First responders arrive to a scene and are met with an adult with Down syndrome who cannot communicate like other adults her age. She is agitated, even violent. She cannot be treated the same as someone her age because of her disability. Are the firefighters, EMTs and police officers trained properly to be able to successfully communicate with the disabled adult?
Hebron resident Tom Felter, who works with Northwest Health EMS in Chesterton, has a daughter, Emily, who has Down syndrome. She has been the inspiration behind The Emily Talk, where Tom trains first responders on how to handle calls with people with disabilities.
“The Emily Talk was designed not just for police officers, but for medical folks, anybody,” said Felter.
“If she doesn’t feel well, she doesn’t just say she has a stomachache, or my head hurts,” says Emily’s mom, Tina Felter.
The Emily Talk led to the making of the documentary film entitled “Teacher of Patience,” which has received an Emmy Award and national recognition.
There were some reservations in the beginning about making the film and having the crew around all the time, disrupting Emily’s routine.
“A big challenge was opening up our lives and allowing Carmen (the producer) access to the bad along with the good,” said Tom and Tina Felter in a written response. “We decided early on, though, that if Carmen’s film was going to be a true depiction of ‘Life with Emily,’ there would have to be very little that Carmen could not record.”
“Emily, being very routine-driven, did not always cooperate with crew or the process in general,” said the Felters. “Sometimes it was just because there are people around that aren’t usually around. Sometimes it was because there was lots of equipment around.”
“To some extent, her anxiety and refusal to cooperate played right into what Carmen was trying to show,” said the Felters.
“Teacher of Patience” started as a senior thesis project for Carmen Vincent, a student at Valparaiso University, for her digital media degree, but led to so much more. The film received a screening Friday at Valparaiso’s Multi Agency Academic Cooperative, a training center for first responders, and is one in a series of events in the city for Disability Awareness Month.
“I captured over 60 hours of footage over two years and worked diligently to craft the Felters’ story in a way that does justice to their complexities, big hearts, and vulnerable revelations,” said Vincent. “I made sure to involve a lot of different perspectives… the first responder community, the disability community, and the documentary community. In the end, the film was enriched by all of these perspectives and I am so grateful for their time and feedback to this day.”
“It’s been a long process, but that’s the beauty of documentary,” said Vincent. “As a documentary filmmaker, I love that I get to dive in deep and spend years with my storytellers to really get to know them and see them change and grow over time. It’s incredibly rewarding.
“I spent a lot of time with Emily, learned about how she comfortably communicates, and captured some key moments such as her revealing and complex facial expressions, the timing and nature of her stims such as flipping her Barbie dolls’ hair, and her amazing sense of humor and perspective of the world when she was in the mood to chat,” said Vincent.
“I hope to this day that I did enough to show that Emily is a special person full of complexities and worthy of taking up space just like everyone else,” said Vincent.
It seems that the movie is doing what its original intentions were in that it is reaching many and educating.
“I’ve gotten so much feedback from first responders about how refreshing it is to actually see stories from the disability community rather than read brief paragraphs about disabilities in a textbook,” said Vincent. “I hope they can use this film as part of their training and continued education – that was my goal from the beginning. They deserve to have this information.”
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The film received a Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement for Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Content.
“I was in shock when my name was called to receive an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement for Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Content,” said Vincent. “It was surreal enough just attending the ceremony as a nominee, with the red carpet, photographers, and interviewers. As a 24-year-old from small-town Indiana, it all felt like a dream.”
“I hope that, after seeing the documentary, first responders will understand that they need to obtain additional training regarding interactions with folks with disabilities,” said Tom Felter. “In fact, I hope that folks from all walks of life come to the realization that additional training will certainly raise awareness and acceptance.”
“Disability education is lacking as a whole for public safety in general,” says Brian Neuffer of Marion County EMS in the film. “It’s not her job to adjust to me, it’s my job to adjust to her.”
“Teacher of Patience” premieres on Lakeshore PBS at 7 p.m. on March 21 and at 7:30 a.m. on March 23.
Deena Lawley-Dixon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.