Product Details

• Actors: Narrated by Julianna Margulies
• Directors: Gerardine Wurzburg
• Format: NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: CNN Productions and State of the Art
• DVD Release Date: June 14, 2005
• Run Time: 40 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0009JFDFO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,013 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Autism is a World - CNN" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This Oscar-nominated documentary is a collection of thoughts written by autistic 26-year old Sue Rubin who takes viewers on a poignant journey into her world to educate the public while empowering the autistic community toward their potential. "This is not my voice, but these are my words," begins Rubin as she tells her story (narrated by Julianna Margulies) of being diagnosed with autism as a young child and assumed mentally retarded until, at age 13, she was trained to use Facilitated Communication, a verbal tool that enabled her mind to "wake up." Rubin was reassessed with an IQ that allowed her to attend high school and college and live on her own, assisted by a team of caregivers. The film briefly explains autism and how it affects the brain’s wiring, yet is not meant to be a tutorial on neuro-biology but rather a personal attempt at unveiling a world that is both frustrating and confusing. Rubin discusses her feelings about solitude, social situations, and the need for familiar places and routines. Though autism will be her constant struggle, Rubin’s story is both inspiring and thought provoking. While the film does not presume to be the final word on autism, it is a beginning--and a noble one at that. (Ages 12 and older) --Lynn Gibson

Product Description

"Autism is a World" is a documentary about Sue Rubin, who is autistic. Sue was diagnosed and treated as mentally retarded until the age of 13 when she began to communicate using a keyboard. Now she is a junior in college. In Sue's own words, "Autism is a World" takes the viewer on a journey into her mind, her daily world, and her life with autism. A co-production of CNN Productions and State of the Art, Inc., the film has been honored with numerous awards including a 2004 Academy Award nomination for Documentary Short Subject. With Closed Captioning, and two additional audio tracks: Audio Description of the Visually Impaired and Spanish.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspires us to accept the flaws in ourselves and others April 20, 2006

By Darryl Melander

Format:DVD

For a more complete description of the story and characters of this documentary, read what other reviewers have already posted. My review isn't about the film's story, but about what the film taught me.

This documentary presents the paradox of being both deeply flawed and exceptionally gifted. It would be shallow to say that Sue Rubin is a brilliant woman trapped in a disabled woman's body. It goes beyond that. Sue's spoon fetish, her attraction to water, her speech difficulties, and her behavior all make her appear to be retarded. Some would say that these retarded tendencies mask the real Sue. That is not the case. The retarded Sue is the real Sue just as much as the intelligent Sue is the real Sue. This apparent contradiction challenges the way we view others, especially those with disabilities. It can be difficult to accept this unified duality of blemished excellence, so much so that some are disturbed by the very idea, and others doubt whether Sue is for real.

Personally, I thought it was beautiful. In the weeks since I saw the film, I have often found myself thinking about my own strengths and weaknesses in terms of the film's lessons. Sue has learned to accept her situation and herself. She grows where she can, even though there are many challenges she will never be able to overcome. She doesn't deny her struggles, nor does she pretend to like them, but she has the strength to accept them.

I'd also like to touch on facilitated communication. This documentary is NOT about facilitated communication. The film does nothing to advertise FC.... It makes no suggestion that FC should be used more widely, does not assert any statistics about how effective FC may be among the autistic population, and does not imply that you ought to be using FC with your child. Yes, FC played a huge role in Sue's life, but those who fixate on FC as a myth are unable to see the film for what it really is. Those who dismiss Sue Rubin's story simply because there is a keyboard on screen are just as blind as the people who believe every jumble of letters produced by a non-verbal must be poetry. Let me repeat, this film is NOT about FC. If you've got a problem with FC, get past it long enough to figure out what else the film has to offer. Read more ›

23 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Autism is a World Depicts Truth and We Dont Want to Face It December 14, 2005

By J. Leigh

Format:DVD

I know Sue Rubin and I have watched her move from a person who began using facilitated communication to a person who types independently, despite severe autism. Her story is not the made up wishful thinking of her parents and educators, but a real story about a real person. If you doubt Sue's proficiency and success with facilitated communication on the road to independent typing and communication, just visit her web site, email her and arrange to meet her and see for yourself. Unfortunately in the field of autism Sue's existence is very troubling to those who believe that "what you see is what you get" and that anyone who looks and acts like her must be retarded-Sue's success challenges the so called experts to look at their knowledge base and reassess what we thought we knew. The people who do not want to do that, who only want to quote from one book or article to another, tend to hide behind their so called expertise. Not one expert or professional who has met Sue has walked away with the belief that she is not who she claims to be. She has proven her proficiency to her local school district, Whittier College, her physicians, autism experts at UCI and UCLA and in Boston, and she has been an expert witness in court cases in which other people with autism have fought for their rights to communicate. Sue's story is worth hearing. It might be your child's story. If you have a child with severe autism, you owe it to yourself to hear what Sue has to say.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding AAC July 16, 2007

By Tamara Boyer

Format:DVD

As a professional in the field of autism, I hope reviewers here without clinical training and education will exercise restraint in making generalizations about Sue Rubin and AAC that are unduly harsh and insensitive.

It's important to understand what augmented communication is and is not, and what is meant by the addition of having a facilitator as Sue Rubin uses. Augmented communication takes several forms; from pictures and symbols to signing to electronic devices such as keyboards or voice generators. For anyone who can't speak, these devices are effective and have been empirically validated among other disabled population studies for many years.

If the AAC user is physically unable to access a device because of motor problems- as some autism clients as well as someone with cerebral palsy or other PDDs might have - then a facilitator can help guide and direct the manual use of the AAC. This might look something like "hand-over-hand" guiding -for example, if the client's hands shake or have low motor tone.

The controversy with using a facilitator arises when the facilitator is typing or operating the device him/herself or answering questions for the client to then type in. Then, clearly the client isn't actually doing the communicating. Good facilitator training usually corrects this problem. In the case of Sue Rubin, sh is not pretending and she is -as many with autism are- of normal IQ and high intelligence.

That said, clients with autism can have problems with certain types of cognitive processing where they need help from a facilitator in understanding. To the lay person, this is puzzling and it seems illogical. Why for example, can a particular client do complex math but can't count change?... Why is another autistic client's memory exceptional for facts and figures but he has trouble in some areas of reasoning?

When we see these incongruences in client functioning, particularly among those using AAC with facilitators - the casual observer might think the facilitator is filling in the gaps with their own answers. I do not see that in this case of Sue Rubin but it has happened with some facilitators. Again, good training is key, as is the use of the most appropriate and least restrictive use of AAC tools.

Parents will I hope, approach AAC with the same optimism but careful consumer awareness and education that is necessary when exploring any avenue of help for their child. Read more ›

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I spent 3 days at a seminar with Sue Rubin, and she's for real! September 29, 2005

By C. Lai

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I think the film is absolutely incredible, but I feel the need to first address the doubts shown by several of the other reviewers. I just came from a 3 day seminar, attended by 20 people, to learn about Facilitated Communication. 15 of the people were teachers/educators and 5 were parents of autistic kids(including me). I must admit that I was originally quite skeptical, but there is no doubt that Sue is actually doing the typing herself. Her aides (she has several and new ones keep hiring on as old ones leave to do something else) do not hold her hand when she types. They merely hold the keyboard so that it is as the proper height and angle for her. They are working on finding or making some kind of stand for her, so that she won't always have to have an aide. However, she tires easily and slumps further and further down into her chair as she types, and a human aide is able to accomodate this. Also, she seems to need to "ground" herself every so often by leaning her head against the aide.

I was not only an audience member, but got to actually sit with her while she worked with my friend's 2 young sons. She also interacted with my 8 year old son, who is fully verbal, but he took a instant dislike to her because she opened his bag that he had sitting on the desk. Thus, this was not a fruitful meeting for him. However, I do feel that I am able to say, without any doubt, that Sue is "for real."

Having said that, I found this seminar rather upsetting. I expected to find that my friend's 2 non-verbal boys would experience a sort of "rebirth" in being able to communicate. They were, in fact, thrilled, and were actually typing things like, "I can spell" and "I can spell too...." I could see that the facilitator was not forcing their hands, because she just placed 2 fingers under the boys' wrists. Also, she asked one of the boys what his address was. He typed it himself! As I had registered the family for the seminar, I know that their address was not given to the seminar. (I don't even know their actual address, myself, and they are unlisted in the telephone directory.)

So why did I find this upsetting? Because, even though many of these people were able to communicate, they were still very autistic, with all the strange things that can go with that. One wouldn't type any answers that contained the letter "A." Another acted completely crazy (scary, actually)and mentally retarded, and he would only type about food. While they were certainly better off in being able to communicate, by no means were they "regular people just trapped in a dysfunctional body." Many of them still had very peculiar ways of looking at things, had serious behavior problems, were afraid of anything new, were uncooperative, and more. And the autistic adults had all sorts of emotional baggage from having spent many of their formative years in state hospitals for the insane.

Nevertheless, I think this documentary is brilliantly done, and is an extremely important source of information for parents who have no hope. That was the case of my friend with her 2 sons, ages 6 and 9. It was as if she and her husband thought there was very little brain function at all. They certainly loved their boys, but they expected less from them than you would of a cat (let alone a dog!) It was only after 2 years of hounding them to try something, anything (!), that I saw this film and made them watch it. Now they see that their boys are actually quite intelligent, and are thrilled to be able to communicate their needs. For that, they, and I, will be forever grateful to Sue Rubin. She is responsible for changing the lives of that entire family and, I'm sure, many others. Read more ›