Dislecksia: The Movie

Dyslexic filmmaker Harvey Hubbell V here embarks on a mission to discover what most people think they know or don't know about dyslexia, while he also explores cutting-edge research and programs that are underway to help youngsters with dyslexia become confident readers. Hubbell recalls his own painful childhood in elementary school and high school, interviewing members of his family and others about how he was treated as a hopeless case, pushed through the education system while remaining functionally illiterate. But the documentary is less Hubbell's story than it is a look at advancements in education for dyslexic kids at various specialized schools and in laboratory initiatives: from intensive programs linking words with hands-on big-picture learning in biodiversity classes (capped by a trip to Costa Rica), to innovative computer programs and early-childhood education emphasizing new tools for using audio and visual techniques for reading and writing. Along the way, Hubbell incorporates interviews with several celebrities who have dyslexia, including actor-filmmaker Billy Bob Thornton and late television producer Stephen J. Cannell. Perhaps the most interesting point made here has to do with society needing to adjust its current view of dyslexic people as disabled (dyslexia did not even exist before the printing press). The real challenge lies not in making people with dyslexia adapt to existing technology for reading, but rather in making technology catch up with those who are dyslexic. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (T. Keogh)