Autism Voices on film

Over the past year, Warwickshire students with autism have produced and starred in two innovative films showing the difficulties they face in the classroom and challenging stereotypes often held about the condition.

The Autism Voices project, led by Act for Autism with support from Warwickshire County Council’s Flexible Learning Team and Anderson Shelter Productions, began in 2018 when 12 Warwickshire secondary school children with autism were invited to take part in a four day workshop.

The session was facilitated by Tess Morton and Jane Gurnett, founders of Act for Autism, a not-for-profit social enterprise which trains school staff to help them teach autistic pupils, often through drama.

The workshop provided a safe environment for the young people to express what they thought about their condition and as a result, the students created and starred in a ten-minute film focusing on the sensory challenges they face in their school environment. 

The film was premiered to a large audience at Warwick School in July last year and went on to receive an award at the prestigious Golden Door Film Festival in New Jersey. 

Following their successful first venture, the students have gone on to produce another film Autism Voices #2 Slashing the Sterotypes, a fun yet informative piece seeking to challenge some of the common misconceptions associated with autism and offering advice to others about ways in which they can communicate to make life a bit easier.

Many of the young people who worked on the films have felt it has given them a greater sense of self-awareness and self-acceptance, and a huge confidence boost. Teachers have also been benefiting from the project after watching the films during training and have found it has helped to facilitate many useful conversations between staff and students on the topic, and given them a greater understanding of how autism affects people in many different ways.  

Both films are available to watch on the Flexible Learning Team's website.

You can also read more about Act for Autism and the project here: https://actforautism.co.uk/info/films/

For more information contact Lynda Lowe - lyndalowe@warwickshire.gov.uk