Autism Society Partners with “Wretches & Jabberers” to Commemorate National Autism Awareness Month in April 2011 with Nationwide Theatrical Releases

January 11, 2011
By Amanda Glensky

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Amanda Glensky
Media Specialist
Autism Society
301-657-0881 x 9015
aglensky@autism-society.org

Bethesda, MD (January 11, 2011) – The Autism Society is partnering with Academy Award®-winning director Gerardine Wurzburg to release her feature length documentary Wretches & Jabberers during National Autism Awareness Month in April 2011. The organizations will team with Area32a distribution to offer screenings of Wretches & Jabberers across the United States in April, which is National Autism Awareness Month around the world. These “movievents” will include a screening of the film and a live panel discussion featuring Tracy Thresher and Larry Bissonnette, the film’s featured self-advocates with autism, along with autism educators and family members who live with the challenges of autism on a daily basis.

"Wretches & Jabberers is a provocative mix of self-advocacy, personal narrative and travel adventure film that highlights the important needs of adults with autism, a group completely unrepresented on the world stage," said Lee Grossman, President and CEO of the Autism Society. "We are proud to feature the film as this year's premier activity for National Autism Awareness Month in April."

"We are thrilled to partner with the Autism Society and be part of the organization’s call to action for the full inclusion of adults with autism in their communities," said Wurzburg. "Larry and Tracy’s journey allowed us to portray the global face of autism, and now audiences across the U.S. will be able share in their story and better understand adults whose lives are affected by autism."

Wretches & Jabberers is produced by Douglas Biklen and Gerardine Wurzburg, who won the 1993 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for her HBO film Educating Peter and was again nominated in 2005 in the same category for Autism Is a World. The film is funded by the Hussman Foundation, which provides life-changing assistance through medical research, education, and direct aid to vulnerable individuals having urgent needs or significant disabilities. The Wretches & Jabberers album was released on iTunes January 11, 2011, and a share of the profits will be donated to the Autism Society. For more information, visit www.wretchesandjabberers.org.  

About the Film
Directed by Academy Award® winner Gerardine Wurzburg (Educating Peter), Wretches & Jabberers follows two men with autism, Tracy Thresher and Larry Bissonnette, who embark on a global quest to change attitudes about disability and intelligence. Determined to put a new face on autism, the men travel to Sri Lanka, Japan and Finland, where at each stop they challenge public attitudes about autism and issue a hopeful message to reconsider competency. A poignant narrative of personal struggle that rings with intelligence, humor, hope and courage, Wretches & Jabberers is about the life-sustaining power of relationships - the personal connections that people make through communication.

About the Autism Society
The Autism Society, the nation’s leading grassroots autism organization, exists to improve the lives of all affected by autism. Together with over 150 chapters nationwide, the Autism Society increases public awareness about the day-to-day issues faced by people on the spectrum, advocates for appropriate services for individuals across the lifespan, and provides the latest information regarding treatment, education, research and advocacy. For more information, visit www.autism-society.org.

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