On Topic: Profound Autism with Lynn Johnson, Amy S. F. Lutz & Jose Muniain

Photo Credits: Mark Knobil, Annie O’Neill. 

Photo Courtesies: Amy Lutz, Jose Muniain, Lynn Johnson.

When we watch the news, or shows like The Good Doctor and The Big Bang Theory, we are shown an often stereotyped snapshot of what autism spectrum disorder “looks like” and how folks who live with autism move through the world. But this is only a snapshot. 

With great care and a lens firmly rooted in humanity, this On Topic program welcomes filmmaker Jose Munian, photographer Lynn Johnson, and writer Amy S.F. Lutz to share their respective creative projects, which center on the real stories of people living with profound autism. Jose and Lynn collaborated on the photodocumentary Living With Profound Autism, which will be screened during the program, and discussed as a companion piece to Amy’s book We Walk: Life with Severe Autism. 

We Walk features a collection of beautiful and raw essays, in which Amy writes openly about her experience as a mother of a now twenty-one-year-old son with severe autism. Her emotion and empathy drive through each page and challenge commonly held ideas that define autism either as a disease or as neurodiversity. We Walk is inspired by her own questions: What is the place of intellectually and developmentally disabled people in society? What responsibilities do we, as citizens and human beings, have to one another? Who should decide for those who cannot decide for themselves? What is the meaning of religion to someone with no abstract language? Exploring these questions, We Walk directly—and humanly—examines social issues such as inclusion, religion, therapeutics, and friendship through the lens of severe autism.

About the Artists:

Lynn Johnson photographs the human condition. Lynn has worked for LIFE and Sports Illustrated, has published 40 feature stories in National Geographic Magazine, and is a National Geographic Society Explorer. She is the recipient of awards and grants, including the Robert F. Kennedy Award and the Chris Hondros Fund. She has been a Pulitzer finalist on two occasions. More importantly, on occasion, there is an opportunity to teach the work of both art and life, based on the belief that the power of photographs can change everything from hearts to history.

Amy S.F. Lutz‘s writing about severe autism has been featured on many platforms, including Psychology Today, The Atlantic, Slate, and Spectrum. Her first book, Each Day I Like It Better: Autism, ECT, and the Treatment of Our Most Impaired Children, was published in 2014, and her second book, a collection of essays called We Walk: Life with Severe Autism, was published by Cornell University Press. She is a founding board member of the National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA). She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and five children.

Jose Muniain is originally from Bilbao, Spain. For the last 25 years, he has been based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and he has worked as a director and producer on a range of national and international projects. Jose’s professional path in Europe and the US has fluctuated between commercial and independent projects, both of which have received international awards. For independent films, Jose looks for collaboration with artists who work in different mediums, seeking to be challenged both as a director and as a viewer. Jose is particularly drawn to projects that explore the creative process and focus on issues of social justice. In 2006, he produced and directed the feature-length conceptual documentary An Independent Portrait, which deals with the creative process and focuses on painter Felix de la Concha and filmmaker Robert Young. The documentary received the Audience Choice Award at the Three Rivers Film Festival. Jose has also received recognition for other short films, including #Cake (2017), which deals with the issues of eviction and mental health, and Garbage (2019), a film about race in the US, which was shown at the New York City Independent Film Festival and won awards at the Portland Short Festival, the Miami Independent Film Festival, the Cortada International Film Festival and BasqueBOK in Bilbao, Spain.

About Your Visit: 

The in-house restaurant, Cucina Alfabeto, is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but there will be a public reception with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and drinks following the program.