Spellers

Movieguide® Radio

SPELLERS is a documentary that challenges the viewpoint that non-speakers who have autism have a cognitive disability. Through the lens of eight non-speakers and their parents, SPELLERS shows that a new wave of voices have been found through the use of a letterboard. The letterboards allow non-speakers to spell out each word and form whole sentences, with as much complexity as people who can speak. Inspired by the book UNDERESTIMATED by J.B. Handley, the movie shows that mainstream communities of scientists have so far refused to accept letterboards as a treatment for non-speakers. However, the eight non-speakers prove that the new treatment is giving them a voice, whereas past science said they would always be silent.