Documentary Title: I Can't Do This But I Can Do That
HBO Documentary Films
Official website
Through interviews with children with learning disabilities, we learn what it feels like to be a student in the public school system with its inadequate identification and not-good-enough services. The children all have dyslexia and some have other learning disabilities such as dyscalcula, ADD and auditory processing disorder.
The film shows the struggle and heartache, negative self-esteem and challenges the students feel about their capacity to learn as well as the social stigma faced in school.
However the film is about children who finally were identified and who, through various ways, got better help and were now on better footing to get on with learning and life knowing their LD label. Most seem to have already gotten over the first hurdles and were in a better place now. They exuded a certain confidence that indicated they were in what I'd describe as the "learning to adapt and live with it" phase.
The film attempts to show, in the voices of the children, that although they struggle with doing some things they have strengths in other areas that other kid's who can easily read are not so good at doing. The movie seems to be a feel-good movie that shows kids who in the process of surviving the school system and who have started to feel they can thrive and that all hope is not lost.
It seems to me that the film producers intend for this movie to be shown to children to help them see these messes coming from the mouths of other children, and that there is hope that it can get better.
The film is also good for helping open the hearts and minds of adults who are ignorant about dyslexia and learning disabilties.
The film is not negative in tone, it feels hopeful. However I know that the reality is that many kids do fall through the cracks and are not helped as the kids in this movie were helped. So my heart still pains for kids who are not properly identified who do not get the help they need.