For those with autism, documentary offers new hope
THE RECORD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONTPELIER, Vt. — When Tracy Thresher has something to say, he uses his right index finger — and a special computer that gives voice to what he types. Hunched over the device, he begins.
AP
Larry Bissonnette, 53, of Milton, right, and Tracy Thresher, 43, of Barre Town, are seen in Montpelier, Vt. The two who suffer from autism and don’t speak, have become globe-trotting ambassadors with a message. ’’We are simply intelligence, shown in a different way,’’ says Thresher. Soon, their remarkable advocacy work will have a new audience: ’’Wretches and Jabberers,’’ a new documentary following them as travel around the world, opens next week.
Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap, tap....
Autism silences the 43-year-old Vermont man. He doesn't speak. But he has a message for the world about how people should think of people like him. So he taps it out.
"To think intelligence, even if you see wacky, goofy behavior. We are simply intelligence, shown in a different way," comes the robotic voice, broadcast out of his computer.
Thresher and friend Larry Bissonnette, 53, who have been advocates for 10 years