Presumed Incompetent

Imagine being born with disorders that make it impossible to communicate. Imagine being completely misunderstood by those around you and unable to correct the myths your family and community believe about you. Imagine after 14 years of this being your reality, someone shows up in your life who can change everything...

That is the premise of our film, "Presumed Incompetent,” which is inspired by the real life story of Wynston Browne—a nonspeaking autistic teen from Westport, Connecticut, who was assumed to be severely cognitively impaired for the first 14 years of his silent life. He was a prisoner inside his own brain and disobedient body. But by 16, this boy—whom we now know to be a mathematical genius and a deeply sensitive, social being—played the lead role in our film and so far exceeded our expectations that tears were a regular occurrence when we watched him act.

Wynston was born with non-speaking autism and apraxia. He has lived trapped in his mind until recently, when he was introduced to a new and controversial spelling method. His world has been opening up ever since. Unlike what the “experts” told his parents, Wynston does not have a low IQ. His inability to communicate and function like neurotypical people is motor and sensory-related, which is the case for many other kids and adults like Wynston. They have been misunderstood by society, doctors, and the autism therapy empire. Wynston has been absorbing everything around him his entire life with no way to let anyone know he was in there—frustrated by the childish cartoons and books being played and read to him over and over, sad to be left out of family trips and social activities.

Originally we were going to cast a neurotypical actor in the lead role; Wynston's parents thought there was no way he could portray the role as his brain cannot direct his body to do what he wants it to and his deregulated behavior would be too much of a hindrance on set. But six months went by as we were finalizing the script, and then Wynston's mom reached out and said, "He has come so far. I think he can do it." We were thrilled to be able to authentically cast the role and give this teen the opportunity to be rescued from the fringes of society and placed in the spotlight, to be celebrated and active in his quest to raise awareness and further inclusion. That seemed worth the challenge of working with a first-time actor with profound disabilities, in a lead role.

I knew that because of his apraxia, Wynston wouldn’t be able to match his performance from take to take so I made sure that I shot the scenes in a way where continuity wouldn’t matter. I also instructed the cast and crew to stay on their toes and go wherever the scene—and Wynston—took them. Flexibility was key. From talking to his parents, CRP, and Wynston, I knew that Wyn would be aware of my directions on set no matter what his body was doing so I talked to him as I would any other actor (even if he was walking away from me), called action and he knew what to do every time. The cast and crew treated Wynston as they would any other member of our team and Wyn loved being the center of attention and included with his peers for the first time in his life. By day three he told his mother that he wanted to be an actor. (His aspiration was to be a neuroscientist, so hopefully they won't hold the change of heart against us!)

Early in the pre-production process I met with Wynston and asked him what he wanted others to get out of this film. He typed to me, “I want them to know that true inclusion means participation.” In the spirit of Wynston’s wish, we also cast other actors with disabilities. Everyone involved was given the opportunity to be seen, heard, and participate in the film-making experience. I am forever changed as a result of the experience. We hope our audiences will be, too.