Overview

Autism Is a World is a short subject documentary film written by Sue Rubin, a woman with autism who learned to communicate via facilitated communication, produced and directed by Gerardine Wurzburg and co-produced by the CNN cable network. It was nominated in the 77th annual Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short Subject. Wurzburg previously won an Academy Award in 1992 for the film "Educating Peter." The subject of this film is Sue Rubin, a woman with autism who was considered mentally retarded as a child. At the age of thirteen, she learned to express herself through a computer keyboard, otherwise known as facilitated communication, revealing that she was in fact highly intelligent. She went on to study history, specializing in Latin American History at Whittier College and to write speeches about her life with autism. Director Wurzburg has called Rubin "the Helen Keller of her generation". Rubin's dialogue is narrated by actress Julianna Margulies.