CSUN will host the screening of the documentary “Intelligent Lives” at the Northridge Center of the University Student Union starting at 6 p.m., on Wednesday, Sept. 12.
“Intelligent Lives” is a documentary that follows three individuals living with intellectual disabilities. This film hopes to act as a “catalyst to transform the intellectual disability label from a life sentence of isolation to a life of possibility for the most systematically segregated people in America,” according to the official website for the film, on https://intelligentlives.org.
Special Education Professor Beth Lasky is in charge of putting on the screening and stands at the forefront of getting this shown to students.
“There are preconceived notions for people with intellectual disabilities,” Lasky said. “This film is going to show that just because somebody has a label, it doesn’t mean (he or she) (is) incapable of things like going to college and getting a job. The film will help show that they can accomplish these things independently.”
Many students who are diagnosed with an intellectual disability early on are put on a school track that prevents them from even receiving a diploma, making the person unable to apply to a four-year university at any of the CSU campuses, said Lasky.
Students with intellectual disabilities are put at a disadvantage compared to their peers.
“We have accepted three students who have intellectual disabilities,” Lasky said. “They are taking two classes this semester with everybody else. We are providing peer mentors and the opportunity to experience college like everybody else does. We are trying to teach them skills to make them more employable.”
The main reason the film is being shown on campus is to bring more awareness to the issues of people with intellectual disabilities, Lasky said.
“We are trying to teach the general public to be more tolerant and not put barriers to what they think intellectual disability is,” Lasky said.
Dan Habib, the director of the film, will also be there to answer questions at the event.
Although the screening is free and open to the public, registration is required.
