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Documentary on intellectual disabilities to be screened here this week
Documentary on intellectual disabilities to be screened here this week
(Photo provided)
A documentary that challenges IQ testing and the limits placed on people with intellectual disabilities will have its Upstate New York premiere at Strong National Museum of Play on Wednesday.
“Intelligent Lives,” a documentary by award-winning filmmaker Dan Habib, will be screened Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. Habib will discuss the film alongside film subject Micah Fialka-Feldman, of Syracuse. The screening and discussion are free and open to the public.
The documentary stars three young adults with intellectual disabilities, including Fialka-Feldman. The three subjects challenge perceptions of intelligence as they navigate high school, college and the workforce. “Adaptation” star Chris Cooper executive-produced and narrates the film.
“People with intellectual disabilities are the most segregated of all Americans,” Habib said. “Only 17 percent of students with intellectual disabilities are included in regular education. Just 40 percent will graduate from high school. And of the 6.5 million Americans with intellectual disability, barely 15 percent are employed.”
In Rochester, the graduation rate for students with disabilities is 22 percent, and the median individual earnings for those with disabilities is $14,450, officials noted. Rochester’s disabled community is the poorest among the 75 largest metropolitan areas nationwide.
The documentary is co-hosted by the Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities and Starbridge Inc., a community-based organization that partners with people who have disabilities and their families to realize fulfilling possibilities in education, employment and health.
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