Running Head: Movie Review 1

Movie Review

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Running Head: Movie Review 2

Movie Review

Qn 1

Describe in detail the communication disorder portrayed by the actor. Include what is known
about the cause of the disorder and how it affects aspects of communication (e.g. speech,
language, voice, and hearing). Cite examples in the movie of the characteristics associated with
the disorder.

The movie “Children of a Lesser God” is built in a way to explain the difference between those
who inhabit a hearing world and those that make up the deaf community. The plot follows the
life of a speech teacher by the name of James Leeds, who joins a school for the deaf and falls in
love with the female janitor known as Sarah who is deaf. When he arrives at the school, James is
told not to try and come up with bright ideas on how to make the world a better place for the
deaf, but rather focus on assisting the kids in the school on how to better manage their daily life
routines. This kind of mentality is very common in schools, where the older generation tries to
admonish any form of progressive methods and always supports the conventional methods.

However James ignores this and tries to implement his own methods, he emphasizes on the
importance of music and assists his students in identifying various vibrations, this practice is
used in modern days to assists the deaf. One student tries to explain to James that one of the
reasons that he wants to be able to learn how to speak is because he wants to be able to flirt with
the hearing girls. While the above student had a reason as to why he wanted to learn how to
speak. A lot of people in the deaf community are always against learning how to communicate
orally, this is normally a very controversial topic in the deaf community, and the movie actually
tries to show the divide. Sarah embraces her deafness and she is against the idea of using her
voice.

Sarah is very confident when it comes to trusting her signing abilities; her reluctance to use her
voice meant that James had to improve on her signing abilities in order to connect with her.
There is condescension of Sarah towards James when he offers to teach her how to speak. At the
end of the movie we are able to see that compromise is very important when it comes to making
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a relationship between a deaf and a hearing person work. This is because if they fail to find a
middle ground, they will continue to live in two distinct worlds.
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Qn. 2

Discuss the social, emotional and physical issues the character and family/friends must address
living and coping with this communication disorder.

The main challenge that a person who has this type of communication disability (deaf) faces is
that someone like Mr. James might not be considered as a very intellectual person and other
people close to him might suppress his social needs. Most of this suppression normally begins
from his close family members and continues throughout his life that is at school and workplace.
This issue is supported by the movie as some of his work colleagues believe that he is not
allowed to bring up new ideas concerning on how the kids in the school should be taught. Other
challenges that are faced by the character and his family members include:

 The family or friends might not be fully aware of the diversities that exists among the
deaf people- some people might assume that the deaf people are just capable of fitting
into the normal way of life with other people in the community. They need to be given
special needs in order for them to fit into the different setting in life.
 Lack of proper job opportunities- deaf people are considered to have limited job
opportunity in modern world, most revolve around teaching (like our character in the
movie) or interpreting. Family members and people with this type of communication
disability might find it very difficult to get good jobs.
 Education- there are very few schools and institution that offer learning services to the
deaf, therefore it will become very challenging when it comes acquiring not only an
institution but a very good institution in order for people like Mr. James to have good
sign language interpreters and learning instructors who are very experienced in
understanding sign language.
 Our character may also face a challenge like lacking an equal opportunity when it comes
to accessing public information in some of the public offices. This is because most of the
information in these types of offices is only available in verbal mode.
 Lack of good communication between the character and his family or close friends can
also be considered as another challenge. This is because not all the people close to him
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can fully understand sign language as their primary mode of communication is verbal.
This may lead to people like our movie character Mr. James to be isolated socially most
of the time.

Qn. 3

Discuss how this communication affects both positively and negatively the characters life

Positives

 Due to lack of hearing Mr. James can be capable of developing a stronger sense of smell,
sense and touch, he is also able to feel music vibration as we are illustrated in the movie
 In work areas and at home, he can be able to fully concentrate with what he is doing are
he is fully cable of avoiding noises from outside
 He is also capable of being an excellent lip reader
 He can also qualify to receive disability benefits and
 He is well received by the deaf community which has a very strong bond

Negatives

 Lack of employment opportunities

 Hard for them to communicate with other people as some people might not be able to
understand sign language
 It is difficult for people like Mr. James to know immediately if there is an emergency like
a fire alarm.

Qn. 4

Discuss what the characters future might hold in light of his or her communication disorder

In future our deaf character has to learn how to use hearing aids in order to fit into the society
and avoid the need of having an interpreter. We also see that our character has to adapt to the
modern ways that are used to teach people who have their communication disorder, as the movie
ends we can conclude that in order for James and Sarah to continue their relationship, then they
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have to both compromise and come up with a working medium that will enable them to go past
the challenges that affect people who suffer from such like communication disorder.

Qn. 5

Discuss the characters interaction with health professionals

When interacting with the health professional, our character was allowed to select the mode of
communication that she wanted to use, either by use of an interpreter that is Mr. James or writing
words down. In order to be certain that the outcome will be positive, the character was the only
one allowed to select her mode of communication and not the health professional. Most of the
time in the movie, Sarah preferred using the American Sign Language as the mode of
communication between her and the health professionals.

Qn. 6

Based on the characters positive and negative experience, discuss some of the things health
professionals should keep in mind when it comes to interacting with such type of people.

 Health officials should be able to pay for an interpreter in case one is needed when
communicating with a person who has such like communication disorder
 The patients should be allowed to pick the mode of communication that they are
comfortable and familiar with
 Health professionals are not supposed to refuse offering services to people with a
communication disorder
 Health professional should also try not to rely on family members or friends to act as
interpreters for people with such a communication disorder.