"Rise With Me"

RIse With Me, is a musical buddy comedy that amplifies the voice of a child with Cerebral Palsy, as he tries to help the teachers at his Highly Gifted School understand the physical and mental strain in being Twice Exceptional. This film is based on my real life experience as a filmmaker turned caregiver experiencing the heartache my son alongside my son as he struggles with being highly intellectually gifted and physically challenged. Cerebral Palsy affects both his legs and his right hand, and apart from making his hands unable to keep up with the speed of his brain, it also creates pain in his hands while working on activities he loves. I have watched him struggle to respond to teachers who have a lack of understanding of this illness, humiliate, punish and isolate him during 5th grade which affected him on many levels. He was even left to complete running laps ALONE on a school field, and subsequently fell and hurt the very same knee that was due to be operated on. The callousness and prejudice towards children with disabilities is infuriating for parents who are doing our all, to protect and preserve health and wellbeing. Schools are supposed to be safe zones. So this film is a moment in time, that condenses many school meetings and calls and experiences of heartache into one narrative. During the film challenge when my son finally completed the music and we completed writing and recording the lyrics, I had a vision of him singing this WITH a group of children with many different disabilities, who all feel the same way: misunderstood, isolated, bullied, discriminated against. I saw them in my mind, dancing beside him as he rapped and eventually joining together to sing the CHORUS in unison, some singing and some doing ASL.

I reached out to many dance schools via email and the teachers were so responsive however their groups only met during the week. Eventually I connected with Robin Oliver of Straight Up Abilities who immediately suggested that I bring Dante to their performance at another disability event and they would quickly choreograph the dance for filming immediately. And that's how this vision was realized! I hope this song through the short film, Rise With me, composed and recorded during this 2024 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge brings joy and solidarity in the disabled arts community. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with Straight Up Abilities, and other non-profits using the arts as creative, community based therapies, as I have experienced my son Vedanten develop new neural pathways to use his hands and legs in ways that traditional therapies could not support such neuroplasticity. I firmly believe too, that media can go where medicine can't go - to the heart and mind of a person. And I am grateful for the vision of Nic Novici to create such a beautiful opportunity for creatives, caregivers and artists to co-create content that represents our experiences in this community, with dignity and authenticity. Congratulations to ALL teams - everyone is a winner!