08-13-2006, 07:17 PM
'A documentary that follows a mother's extraordinary journey as she seeks a cure for her two autistic sons.'
Louise Bewsher is the mother of two boys, Ben, who's nearly four, and Jamie, who's three. With husband Owen, she leads a fairly typical Kiwi lifestyle - save for one thing. Both of their sons are autistic.
At the time when Ben was diagnosed with autism, Jamie was happily running around the house. Louise felt relieved and able to cope with one autistic child. However, months later, her world came crashing down as Jamie's diagnosis was confirmed - he too was autistic. For Louise, her sons are her life, and that life was now dictated by caring for two boys who made little or no eye contact, were unable to speak, and suffered from frequent, unmotivated tantrums.
Not willing to accept that this was it for Ben and Jamie - all they could expect from life - Louise and Owen, with a great deal of family help, managed to get the money together to pay for the boys to undergo ABA - Applied Behavioural Analysis - an intensive education programme. However, this treatment was slow and unlikely to realise Louise's dream.
Her dream is one that many parents would never give a second thought. All Louise wants is to hear her boys speak. It's August 2004, and here's where the documentary picks up Louise's story.
Through a chance meeting, Louise hears of another autistic boy who has undergone a mercury detoxification treatment, which produced seemingly miraculous results - the child was speaking within a matter of weeks.
The premise of the treatment appeared simple - high levels of mercury, particularly in a child's brain, may impede normal development, possibly resulting in very similar symptoms to those of autism. Therefore, the removal of this mercury could be equivalent to breaking through the road block which is stopping a child's development. Once the mercury has been removed, the brain and body can begin to function properly (or so some doctors believe), and an autistic child can become normal again.
This discovery leads Louise on a journey that takes her to the very limits of her endurance. Driven by this dream to hear her boys speak, she stops at nothing to pursue this extremely controversial and (in New Zealand) at the time, little-known treatment.
Mercury Falling follows Louise and the two boys as they embark on this remarkable rollercoaster of a journey. Through interviews with leading proponents and detractors of the treatment, in New Zealand and overseas, the documentary also examines the theories behind this highly disputed procedure and poses questions such as:
'Is this really a cure for autism, or just pseudo-science amounting to little more than garbage?' (Ministry of Health).
'If high levels of mercury really are a cause of autism, where does the mercury come from? Is it vaccines, passed from the mother, or absorbed by the environment?'
Above all, this documentary illustrates the extraordinary lengths a mother will go to in seeking a cure for her two boys - or, more simply, just to hear them speak. Will the treatment work, or will it all be for nothing? Mercury Falling will reveal all.
From tvnz.co.nz
Louise Bewsher is the mother of two boys, Ben, who's nearly four, and Jamie, who's three. With husband Owen, she leads a fairly typical Kiwi lifestyle - save for one thing. Both of their sons are autistic.
At the time when Ben was diagnosed with autism, Jamie was happily running around the house. Louise felt relieved and able to cope with one autistic child. However, months later, her world came crashing down as Jamie's diagnosis was confirmed - he too was autistic. For Louise, her sons are her life, and that life was now dictated by caring for two boys who made little or no eye contact, were unable to speak, and suffered from frequent, unmotivated tantrums.
Not willing to accept that this was it for Ben and Jamie - all they could expect from life - Louise and Owen, with a great deal of family help, managed to get the money together to pay for the boys to undergo ABA - Applied Behavioural Analysis - an intensive education programme. However, this treatment was slow and unlikely to realise Louise's dream.
Her dream is one that many parents would never give a second thought. All Louise wants is to hear her boys speak. It's August 2004, and here's where the documentary picks up Louise's story.
Through a chance meeting, Louise hears of another autistic boy who has undergone a mercury detoxification treatment, which produced seemingly miraculous results - the child was speaking within a matter of weeks.
The premise of the treatment appeared simple - high levels of mercury, particularly in a child's brain, may impede normal development, possibly resulting in very similar symptoms to those of autism. Therefore, the removal of this mercury could be equivalent to breaking through the road block which is stopping a child's development. Once the mercury has been removed, the brain and body can begin to function properly (or so some doctors believe), and an autistic child can become normal again.
This discovery leads Louise on a journey that takes her to the very limits of her endurance. Driven by this dream to hear her boys speak, she stops at nothing to pursue this extremely controversial and (in New Zealand) at the time, little-known treatment.
Mercury Falling follows Louise and the two boys as they embark on this remarkable rollercoaster of a journey. Through interviews with leading proponents and detractors of the treatment, in New Zealand and overseas, the documentary also examines the theories behind this highly disputed procedure and poses questions such as:
'Is this really a cure for autism, or just pseudo-science amounting to little more than garbage?' (Ministry of Health).
'If high levels of mercury really are a cause of autism, where does the mercury come from? Is it vaccines, passed from the mother, or absorbed by the environment?'
Above all, this documentary illustrates the extraordinary lengths a mother will go to in seeking a cure for her two boys - or, more simply, just to hear them speak. Will the treatment work, or will it all be for nothing? Mercury Falling will reveal all.
From tvnz.co.nz