So last night was the first event for the SLT Society at the University of Essex, and we watched Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It was voted as the film of choice due to people knowing it had links to aspergers/social communication and was "easy going". Well the later was not true, as many people teared up during it! But it certainly did have some great links to SLT. Whilst the main character Oskar did not have a formal diagnosis of Aspergers (despite being tested as he mentions during the film) he shows some examples of many clients that all of us in the audience could relate with, from repetitive behaviours to extreme anxiety talking to strangers and inappropraite questioning.
But that wasn't the best part, Oskar meets "The Renter" who "has no voice", which Oskar goes on to discuss reasons behind voice disorders, why it's not physiologically possible to have "no voice" and basically outsmarting 90% of the audience with his terminology and diagnosis! "The Renter" then proceeds to show his right hand, which has a "yes" inked into it, and his left hand which has a "no" inked into it. He and Oskar go on to have real rapport and "The Renter" supports his "yes" and "no" hands with his notepad and pen, a really great example of low tech AAC. It highlights how two very different people communicate successfully, how different communication impairments can impact someone and how you problem solve around this to continue to communicate.
Overall a fabulous choice for our first event and first film night! Any suggestions for our next film night are welcome - and if you haven't seen this film, go watch it and let me know what you think!
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