Here comes SPELLERS, the year's most important film
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona—In one week, SPELLERS, a movie inspired by the book my son Jamie and I wrote in 2021 titled Underestimated: an Autism Miracle will be having its world premiere at the Phoenix Film Festival (“PFF”). The film is scheduled to play four times (click for tickets): Friday, March 31 at 920am (four tickets left), Saturday April 1 at 12pm (six tickets left), and Sunday, April 2nd, which is Wold Autism Awareness Day, at both 910am (100 tickets left, showing just added), and 450pm (sold out).
TRAILER
The movie’s trailer, viewed by more than 50,000 people, does a great job conveying the tone and substance of the film (huge props to the film’s editor, Evan Rogers, who created the trailer), please take 90 seconds to watch:
REVIEWS
We’re grateful to the five individuals so far who have written reviews of the film:
Levi Quakenboss:, “SPELLERS has documented a miracle”
When JB called three years ago, to tell me about the breakthrough his son had with the Spelling to Communicate (S2C) program, I simultaneously fell to pieces over my mistaken beliefs, and rejoiced for his family, and all of the families who would benefit from his personal discovery, and the platform from which he would launch it. Imagine believing, as I wholeheartedly believed for a decade, that autistic people had an average IQ of 70. Imagine believing that about your own child. Sit for a moment with the guilt and the regret these parents feel.
James Lyons Weiler, ‘"SPELLERS": A Documentary That is Going to Change the World"‘
I’m warning you beforehand: SPELLERS is going to kick your ass. Even knowing what I knew from speaking w/JB and other parents involved in the care of their young adult children, I did not expect to go through the emotional ride that SPELLERS mandates of you. I literally had to take it in small doses - 20 minute at at time, to let myself process what I had just seen on the screen. Not out of disbelief - but rather out of my keen sensitivity to injustices and my penchant to fight for the downtrodden.
Jennifer Margulis, “A Controversial New Documentary Gives Non-Verbal Children a Voice”
One of the most pervasive and highly damaging beliefs about people affected by autism who cannot speak is that they are all intellectually disabled. According to the CDC, 35.2 percent of American children diagnosed with autism have IQ scores under 70. That includes almost all non-speakers with autism. But as the film asked, “What if they’ve been wrong—about every single one of them?” Then it went on to demonstrate how “they” have been wrong about many. And, more personally, how “they” were wrong about Handley’s young adult son Jamie. “The thing that blew my mind,” his father said in the film, “was when Elizabeth Vosseller turned to Jamie and said, ‘I know you can do this. I know how smart you are.’ That’s called “presumed competence,” and it can make all the difference in a non-speaker’s life. As Dr. Vaishnavi Sarathy, Ph.D., the mother of a non-speaker with autism, explained: “Assumption of intelligence brings respect, whether that intelligence is on display or not. And respect brings dignity.”
Dr. Toby Rogers, “Movie review: Spellers”
J.B. sent me an advance copy of the film and I watched it with my mother, a speech language pathologist who has worked with kids on the spectrum for 30 years. The film follows various young people as they move through the different stages of learning to communicate via S2C. But it also shows Jamie and his friends hanging out, enjoying hip hop, and learning to surf — socializing and becoming full-fledged adults.
Dr. Shannon Kroener, “What if everything you thought you knew about autism was wrong?”
Having personally started out as a floor-time therapist/behavior therapist working with kids on the autistic spectrum in the early 2000's, this movie had a personal impact on me, causing me to recall and reevaluate the way I have communicated with those whom I've worked with in the past. As someone who has spent much of my adult life working with individuals with special needs, and eventually opening my own educational therapy practice and earning a doctorate in psychology, I see this movie as a GAME CHANGER for any therapist or parent who wishes to help individuals with autism communicate their thoughts, feelings, and emotions in a very practical (however, it does take work) and insightful way.
CAN’T GET TO PHOENIX? HOST YOUR OWN SCREENING STARTING APRIL 20
It’s simple and easy to go, check out the film’s page on Kinema for more information.
THE HATERS
Yes, there are blithering idiots, some of them hiding behind their tenured positions at various academic institutions, doing their best to keep SPELLERS from being seen. They call film festivals, throw their institution’s name around, and claim the film supports “pseudo-science.” They appear to have two main points: 1) what spellers are doing is a sophisticated form of ventriloquism, nothing more, and 2) nonspeakers aren’t capable of being intelligent. I’ve written about this “presumption of incompetence.” These idiots don’t deserve our time, they embarrass themselves, but they may try to interrupt your screening.
THE LAST WORD
There have been amazing people working for decades who have believed in nonspeakers long before I ever did. Some of them are featured in our movie, many aren’t, but they all have my deep gratitude. There’s a village behind the movie SPELLERS, and we all hope it helps to change the average person’s perspective of a nonspeaker with autism, and, more importantly, serves to motivate parents to begin the spelling journey for their child. Pop that popcorn and enjoy the year’s most important film!
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Here comes SPELLERS, the year's most important film
Mar 23, 2023
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© 2020 J.B. Handley
ASHA, it appears, will stoop to any level to protect their territory, and of course, their gravy train. Much like the AMA, ADA, American Cancer Society, CDC, FDA, etc, it's not about well-being, it's about the money. God Bless you and Jamie, and all of the incredible people who have come together, against all odds and opposition, to put together S2C. I have ''Underestimated'' and read it in practically one sitting, it was that riveting. Congratulations on Spellers, and much continued success!
In 1963 at UC Davis I took an observation of preschoolers class as part of the general Home Economics curriculum. There was a little boy with autism and they said it was caused by his mother not holding him as a baby. Boy have we come a long way!