NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — A New Port Richey mom who has a non-speaking autistic son believes the new documentary SPELLERS, released nationwide in theaters on Sunday, has such beneficial information on communication that she wants to spread the word and host a screening.
“Anyone who has a child, who works with a child with autism — you have to see this movie,” said Donna Colins. “We were underestimating the capabilities of our kids for way too long.”
Collins said she learned 5 years ago that her 18-year-old son Shane could communicate by spelling out words on a letter board.
She said a doctor recommended it during a routine health checkup.
“She said I want you to get him going on the letter board and I didn’t know what that was,” said Collins. “We kind of found out about spelling a little bit by accident.”
For the first time, Collins could communicate with her son. Collins was living in Atlanta then, and found a private school that used the spelling method for Shane to attend.
“I kind of always knew he was really smart,” she said. “But he didn’t have a way to show us.”
Collins later found the Invictus Academy of Tampa Bay in Palm Harbor and moved to New Port Richey two years ago. The 51-year-old said Shane is taking advanced high school level courses and is much happier at the school.
“For him, it’s also about having a school where he doesn’t have any judgment from his friends. They all have his back,” she said. “Shane tells me we’re never leaving.”
Dana Johnson founded the Invictus Academy of Tampa Bay and she said it’s only 1 of 4 private schools in the world teaching non-speaking autistic students with the spelling method. Johnson is also featured in the new film, SPELLERS.
“I am in the documentary specifically talking about apraxia and the sensory motor differences of individuals with autism,” she said. “That affects their entire body from being able to intentionally or purposely do things they want to do. One of which is speaking.”
Johnson is also the owner of Spellers Center Tampa, which is hosting a screening on May 21 at the Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz. There will be a question-and-answer session afterward.
“Every single non-speaker has the potential to be able to spell as a reliable form of communication,” she said. “The majority of students are not from this area. Our wait list is a combination of locals and individuals who have moved.”
Inspired by the book “Underestimated,” the new full-length documentary SPELLERS challenges conventional wisdom regarding a group relegated to society’s margins: nonspeakers with autism, who most “experts” believe are cognitively disabled, according to the SPELLERS website.
“We hope SPELLERS changes the conversation about autism and educates the world that nonspeakers are brilliant individuals who need our support and deserve our respect,” said JB Handley, the author of “Underestimated.” “SPELLERS will be seen at over 175 venues.”
The documentary recently won Best Documentary at the Phoenix Film Festival. Collins said there’s a waitlist for her screening at the AMC Theatres on Sunday in Oldsmar.
“We had 108 tickets and we barely even publicized it and as soon as folks heard about it within a day it was full,” she said. “I hope other parents that have minimally or non-minimally speaking children will see the film and here about it and that those kids will get access to what we’ve been able to do for Shane.”
Anyone can join the world-wide screening of SPELLERS from the comfort of their own home with a virtual screening on April 30 at 6 p.m. or on-demand for 24 hours.