Meet the Autism War: Devastating Illness or Neurodiversity?

[Guest guest]

Meet the Autism War: Devastating Illness or Neurodiversity?

Today autism affects approximately one out of every one hundred children, a

substantive increase from one in 2,500 as diagnosed thirty years ago. In recent

years, as autism has exploded into the public's consciousness, two camps have

formed: those who believe it is a devastating disease to be cured and those who

feel that autism is just a variation of the human brain. First-time director,

Todd Drezner, the father of an autistic son, Sam, has shared his personal

journey of coming to terms with autism by taking a wide-angle view on the issue

and presenting a heartfelt case that acceptance is the better way. LOVING

LAMPPOSTS: LIVING AUTISTIC will be available on DVD and VOD platforms in the US

and Canada on March 29, 2011 from Cinema Libre Studio.

After his son's diagnosis, filmmaker Todd Drezner visits the front lines of the

autism wars to learn more about the condition. He interviews parents and experts

representing the " recovery movement, " which views autism as a tragic epidemic

brought on by environmental toxins such as childhood vaccinations. Operating

outside the boundaries of mainstream medicine, these parents, doctors and

therapists search for unconventional treatments that can " reverse " autism and

restore their children to normal lives. He attends the National Autism

Association conference, where he speaks with purveyors of " alternative

treatments " such as hyperbaric chambers and saunas, believed by many parents to

aid in the removal of toxins from their children, and interviews actress

McCarthy, the mother of an autistic child, who has been a spokesperson for

Generation Rescue and TACA (Talk About Curing Autism), and other parents who

believe they have " cured " their children with alternative treatments.

Drezner visits with proponents of the " neurodiversity movement, " those who

believe that autism is just another way of being. He interviews experts, parents

and most significantly, adults living and functioning with autism. He interviews

Simon Baron-Cohen, the Director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge

University; parents a Chew and Charlie Fisher, both professors at the

university level; high-functioning adults living with autism, including Sharisa

Kochmeister who does not speak but has the IQ of a genius, and Dora Raymaker, an

autistic adult who speaks via a computer and is the co-director of the Academic

Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education.

He also turns the camera on his own family, including his wife, Drezner,

and Sam, sharing their private struggle with the world. Says Drezner, " In more

than three years since I've immersed myself in the world of autism, the world at

large has paid more attention to autism than ever before. Never has a community

been less ready for its cultural moment than the autism community. Indeed, there

is disagreement about whether autism is a disease, about how to treat it, about

whether it is an epidemic, about whether it can be cured, and even about what it

is. Although we can't claim to have resolved these debates conclusively, we hope

that this film will at least help parents and the broader public see the

consequences of the relentlessly negative mainstream view of autism and help

them understand that acceptance offers a better path. "

The title of the film refers to the circuit of lampposts that Drezner's son

likes to visit in Brooklyn, NY's Prospect Park.

Synopsis:

As autism has exploded into the public consciousness over the last 20 years, two

opposing questions have been asked about the condition fueling the debate: is it

a devastating sickness to be cured or is it a variation of the human brain -

just a different way to be human? LOVING LAMPPOSTS: LIVING AUTISTIC takes a look

at two movements: the " recovery movement, " which views autism as a tragic

epidemic brought on by environmental toxins, and the " neurodiversity movement, "

which argues that autism should be accepted and that autistic people should be

supported. After his son's diagnosis, filmmaker Todd Drezner visits the front

lines of the autism wars to learn more about the debate and provide information

about a condition that is still difficult to comprehend.

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