The Non-Speakers’ Stories Project is a series of six short films created in collaboration with non-speaking autistic participants across the United States. Filmed with handheld digital cameras, natural sound and no narration, these shorts will be co-directed by participants, who will choose their own forms of expression, whether through words, movement, art, music or sensory experience. Participants will, to the degree possible, decide where and what to film and will make choices about framing, sound, rhythm and editing, ensuring that non-speaking autistic people are the co-authors of their own representation.
The project’s intended co-direction structure offers creative opportunity, inclusion and visibility for non-speaking ASD participants, who are often obliged to explain their identity to audiences rather than being asked to shape their own representation.
Intended to reach diverse local communities across the country, the series will be launched within each of its participant’s neighborhoods and hometowns through screenings and conversations at local libraries, VFW halls and community centers. Our goal is to recognize the contributions of an undervalued and socially isolated population, to engender community and understanding through participation.
