Ashland University to Present Showing of Powerful Film
Ashland University’s Intervention Specialist Program within the Schar College of Education (http://www.ashland.edu/colleges/college-education) will bring the film, “A New Kind of Listening,” to campus on Monday, Nov. 16. There will be two scheduled showings of the film -- 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Ronk Lecture Hall within the Schar College of Education. Admission is free to students, faculty, staff and the general public.
“A New Kind of Listening” takes viewers inside the creative work of the Community Inclusive Theatre Group, as director Richard Reho inspires cast members – some with disabilities – to be writers, actors, and dancers in an original collaborative performance piece. In the process, Chris, a young man who has never spoken a word and who has been mislabeled profoundly mentally retarded, breaks through into stunning self-expression. Together they prove that a small community arts initiative has the power to transform lives.
The film, recently invited to the International Short Film Festival in Munich Germany, will be accompanied by a presentation by Polly Medlicott, Chris’ mother, who will take questions from the audience following the screening of the film.
Polly Medlicott didn't know much about cerebral palsy when she brought her son, Christian, home from the hospital. As he got older, Chris was unable to speak, walk, feed himself, or even sit up. Until he was a young teenager, Polly assumed Chris was also mentally disabled. Then she began to work with researchers who trained Chris on a form of facilitated communication that seemed to work. Polly became convinced her son Chris was smart and understood much more of what was happening around him than she thought. Polly talks with Reho about her regrets as a mother, and what she's doing now to keep other parents from making the mistakes she thinks she made.
This is the first showing of the film in the state of Ohio, and the showing is supported by funding from the GAR Foundation of Akron, Ohio.
