A Tribe Called Whitlock

Our new friends from Challengers baseball Lauri and her son Henry have introduced us to the most amazing film.  Wretchers and Jabberes challenges everything we think about Autism.  The films stars are Tracy Thresher and Larry Bissonnette.  Now in there 40’s and 50’s both men grew up without an ability to community verbally with the world around them.  Growing up it was assumed that they were not intelligent.  Sadly, Larry grew up in an institution. In the early 90’s both men began communicating by typing.  What flowed from their writing was amazing brilliance of thought that shocked everyone around them.  Guess what, as trainers began working with more and more individuals with Autism (even those considered to have severe cases) the results were the same.  While at the premier of the film we were blessed to be able to see even more vividly typing in action.  Tres, Maurice and I were sitting toward the back of the room in the theatre.  On the other side of the isle was a mother trying to keep her tween daughter quiet throughout the presentation.  My eyes kept going to their corner whenever the young girl had an outburst.  Eventually during the question and answer segment the girl broke free from her mom and ran up to the table in front of the audience. One of the trainers stilled the very embarrassed mom and told her  “this child is what we are here for”.  The trainer then proceeded to allow the girl to use Tracy’s speech device.  Her hands moved swiftly over the keys.  ” I am so excited to meet you.” she typed.  The little girl who couldn’t stay in her seat, who no one understood, had desperately wanted to say something.  She just needed to be heard.  I was floored.  My family had the privilege of meeting Larry and Tracy after the premier of the film.  Tres typed with Tracy for a short time.  I believe that EVERYONE should see this film.  Tracy and Henry take you on a journey and when it is over, your conceptions of the face of autism will never be the same. For more information: http://www.wretchesandjabberers.org/