[hopeful music] NARRATOR: Representations of Americans with disabilities are in desperate need of a refresh.

Even as assistive technologies help people adapt, the stigma associated with blindness, and autism, in particular, continue to sting.

Next on: Our Time Filmmakers Mitchel Davila-Armendano and Andy Kwiatkowski, overcome numerous obstacles with humor and humanity as they seek a deeper sense of belonging.

And stay tuned afterwards for interviews with the filmmkers.

[upbeat music] BOY: Why don't people understand me?

BOY: I'm tired of running so fast.

GIRL: I want to be heard.

BOY: Why are people afraid?

I'm ready for change.

I hear you.

I see you.

GIRL: My time...

BOY: My time... Our time is now.

NARRATOR: Major funding for this program is provided by: The Russell Grinnell Memorial Trust, Steve and Mary Anne Walldorf, and Betsy and Warren Dean.

Additional funding is provided by: Arts in Society the Joseph Henry Edmondson Foundation, the Bee Vradenburg Foundation, The Buck Foundation, The Calm Foundation, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, and Will Stoller-Lee.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Words appear.

Youth Documentary Academy presents.

The words fade out to reveal the title: Blind Sighted.

In the kitchen of a two-story suburban home, a young man opens the refrigerator.

So we got the peanut butter.

The pumpkin seeds and the s'more supplies.

It's a very interesting shaped marshmallow.

I'm going to combine my two favorite snacks in the world S'mores and termites-on-a-tree.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: He spreads peanut butter across the surface of a graham cracker.

MITCHEL: I am Mitch Davila-Armendano.

I feel like blind people needed more representation.

Now for the termites.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: He reaches for the plastic container of pumpkin seeds.

MITCHEL: Oh, great.

[soft piano music] MITCHEL: A lot of people think of Dare Devil or Helen Keller, and the truth is most blind people aren't like that at all.

I'm Jaden.

I am 16 and I go to the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind.

My name is Stevie.

MITCHEL: All right.

And what can you see?

I can see, like, a little bit of light, but I can't tell where it is.

I can't see, like, very far.

Everything from afar just looks like like black and white blobs.

I lost my vision back in January of this... of 2022. and I lost it because my eye condition is degenerative.

MITCHEL: What's your eye condition?

JADEN: Lebers congenital amaurosis.

I was born being blind.

MITCHEL: What's your eye condition?

STEVIE: I don't know.

[laughs] MITCHEL: Oh, okay.

STEVIE: I don't know how you expect me to remember that.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Back in the kitchen, Mitch pours milk into a clear glass.

MITCHEL: We had one other blind kid in my preschool class.

She actually had glaucoma, the same condition I do.

People didn't tell us we were different.

We were just treated as normal kids.

It wasn't until kindergarten that I started feeling pressure and realizing I was different.

[music ends] They'd be like, “Oh, how many many fingers am I holding up?

STEVIE: “How many many fingers am I holding up?

MITCHEL: “How many many fingers am I holding up?

So that is a pretty dumb question.

The kids didn't understand us too well, and the teachers didn't make any effort to help me.

MITCHEL: What do you think the public should do to help out blind people?

I feel like they should ask you what you need help with because a lot of people would just assume that you need help.

And I think that affects a lot of blind people because a lot of blind people can do it on their own.

And people just assume that you need help, and they kind of just start helping.

MITCHEL: I get that.

Ive been like dragged by the arm.

Yes.

[laughs] AUDIO DESCRIPTION: In his room, Mitch watches Netflix.

TV VOICE: In the “Trending Now ” row.

75 titles in this row.

English-Audio Description (5.1) TV SHOW NARRATOR: She pulls the trigger igniting the tip of the gun-shaped lighter.

MITCHEL: [laughs] MAN ON TV: Plus, its a lighter!

MITCHEL: [laughs] AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Mitchs hands feel several objects on a window ledge.

I like this rock.

This is my pride and joy.

It's a tiger.

I spent a while on, actually.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Mitch holds an iPad up to his eyes.

MITCHEL: Alrighty.

So this is what I do in my free time, mostly.

I draw... Oops.

I draw visual art.

Yes.

A blind person drawing visual art.

How ironic.

Oh, that's that piece.

I like this one, its literally called: Peacock Over the Planet.

[ethereal music fades in] AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Outside, Mitch uses his cane to navigate.

A woman walks beside him.

EVELYN: My name is Evelyn Davila and I am Mitchel's grandmother.

MITCHEL: My grandmas always been very important in my life.

She's always been there for me, especially with blindness and always been kind of like an emotional rock.

EVELYN: Theres something that you did not like when you were young You were like so fed up with it.

You were like Why do people keep asking me about my eyes?

You were so frustrated by that.

We moved to Colorado for you to go to the School of the Deaf and the Blind.

MITCHEL: We're a pretty normal school, like we learn math, science your core curriculum stuff But, we also learn blind people stuff.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: In the school classroom, Mitch operates a computer.

[computer voice reads text on screen] MITCHEL: I'm just going to show everyone how us blind people access information on the computer.

So JAWS is a screen-reader.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: On the computer screen he highlights text displaying the date.

MITCHEL: You can speed up and slow it down, But I have it slow for you untrained TTS people.

We're going to change this to: Friday.

COMPUTER VOICE: F-R-I-D-A-Y AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Mitch holds his iPhone to his eyes and turns it on.

So one thing I want to mention here before we move on is that blind people have a lot of different, varying degrees of vision.

So if you guys just watched me I just turned on my phone with no voiceover at all.

And that's because I'm familiar enough with my phone to know where everything is I used to have a lot more vision than I do now, so I still had to hold the phone up to my face.

But I could generally get around and at least access simple stuff without voiceover.

So this is the Mantis.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Mitch types on a keyboard.

MITCHEL: It's not gonna pop up, but what should happen - if it was on - is you see these?

This is the display and you can feel this.

So if I were to type “A ” for example, the A ” dot would push up and I could feel that I just typed an “A ” AUDIO DESCRIPTION: At home, Mitch looks through Braille books in his library.

MITCHEL: This is “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

” Chapter Four: The Secret Questions All the Harry Potter books in Braille... Have either 3 to 5 volumes... Ow.

Because there's just so much in the books.

and Braille is, like, much bigger than print, so they have to do it that way.

MITCHEL: This is a slate and stylus.

And you use this to write Braille.

So with this thing you have to a write backwards because writing from right to left, and it... imprints on the other side of the paper.

There's three dots on each side of a Braille cell.

One, two, three, four, five, six There you go.

So you would unclip this and this is supposed to say: “Hello!

” “My name is Mitchel.

Food is great.

” [upbeat piano] MITCHEL: How was your perception of blindness before I started living with you?

And how has it changed over the years?

I think the first thing that kicks in with you always is the protective instinct.

That's the first thing I do.

I jump in front and ask the questions later.

I think it's something I need to work on.

To learn that you were so independent, and that you were so willing to learn... whatever you wanted to do...

Okay, let's get involved.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Cell phone video shows Mitch running in track, Rock climbing.

[cheers and whistles] AUDIO DESCRIPTION: And downhill skiing.

I play a lot of instruments.

I can play bass, guitar, electric guitar, I think I've installed 3 security systems at Daddy's.

Keyboard.

[laughs] Flute, clarinet.

I like to play Minecraft.

One of the main blind sports we have is called goal ball.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: The view pans over photos of goal ball players JADEN: Everyone is blindfolded and it's based on hearing.

We have to try to stop the ball from going into our goal and try to get it into the other team's goal.

It's having our other senses being used because we have to feel around for the ball and we have to listen to where the ball is going.

[music fades] STEVIE: No, I don't really do any of that.

MITCHEL: And I've been trying to convince him to do goal ball everyone tried to convince him to do goal ball.

STEVIE: And you're not going to get anywhere.

MITCHEL: I will!

My only fear with being blind is that I won't be able to do the things I want to, and not because I can't do them, but because of access to them.

Will people take me seriously as a blind person?

If I walk into an interview, tell people I'm blind, will I get that job?

Will I be able to be successful?

There's just this stigma that we're brave for doing things.

like I tell people, Yeah, I ski down hills, right?

And theyre like, “Oh, you're so brave for doing that!

” No, I'm not.

I'm doing a normal thing that normal kids do.

“If a blind person can do this, anyone can!

” I'm not a motivation story.

I'm a normal kid.

Never give up.

That's something we never do.

Okay?

We never give up.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Back in the kitchen, Mitch counts out loud as the microwave runs He pours out the hot glass of milk and adds teabags.

[uplifting music builds] EVELYN: You seem to sparkle in everything you touch.

MITCHEL: The way you've said that makes me sound like I'm -- Mr. Clean!

[laughing] MITCHEL: The magic eraser on TV.

EVELYN: Dont make me laugh.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Outside their house, Mitch and Evelyn embrace.

Mitch lifts Evelyn into the air.

directed by Mitchel Davila-Armendano NARRATOR: Films in this series are made by teens in partnership with professional filmmakers in the Youth Documentary Academy.

Young people in the program are empowered to locate and craft their own stories through the art of documentary film.

[upbeat strumming] Welcome to my room.

John, Paul, George and Ringo.

All line up right there.

I have a lot of favorite Beatle songs.

Like, for example, In My Life With a Little Help From My Friends, Sgt.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, All My Loving, even.

A lot of these songs will really speak out to me because they tell me how to get through life and there is support for you there.

Paul is my favorite Beatle Because he was a guy who never gave up.

He was a guy who understood.

He knew how to make things right Paul's a good role model for me.

[upbeat music rises] Autism, noun, condition or disorder that begins in childhood that causes problems in forming relationships and communicating with other people.

[sad piano] My name is Andy Kwiatkowski and I have an autistic disorder.

I'm making this documentary because growing up I didnt personally have much friends because they didnt understand my behaviors.

So it really made me sad that a lot of people didnt care about my behaviors and they didnt know how to react to them.

So through this documentary, I want people not only to appreciate me with... autistic disorder, but also some other kids who suffer from autism or some... or another autistic disorder.

MOM: We discovered that you had an autistic disorder when we were notified by your kindergarten teacher.

She was pointing out to us that some of your behaviors were not like other children.

When the doctor did the analysis she pointed out several things.

The issue with noise, balance, social skills.

So she diagnosed you with PDDNOS which is pervasive development delay not otherwise specified.

Which is on the autistic spectrum.

DAD: Say cheese, boy!

[Andy wails] [loud helicopter passes] DAD: Some of your behaviors with with the disorder was your overreaction to simple things like maybe a siren that came by.

[dramatic piano] ANDY: When I was younger, I feared musical instruments, like, for example, tubas and trombones and trumpets That just high-pitched sound.

I started covering my ears just because of the bus an engine roaring, or some people just honking their horns for fun.

And I would like completely run away from the sound.

Think I would be truly better.

MOM: If you heard a bicycle horn in a Walmart store.

You would panic and run.

So we worked with the doctor to get a picture of the horn.

So you could become comfortable with a picture of the horn.

We would have to read to you or you would have to have special audio books that you could understand better So if the teacher gave an instruction maybe you need a little bit more help to understand it.

I think in my mind it was more of the social interaction and the day to day things that you had some difficulties with that the normal kids didnt.

Yeah, I kept more to myself and... just doing the stuff I normally do.

I just kept on Just doing my thing.

[fire alarm blaring] DAD: Some experiences that I remember through a middle school was the fire drill.

We have to make special accommodations for that.

When your counselor would have to come get you or they would warn you that there was going to be one so that you could prepare yourself for that.

[school band plays] DAD: The assemblies, you know, your counselor always at least try to get you in there And sometimes they were successful and sometimes they weren't.

I usually dont tell people that I have this disorder because I dont know what their reactions going to be.

I don't know if theyre going to be shocking, or... Or theyre saying, “Oh man, youre weird, and I don't want to be around you.

” [acoustic guitar] SISTER: Sometimes youll be, like, in a really happy mood and sometimes you'll be in, like a very bad mood and, like, in the very bad mood, you dont want to be bothered and stuff.

And in the happy mood you like want to be around people.

You talk a lot about movies and repeat yourself a lot, but we get used to it.

MOM: The biggest challenge in high school was your schoolwork and making sure that there were enough hours in the day to get that done.

So we always went through a little panic attack when we register for classes or you showed up for the first day and, “That's too much.

” “Thats too much.

I can't do this, Mom.

” You would just be weird and you think too much about, like, the future.

Per se.

Of what you think's going to happen.

And the meltdown looks like a complete body shutdown a head leaning forward or to the side, mouth hanging open, and just tears and sighs.

And it's just... and I can't get you out of it.

[dramatic music] SISTER: Some things I'm worried about for you is like your friends because you don't really have any.

You sat alone every day at school, at lunch, since eighth grade, all the way though senior, you ate alone.

People don't know.

They think youre abnormal.

And they think it's not okay to hang around with you.

So, uh...

So for those challenges I faced was pretty difficult for me.

So my mom was trying to tell me, you need to learn how to talk to other people, like about like some different things So nowadays I'm starting to at least like talk to someone if they, if they at least say hi to me I immediately just jump into conversation.

I just...

Assume that theyre ready to have a conversation.

[upbeat music] MOM: We're a pretty close knit family.

Everything that we do, we do as a family.

- Wait, wait, wait.

- Merry Christmas!

-Wait, wait, one-- - Two - Three Merry Christmas 2010!

MOM: And Holly looks up to her brother.

You graduate high school and just got good grades [cheering] Andrew James Kwiatkowski.

[cheers and applause] DAD: The Huew Lewis and the News concert We went there in 2014 and the doctors said that you would never be able to attend a... concert with loud music, and with a lot of people.

Due to the, you know the high level of noise.

But you and I went, you were successful And we had a great time.

Huge accomplishment I guess would be to learn how to drive.

I mean, I really worried about that, about your ability to focus on the road, but at the same time, watch other people.

But you're a great driver.

[children chatter] MOM: the other thing that was good for you was you did get involved in some volunteering.

ANDY: This LEGO program that I do for the library I volunteer for.

I really like teaching these kid the right and wrong because I want these guys to grow up like me, like... to just have a bright future that's right ahead of them.

BOY: Photon fire!

- Sheild!

BOY: Im throwing the cannon on my back.

- Cool!

[laughing] - Im sorry.

Okay, uh-- BOY: Thats still for under-- - What?

Okay, um... [laughing] ANDY: How about this one right here?

BOY: Yeah, thats the right one.

- Okay.

ANDY: College is starting really soon for me and I would like some positive things I would like to come out of that is...

If my roommate can like me and if he can appreciate the same stuff I like and if we can do some certain things and also making some friends who like the same stuff.

I like.

MOM: I worry that you'll be lonely.

I'm afraid when you get challenged or in a spot where you feel uncomfortable, you may shut down and other folks will not have the skills to understand how to redirect you.

If the public doesn't have a real good understanding of... what theyre seeing when you exhibit some behaviors because they're not bad behaviors.

they're just your way and how you deal with the world.

ANDY: My family has helped me a ton.

They know how to... help out.

It's great because I'm getting help from people who care about me.

So it's great having that support because I dont know where I'd be right now without them.

For those people out there who suffer from autism, or are on the autistic spectrum, seek help and just go out there and get some help from somebody At least your family, of course.

I recommend your family more than anything else.

ANDY: I had struggled coming up with a topic.

And my mom and I sat at the computer Thiking, thinking, thinking.

And we both came to the conclusion: about sharing my personal story of autism.

We all come from different walks of life and everyone has a story to tell of an issue that they faced.

I dont think there was a point when I specficially accepted that I was blind.

I think it was a combination of things.

I think documentary was important to tell the story because, like, I could have easily done what I usually do and written a story about this.

If I wrote a book about it, you probably wouldn't get the same effect out of it because you don't know who this guy is who wrote the book.

Like, even though it has a picture on the back of it, you still dont know the guy personally.

I did not want to be in the piece itself, honestly.

Because I'm just letting out secrets that I kept to myself.

I'm sharing to the public.

We'll see if they will fit well in the piece.

And it turns out it actually did.

Using film, you can get a sense of... this guy experienced stuff I never even knew existed.

So they can always think of ways to help instead of shoving the person in the corner and leaving them out.

There needs to be a more accurate representation of blind children.

How we act, how we behave.

Things we like to do.

- Oh!

Thats that piece.

But I feel like people need to hear it from actual kids.

I want to run a tea house.

I want to be an entrepreneur.

And I want to be able to sell my art and music and do all the creative things I want to.

I'm a normal kid.

I may need accommodations like Braille and cane, but I'm a very normal person and I deserve to be treated as such.

NARRATOR: Major funding for this program is provided by: The Russell Grinnell Memorial Trust, Steve and Mary Anne Walldorf, and Betsy and Warren Dean.

Additional funding is provided by: Arts in Society the Joseph Henry Edmondson Foundation, the Bee Vradenburg Foundation, The Buck Foundation, The Calm Foundation, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, and Will Stoller-Lee.

For more information, additional resources, Or to watch Our Time films, please visit: www.youthdocumentary.org