WASHINGTON 鈥斅營magine waking up one day and your toddler, who you once described as energetic and chatty, is suddenly the opposite. He is withdrawn, lacks motor function and his expanding vocabulary has shrunk to one word: juice.聽
That was the reality Ron Suskind and his wife, Cornelia, faced with their son, Owen, more than 20 years ago.
鈥淐ornelia and I said, 鈥楾his doesn鈥檛 make sense. Kids don鈥檛 grow backwards,鈥欌�� said Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, author and former senior national affairs reporter for The Wall Street Journal.
鈥淲e just tried to think what it could be, and soon we heard the word: autism.鈥�
Owen was diagnosed with regressive autism around the age of 3 鈥斅燼 form of autism that affects about one-third of those on the spectrum.
In many ways, Owen 鈥渏ust kind of vanished,鈥� Ron said. But there was one place where he showed signs of engagement: in front of a small TV watching Disney movies.
Over and over, Owen watched 鈥淭he Little Mermaid,鈥� 鈥淏eauty and the Beast鈥� and 鈥淎laddin.鈥� He studied the characters in 鈥淭he Lion King鈥� and 鈥淒umbo,鈥� and one day started talking, repeating phrases from the movies. Eventually, he began associating with the animated characters and used their experiences to make sense of his world.
鈥淚 would say more than anything, it was his motivation. Those films acted as his motivation to reach out to us, to develop language, to learn how to read,鈥� Cornelia said.
Realizing that the movies were a way to connect to Owen, the whole family threw themselves into Owen鈥檚 own wonderful world of Disney. Each night, they would watch films together in the basement, and even communicate to Owen as characters from the films.
One of Ron鈥檚 major breakthroughs with Owen was when he approached the small boy as Iago, Jafar鈥檚 evil sidekick in the movie, 鈥淎laddin.鈥� That night, Owen shared his emotions with his father and laughed for the first time in years.
鈥淏y day, I鈥檓 interviewing presidents, and then at night the family鈥檚 together playing out characters,鈥� Ron聽said. 鈥淚t was joyful. And Owen was leading the way … it was a double life we lived, in our hometown of D.C.鈥�
Owen鈥檚 pediatrician attributed the success of 鈥淒isney therapy,鈥� as the family called it, to the dependable nature of the films. There were always bright colors, there was always music and the characters always pranced around with exaggerated expressions on their faces.
鈥淭hey drew Owen in and they were always the same,鈥� Cornelia聽said. 鈥淓very time he put in a movie, he could count on that character being exactly the same.鈥�
However, Owen鈥檚 parents say the success came from using his one passion as a pathway to reach their son.
鈥淚t became very clear that this technique that we used is really successful for so many kids on the spectrum 鈥斅爐apping into their affinity, the thing that they love, the thing that brings them joy,鈥� Cornelia聽said.
To help other parents reach their autistic children, the Suskinds worked with researchers to develop the app, (named by Owen and his love for all the sidekicks 鈥斅爂ood and evil 鈥斅爐o Disney鈥檚 main characters). Using the app, adults can speak to a child through an avatar on a phone or computer screen, much like how the family聽spoke to Owen as Disney characters all those years.
Ron also wrote a documentary and book about Owen鈥檚 journey, called 鈥�,鈥� in which Owen is the leading man, not a sidekick. So far the film, directed by Roger Ross Williams, has won awards and recognition at several festivals, including Sundance.
Ron聽says Owen is very much aware of his challenges, but he confronts them, head-on. He currently lives in his own condo in a supported independent community and works a few different part-time jobs, one of which is at a movie theater 鈥斅犫�淥f course,鈥� Ron said.
More than anything, Cornelia聽says she hopes 鈥淟ife, Animated鈥� gives a new image to autism. 鈥淎nd that people will see those with autism for who they are in their fullness.鈥�
鈥淭his reframes conventional ideals about autism. And that鈥檚 our goal, and I think it鈥檚 happening,鈥� Ron聽said.
鈥淥wen is a very vivid example of what鈥檚 possible if you live an animated life, which is what he has taught us to do.鈥�
鈥淟ife, Animated鈥� is currently playing at Bethesda Row Cinema. Watch the trailer below:
