NEW ORLEANS—Attendees at the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2010 Diversity & Inclusion Conference who arrived here Sunday had a chance for a sneak peek of the independent film, “Monica & David,” which premieres at 8 p.m. (Eastern) Oct. 14, 2010, on HBO.
The story of two people who have Down syndrome and the struggle of their Cuban-American families to protect their offspring, yet encourage their independence, was a winner of the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival’s competition in New York City.
“Monica & David,” which opens with final preparations of the couple’s church wedding, is created in the style of reality TV programming. Occasionally, the young adults and their mothers speak directly to the camera, addressing such questions as what constitutes a disability and their dreams for the future.
Asked to define ‘disability,’ for example, Monica describes persons who must rely on a wheelchair, or are physically unable to see, hear or speak. While she understands she, her husband and their friends have Down syndrome, she does not see herself as having a disability. David, who says his Down syndrome “comes and goes,” also does not see himself as having a disability.
The similarities they share with those who do not have Down syndrome—a love of sports, a wife who is more vigilant about cleaning than her spouse, a shared desire to hold a job and be productive members of society—radiate throughout the film.
The film portrays slices of everyday life, even if that life is under the roof they share with Monica’s mother and adoptive father. They receive a cooking lesson from Monica’s aunt, stuff envelopes at work, sit in a hot tub chatting up a neighbor, volunteer for a charitable thrift store, celebrate their first anniversary at a restaurant, and entertain friends in the wing of the house that Monica’s parents set aside for the young couple.
The couple’s desire for independence, though, is checked frequently by loving parents who want to protect the couple.
When the couple expresses a desire to work at a local grocery, for example, their parents direct them away from entering a mainstream work environment which they fear could be cruel and, instead, point them to a social service agency that hires persons with disabilities. And although the Hollywood, Fla., apartment where they live looks down on the ocean’s crashing waves, parental concern for their safety keeps them away from the beach like an invisible fence.
“As parents, we want people to look upon our children with special needs like anyone else … And yet because we want to protect them so much, we are typically the first ones who treat them poorly by subconsciously denying them their rights to have a normal life,” said Monica’s mother, Maria Elena, in the film.
However, the film underscores that although both have Down syndrome, Monica and David possess skill sets, strengths and the ability to learn, director Alexandra Codina—Monica’s cousin—pointed out during the question-and-answer session following the conference screening of the film.
They are two “incredibly competent and intelligent people,” Codina noted at the event, which attracted about 50 people.
For example, after David was diagnosed with diabetes he taught himself to administer daily glucose-monitoring injections after observing his father-in-law perform this task for him.
The film helps normalize conversations about disability, observed a conference attendee after the screening, observing that “everyone is a situation away … from becoming someone with a disability.”
Bonni McClure, SPHR, diversity program manager at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Florida, agreed.
“It’s really hard to get people to look at the person first,” instead of the disability, she said. Her organization hosts a daylong mentoring program for high school students with disabilities as a way to raise awareness among their hiring managers, she said.
“Anything that an organization can do to … raise awareness and educate their hiring managers helps break down that barrier of seeing the disability first.”
That awareness and inclusion can touch the lives of employees who may have dependents with disabilities, said Nadine Vogel, author of Dive In, Springboard into the Profitability, Productivity and Potential of the Special Needs Workforce (Paramount Market Publishing, Inc., 2009).
“They’re bringing those issues to the workplace whether you realize it or not,” said Vogel, president of Springboard Consulting LLC, which offers customized services for businesses serving people with disabilities and their families. She co-presented the screening with Codina.
Free, downloadable discussion film guides are available at http://www.monicaanddavid.com/. DVDs will be available to companies, libraries and schools in April 2011 and will include an educational guide and bonus film features.
By Kathy Gurchiek of SHRM.org 10.13.10
