Film screening showcases love in autistic community

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Love is a way of life. Love is protecting and caring for someone. Love is finding your soul mate. Love is a force of attraction between two people. It is not visible or quantifiable.

These were the definitions of love given by audience members before the free screening of “Autism in Love,” shown in the Alumni Memorial Building on Thursday, Nov. 19.

The University of Tennessee’s FUTURE Post secondary Education Program, in partnership with Independent Lens and East Tennessee PBS, brought the screening to UT. William Isom, director of community outreach at PBS, and Tom Beeson, program coordinator of FUTURE, were in charge of setting this event up.

“I think a lot of people with autism feel isolated, and events like these can bring this community together, so they do not feel so alone,” Beeson said about having an event like this.

“Autism in Love” captures how the autistic community handles keeping romantic relationships alive, showing everything from the heartbreak to the joy of love.

Jonathan Sharpe, facilitator and founder of Mountain Empire Aspies, who is on the autism spectrum himself, enjoyed the movie.

“It was one of the best autism based movies I have ever seen,” Sharpe said.

A networking opportunity was offered after the film ended to discuss the documentary. Veronica Cordell, president of Autism Site Knoxville, said that the crowd seemed to be very moved and enjoyed talking about not only the film, but also about parts of the movie they could relate to.

Featured image by Ryan McGill

Edited by Courtney Anderson