange Productions, a theater company for new Off Broadway plays, has

taken ³Today¹s Man² to several film festivals (Margaret Mead, Nantucket,

Mendocino). Mr. Gottlieb has accompanied her to about 20 screenings.

³Today¹s Man,² part of the ³Independent Lens² series on PBS, can be seen in

New York on Friday. PBS¹s Web site pbs.org/todaysman has information about

the film and links to resources.

The Gottlieb family coped without such help. Asperger¹s syndrome was not

diagnosed until Mr. Gottlieb was about 20, following years of various

therapies, schooling arrangements and medication. His parents, sophisticated

people in a sophisticated city, did not even hear the word Asperger¹s until

he was 20, Ms. Tucci says in ³Today¹s Man.²

Still, she says, she knew within days of his birth that her son was

different. He nursed oddly, she says, could not bond, had facial tics and

later developed seizures.

³The doctor calls and says, ŒMrs. Gottlieb, it¹s the worst; it¹s very bad,¹²

she recalls in the film. ³He may never talk, he may never walk. He may

become blind, deaf and dumb.²

None of the worst came to pass. Mr. Gottlieb¹s parents watched as he began

hitting developmental milestones. And when his sister was making the

documentary (stopping for the birth of twins and a bout of now vanquished

thyroid cancer), she even found an old film of Nicky saying his first word,

bread, a piece of history relegated to a cupboard in her parents¹ Manhattan

home.

Lynda Geller, the clinical director of the Asperger Institute at the New

York University Child Study Center, said that ³Today¹s Man² called much

needed attention to the problems of adults with the syndrome. The institute

treats children and adults with Asperger¹s, and Dr. Geller said she received

calls frequently from adults with the syndrome who have not yet received a

diagnosis.

³We need a lot more creative solutions for independence,² she said. ³To me,

looking at the job world and independence later in life are critical.²

Asperger¹s syndrome was added to the American Psychological Association¹s

diagnostic reference in 1994. And although the Centers for Disease Control

estimate that there are 560,000 people under age 21 with autism in this

country, there is no good data on adults.

A few weeks ago Tina Brown, another former editor in chief of The New

Yorker, was host of a screening of ³Today¹s Man² in Midtown Manhattan. The

audience included journalists and parents of people with Asperger¹s. Ms.

Brown introduced Lizzie Gottlieb and Nicky Gottlieb. Mr. Gottlieb said

jokingly that he was bored from seeing the film over and over but was proud

of his sister for making it.

Ms. Brown fielded questions from the audience members, who wanted to know

what Mr. Gottlieb did for a living and if he was aware of his limitations.

Ms. Brown asked Mr. Gottlieb if he declared his disability in social

situations.

³Most of the people I meet have been warned about me,² he said in his

tongue-in-cheek way, making the audience laugh.

Ms. Gottlieb ends her film with Mr. Gottlieb singing, off-key and

unselfconsciously:

Poor wand¹ring one

If such true love as mine

Can help thee find

True peace of mind

Why, take it, it is thine.

[Guest guest]

Thank you, Tara.

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeld

egskb@...

Sib documentary on PBS tonight!

Hello, all.

Below is a New York Times article about the documentary ³Today¹s Man.² It

airs tonight on PBS in most communities. I have not seen it, but it sounds

good!

Here is the PBS website with further information:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/todaysman/film.html

And here¹s how you can check when it is airing in your community:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/broadcast.html

Don

January 8, 2008

Navigating Life With Humor and Bewilderment

By FELICIA R. LEE

³I think the wind created me,² says Nicky Gottlieb, the subject of ³Today¹s

Man,² a documentary that has its television premiere on Tuesday night on

most PBS stations. Mr. Gottlieb, who in the film offers his theory of how

the world was formed, has Asperger¹s syndrome, a form of autism, and his

sister, Lizzie Gottlieb, spent six years committing his life to film. She

depicts a highly intelligent man addicted to television, socially

inappropriate, self-aware about his condition and negotiating the world with

both humor and bewilderment.

³Physically, I¹m a man,² Mr. Gottlieb says at the beginning of ³Today¹s

Man,² which tracks his quest, beginning at 21, to hold a job, get an

apartment, make friends. ³But mentally and emotionally, I¹m a boy; I¹m still

a child.²

His mother, the actress Tucci, has to remind Mr. Gottlieb to shower,

for example. We see his father, Gottlieb, a dance critic for The New

York Observer and a former editor in chief of The New Yorker, lovingly

shaving a son who is often too distracted for that task.

In another scene the younger Mr. Gottlieb, now 29, confides to his sister

that he likes ³the perks² of living at home.

³What is our future going to be like?² Ms. Gottlieb, 36, asks him, her only

sibling. ³I mean, what are you and I going to do when Mommy and Daddy aren¹t

around? What do you want your life to be like?²

Ms. Gottlieb and her parents are haunted by that question about her

brother¹s future, she said in a recent interview. His life and the intensity

of their family journey pushed her to make the film, casting light on an

adult with Asperger¹s, a neurobiological condition.

People with the syndrome show a wide range of intelligence < some are

brilliant < but characteristically have intense, narrow interests; odd

speech patterns; and few social skills, among other symptoms. Often they

seem to lack the ability to bond with others.

Mr. Gottlieb is high-functioning, bright enough to give Italian lessons and

tutor students in math. He was a late talker, but at around 4 or 5 he would

ask people their birth dates and instantly tell each of them the day of the

week on which the date fell.

³As a child, I thought I had this magical brother,² Ms. Gottlieb said. ³We

assumed there was no one else in the world like him. It¹s harder now, as it

became clearer that there is no magical answer to Nicky¹s problems.² He

still lives at home, she said, but is now seeing a young woman with

Asperger¹s.

Ms. Gottlieb, a theater and film director who was a founder and producer of

Pure Orange Productions, a theater company for new Off Broadway plays, has

taken ³Today¹s Man² to several film festivals (Margaret Mead, Nantucket,

Mendocino). Mr. Gottlieb has accompanied her to about 20 screenings.

³Today¹s Man,² part of the ³Independent Lens² series on PBS, can be seen in

New York on Friday. PBS¹s Web site pbs.org/todaysman has information about

the film and links to resources.

The Gottlieb family coped without such help. Asperger¹s syndrome was not

diagnosed until Mr. Gottlieb was about 20, following years of various

therapies, schooling arrangements and medication. His parents, sophisticated

people in a sophisticated city, did not even hear the word Asperger¹s until

he was 20, Ms. Tucci says in ³Today¹s Man.²

Still, she says, she knew within days of his birth that her son was

different. He nursed oddly, she says, could not bond, had facial tics and

later developed seizures.

³The doctor calls and says, OMrs. Gottlieb, it¹s the worst; it¹s very bad,¹²

she recalls in the film. ³He may never talk, he may never walk. He may

become blind, deaf and dumb.²

None of the worst came to pass. Mr. Gottlieb¹s parents watched as he began

hitting developmental milestones. And when his sister was making the

documentary (stopping for the birth of twins and a bout of now vanquished

thyroid cancer), she even found an old film of Nicky saying his first word,

bread, a piece of history relegated to a cupboard in her parents¹ Manhattan

home.

Lynda Geller, the clinical director of the Asperger Institute at the New

York University Child Study Center, said that ³Today¹s Man² called much

needed attention to the problems of adults with the syndrome. The institute

treats children and adults with Asperger¹s, and Dr. Geller said she received

calls frequently from adults with the syndrome who have not yet received a

diagnosis.

³We need a lot more creative solutions for independence,² she said. ³To me,

looking at the job world and independence later in life are critical.²

Asperger¹s syndrome was added to the American Psychological Association¹s

diagnostic reference in 1994. And although the Centers for Disease Control

estimate that there are 560,000 people under age 21 with autism in this

country, there is no good data on adults.

A few weeks ago Tina Brown, another former editor in chief of The New

Yorker, was host of a screening of ³Today¹s Man² in Midtown Manhattan. The

audience included journalists and parents of people with Asperger¹s. Ms.

Brown introduced Lizzie Gottlieb and Nicky Gottlieb. Mr. Gottlieb said

jokingly that he was bored from seeing the film over and over but was proud

of his sister for making it.

Ms. Brown fielded questions from the audience members, who wanted to know

what Mr. Gottlieb did for a living and if he was aware of his limitations.

Ms. Brown asked Mr. Gottlieb if he declared his disability in social

situations.

³Most of the people I meet have been warned about me,² he said in his

tongue-in-cheek way, making the audience laugh.

Ms. Gottlieb ends her film with Mr. Gottlieb singing, off-key and

unselfconsciously:

Poor wand¹ring one

If such true love as mine

Can help thee find

True peace of mind

Why, take it, it is thine.