Bay College will show the film Wretches & Jabberers which is about two men with autism who embark on a road trip to change how people feel about disabilities. The film will be featured on the Escanaba Campus in the Besse Theater on April 15th from 6-8 p.m. and at their Iron Mountain Campus in Fornetti Hall. Then on April 23rd the stars of the film will visit Bay College at their Escanaba Campus on April 23rd from 6-8 p.m. Their presentation will also be live streamed to West Campus from 5-7 p.m. in Fornetti Hall that same day. Like many children with autism, Tracy and Larry
grew up unable to speak. They faced a future of social isolation in adult
disability centers. When Tracy was 23 and Larry was 34, their lives changed
when they learned to communicate by typing. Larry notes, “nothing I
did…convinced people I had an inner life until I started typing.” It
is Antti who humorously declares the world is divided into “Wretches” – those
with limited speech – and “Jabberers” – those who can speak freely. He tells
the group, “We poor wretches are better than jabberers. They don’t know it yet,
but we will tell it to them [at the conference].” At the end of that conference,
Antti strikes a more serious note, asking the audience to “dispel the darkness
around us poor wretches. Take us for real people. Don’t sideline us.” The Bay College Diversity Committee is partnering with the
Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District in celebration of Autism
Awareness Month to sponsor these events and make them free and open to
the public. For more information please contact Joseph Mold at Bay College via email at moldj@baycollege.edu or Andy Claes at the DSISD/Escanaba
High School at aclaes@dsisd.net.