Customer Reviews

Loving Lampposts

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw this film at a screening and was deeply moved by it. The filmmaker sensitively portrays the process of parents coming to terms with their childrens' diagnoses, beginning with his own experience as the parent of an autistic boy. He shies away from easy answers or simple solutions, instead telling the stories of autistic children and adults--and the people who love and care for them--with tenderness and dignity. I recommend it especially to parents of children who have been recently diagnosed, as well as to anybody who works with people with disabilities.

My son has autism, and it has been almost 4 years since we first realized there was something "wrong". I wish I had seen this movie then. It would have helped me immensely- not because it offers some kind of "answer" or guidelines, but because it shows many many aspects of living with autism, and how people respond to the situation. You will see several adults on the Autism Spectrum, with varying degrees of deficits. You will see how different parents chose to deal with their child's diagnosis, and you will see different views held by the the medical and academic community.
The central issue is to highlight the two main schools of thought on the topic of Autism: on the one end of the spectrum is "Defeat Autism Now", on the other is the "Neuro-Diversity" movement.
The film is informative, personal (the director's son has Autism), compassionate, and deeply moving.
Personally, I found it very very helpful to hear the stories and to hear others echo the very struggles that I went through, and continue to deal with.

I just finished watching the DVD given to me by a friend who had a review copy.

This film explores the complexity and diversity of autism experiences by interviewing many adults with autism, as well as parents of children with autism and autism experts. It is a wonderful, reassuring view of autism, especially useful for parents whose children may be newly diagnosed with autism.

Drezner also interviews advocates for biomedical treatment or "curing autism" in a fair and balanced manner.

Loving Lampposts has the tagline "if you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person" and and brings it to life by interviewing many people with autism--in particular, tackling the issue of "high functioning vs. low functioning" in a sensitive and nuanced manner.

If you want to help yourself and others better understand autism, watch this film. I think you'll join me in recommending Loving Lampposts to others.

in my 14 plus years journey alongside two precious sons on the spectrum, i found Lampposts affirming my belief that autism is less of a demon we must "cast out", but truly a blessing we all should embrace, seek ways to calm ourselves (yes) down, and only then will we hilariously celebrate this predictably unpredictable, yet amazingly teachable world of autism

The production of this DVD was presented very professionally, but the information was so all over the place it was extremely hard to watch and comprehend most of it, much less have something concrete to take and apply to our own situation with our autistic grandson. If a person new to autism were to watch this (such as us), they walk away so confused by theories/viewpoints being blended with info/facts to the point one does not know what is what. I purchased this with the impression we were actually going to gain understanding from the parents of the little boy that loved lampposts, however, again...I say all of this theory/viewpoint was the main presentation. We were quite disappointed.

As someone who works closely with individuals with Autism, I am always skeptical of movies/documentries that arrive on the scene that have that word in the title. This one was different, though. I found myself agreeing with and relating to everyone in the movie and the real life struggles these individuals and their families live through every day. I have recommended it to several newly diagnosed families I have met.

Can't recommend enough. This is an important and amazing teaching tool. It is so vital that we progress and understand 'differences' vs. 'disorders' . Thank you for this wonderful documentary - one of the best I have seen!!!!!

I really loved this documentary and I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in autism. I found the film enlightening because it tried to present a balanced view of autism and the different strategies that are being offered or employed to deal with this condition. The difficulty in presenting a documentary of this type is having to face the fact that we still don't know what causes autism. There is an abundance of theories, but no conclusive answers. An approach that works for one child might not work for another. And this is pointed out in the film where the director talks about the whole spectrum of autistic disorders, from high functioning autism (Asperger's syndrome) to the most profound cases. Each individual case has to be treated very differently. The debate about the medical approach (to cure autism) and the neurodiversity approach (the acceptance approach) was interesting, but I feel the need to point out that whichever approach a person is inclined to adhere to, I think all parents of autistic children should strive to help their child acquire the highest level of functioning they are capable of. I think they owe their child that much. And on a personal note, I do not--and never have--thought of autism as a disease. I felt somewhat troubled that this was even mentioned in the film. But I guess they were just trying to present a balanced view.

Overall, I thought this was a beautifully written and well-filmed documentary. The adult autistics who were interviewed were treated with respect and dignity. And I personally loved the director's little boy, Sam. He was so adorable in his little hat. And I think it was great that they were so supportive of the boy in his desire to visit the lampposts. This was obviously something that was very important to the child, so to deprive him of this interaction would have--in my opinion--done more harm than good. Although I do not have children of my own, I do not write this review from a void. I have a B.S. Degree in Child Development, with an area of specialization in "The psychology of child and family interaction and how the interaction is affected by conflicting personalities and abnormal behavior patterns." So my review is no doubt influenced by my views relative to the importance of human interaction in situations of this nature. (That's my reason for presenting this bit of personal information. I apologize if this seemed intrusive to anyone.) But I really hope that everyone will watch this film. If you are like me, you will certainly come away being more informed and enlightened about autism than before.

One of the things I liked most about the movie is that, for as many hard-science answers it gives, it poses just as many questions for the viewer to ponder. Sharisa K., one of the individuals with autism in the movie, has some wonderfully witty and pithy statements to make; with regard to "curing autism" she states, though an assistive communication device, that you "cure ham, and treat people." She has some other absolutely fabulous statements to make, which I'll let the viewer find for themselves.

The documentary does explore two different views on autism: (1) that it is a disease which (has) a cure and hence should be cured/fixed; and (2) that autism is a part of who some people are, and is not something which needs cured or fixed. The DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) movement, a very medically-oriented movement, is used largely to represent the first viewpoint, and both physicians, parents, and vendors of products oriented toward the DAN! audience are represented. The viewer is shown clips from individuals at both a conference/trade-show as well as family homes who are following the DAN! model.

The second viewpoint, that autism is not a disease in need of a "cure" is the one that the narrator chooses to follow for his own son, and thus some may see the film as "unbalanced" toward this viewpoint. Similar to the documentary's exploration of the DAN!/cure model, the film follows families who have chosen to engage with their child at their level. It focuses primarily on "floor-time" and does not address some of the other common interventions targeted at individuals with autism.

If you take nothing else from this film, hopefully it will open your mind to some of the following concepts:
* Has there really been a sudden rise in the diagnosis of autism? Is this really a new epidemic, or are we comparing "apples and automobiles" as the film asks?
* What does it mean to "cure" autism? What might it mean to a person with autism to be surrounded by a society who says they have a disease that needs cured?
* Many people, without considering the meaning, use the terms "high functioning" and "low functioning" - but what exactly defines these? Speech? Self-care skills? You'll meet adults with autism who will challenge your ability to put people into "categories" such as these.

The film is eye opening, and perhaps challenging if you already hold a certain set of beliefs. But it is especially worth watching in that case - for its ability to present various sides, people, science, personal experience, and above all weave it into a journey - that leaves the viewer with new insight and some of their own new questions to ask themselves about their own beliefs.

Though I think authors are taking official opinions very seriously about the causes of the autism, I liked the part about enjoying your child or other people with autism. Seeing autistic person as a gift, even if this gift comes with challenges. The little boy loves lampposts, and his father says that love is what makes us human - and lots of autistic children have things they get fixated on(or are in love with). Therapists see it as a bad thing, just because most people don't do that - normal people get fixated on more normal things - like pleasing others, getting good grades, looking good, and ...looking normal to others.
That said, this is not so much a movie about solutions.