My son Jacob has a condition called Oculomotor apraxia. He’s had it since birth and it effects all areas of his life.
I’m a film and TV reviewer, so I am often on the look out for any screen content which deals with disability and children.
I wasn’t prepared for what Wonder revealed to me about kids and disability.
Starring Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts as parents of a boy with a rare facial disorder, Wonder is a new movie that I instantly wanted to see.
But even as the dad of a lad with a condition that most other children do not have, I wasn’t prepared for what Wonder revealed to me about kids and disability.
Wonder is a great movie, perhaps mostly because it doesn’t just focus on the main character, schoolboy Auggie (child actor Jacob Tremblay).
Wonder acknowledges that disability effects us all, not just the person with it.
Wonder offers a variety of perspectives about disability, from Auggie’s parents to his sister, his best mate and, even, the school bully.
Like parents everywhere, I want my child Jacob to take on the world and triumph over adversity. Wonder tells a charming tale of a boy with a disability who gets to face off with many challenges. But the striking thing about Wonder is how it acknowledges that disability effects us all, not just the person with it.