Cries from the Heart

As an autistic girl myself, I found myself relating to a good few of Michael's behaviors. (Stimming, easily frustrated and getting uncomfortable in new environments) The acting was very genuine and and felt as if I was there in person. I really felt myself tearing up a couple times, both feeling happy and sorrow. The whole time I was on edge and was very invested. Anyone saying "bad autism rep" CLEARLY doesn't understand that autism is a spectrum and there's lots of people that act similar to Michael. I do not know if the actor playing Michael is autistic in real life, but he had done a very good job protraying a low functioning autistic boy. I would definitely recommend.

First off I wanna say I found this movie on tubi and it covers a very heavy and disturbing topic that deeply troubles me so I was worried going in. I think the characters are very good, the mother, and teacher and little boy are all great characters who I cared about. And I don't think the plot is bad at all at least in the beginning, however once the teacher started using facilitated communication the plot kind of lost me a bit. My main issue with the film is I don't think its plausible. What I mean is, the child is portrayed as severely autistic to the point where he cannot communicate and the film shows that the boy has a severe learning disability. In the beginning he can't even spell or seem to read. A regular child who is getting groomed is not going to understand what is happening to them is wrong, much less a child with a severe learning disability so that part just didn't feel realistic to me. How would he even understand what happened to him or know it was bad? I felt the plot would have been more realistic if the boy had been older at least where he could understand the concept of what happened. Secondly even if the child knew what happened was wrong, I don't believe the jury would believe him because he isn't able to really communicate properly. I feel the beginning and middle are good but the ending just feels incredibly contrived. I get the film makers probably wanted a feel good ending but in terms of the way the child is portrayed and his circumstances the ending just isn't realistic, and because of that I couldn't fully enjoy this movie. All that being said it is a decent film and the boy playing the character Michael did a amazing job, I would've really believed he was autistic.

I found the movie was well put together, and had a very good story line.

It's about time that some-one actually displayed what is going on in these sort of places, as I do not feel it is appropriate for these sort of things to be going on.

Jeff, who is an autistic seven year old, gets placed in a special school. Since he doesn't speak, his teacher wants to teach him how to write, by using a computer. She succeeds and he suddenly got a way to communicate. One day he reveals that he has been sexually abused by one of his guardians at the school. Is he a reliable witness in court? His only way of communicating is by the computer. Will the jury belive an autistic boy of seven?

This film is based on a true story and the way the autistic kid is depicted is far better than in most films. His tics and other disturbing behaviours is really believable. I should know. I have an autistic daughter myself.

To teach an autistic how to use a written instead of a spoken is a matter of some controversy in the film. Can they really learn? Yes They Can! My daughter can, and she is only three years old! She also uses sign-language and a few words. But she can't really speak.

The film is surprisingly to the point. It rarely falls into the trap of being over-philosophical, which is quite usual when it comes to TV-productions. If you are the least bit interested in autistic behaviour and want to see one way of helping one out of his isolation, this is a good movie. But remember: all autistic children don't behave the same way. And all of them don't respond to the same learning-methods. Autistics are individuals just as you or me.

My daughter is autistic. I found this movie to be a very real depiction of that type of behavior. Almost painful to watch. Our school and physician felt she would be best served in an institution. I kept her at home and lost my family in the process, but found my daughter as a result. She is now a functional person. 18 years old. Good movie for any one curious as to what one would have to deal with. "Rain Man" is one thing,sort of a stereo type. But, this is well done from the parent/child view point. And, they ARE all individuals with varying degrees of a whole myriad of behaviors.