The movie Children of a Lesser God tells the story of James Leeds, a new teacher at a school for the deaf, and Sarah Norman, the young woman who was born deaf and exhibits an extraordinary intelligence and independence. The teacher becomes captivated by these qualities and begins to challenge the girl to engage with the hearing world. As the movie develops, they are able to further their connection and to overcome their struggles and differences. From the beginning the viewer is able to see the signs and symptoms of communication disorders through a few examples. Sarah as a deaf person refuses to speak or learn to lip-read which in turn indicates a possible difficulty in expressing herself orally. She also communicates using the American Sign Language, while conveying her thoughts and emotions through manual signs, facial expressions, and body language. A couple of times during the film, Sarah can be seen experiencing communication breakdowns when interacting with hearing individuals who either do not know or somewhat understand sign language. The assessment and treatment of Sarah’s difficulties and disorders is obtained by James Leeds. He is able to assess Sarah’s language skills and cognitive abilities through observation on her behavior, attention span, and problem-solving abilities during their interactions. …show more content…
Some of the hearing characters, such as the other teachers at the school, Sarah’s mother and even some of the students, view Sarah’s disability as a reason for pity. They continuously struggle to realize and comprehend her independence and assertiveness as an individual. On the other hand, her colleagues and acquaintances that are also deaf demonstrate a bigger support and empathy towards her. Since they themselves struggle with their own difficulties they learn to appreciate her unique perspective of the