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Autism Documentary ‘Wretches & Jabberers’ Headed To Big Screen

By Shaun Heasley

March 3, 2011

In a rare move, an independent documentary about two men with autism will be

shown in movie theaters across the country this April in honor of autism

awareness month.

The film, “Wretches & Jabberers,†follows Thresher, 42, and Larry

Bissonnette, 52, both of whom have autism and communicate primarily through

typing as they travel the globe in an effort to alter people’s attitudes about

disability.

Starting April 1, the film will screen at AMC Theatres in 40 cities —

including top markets like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — through a deal

with the Autism Society. The organization will receive a portion of ticket sales

from the showings.

AMC and the Autism Society already partner to present so-called “sensory

friendly films†at theaters throughout the country on a regular basis in an

effort to accommodate moviegoers with autism. At these showings of newly

released films, the sound is lowered, the lights are turned up and audience

members are encouraged to move about and make noise as they wish.

The adjustments made during sensory friendly films will apply to all of AMC’s

showings of “Wretches & Jabberers,†the company said.

“AMC’s decision to showcase ‘Wretches & Jabberers’ in some of its most

popular mainstream movie theaters echoes the movie’s powerful message of

inclusion,†said Lee Grossman, president and CEO of the Autism Society.

The filmmaker behind “Wretches & Jabberers,†Gerardine Wurzburg, won a 1993

Academy Award for “Educating ,†a documentary about the inclusion of a

student with Down syndrome, and was nominated in 2005 for “Autism is a

World,†a film about a woman living with the developmental disability.

" Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the

way. "

-Abraham Lincoln