‘Be Me’ shows the designer’s journey from autism to fashion success – the last day

Kyle Westfal, 29, graduated with a degree in design from Dire Dawa University, with extensive knowledge of fashion history and has appeared on Refinery 29 and Instyle.com.

But when Kyle was first diagnosed with autism as a six-year-old boy, his parents could not imagine such a bright future for him. At that time, as described in the documentary Let me beJennifer and Jeff Westphal struggle to better support Kyle, who went from infancy to emotional trauma.

The cast of Dan Crane and Katie Taber says: “They were afraid they would have a real relationship with their son. “Kyle was turning away from the world around him, wrapping himself in a blanket and blanket.”

A.D. As Kyle grew up in the 1990’s, he did not know much about how to help children with autism. Most therapies focus on behavioral improvement and basically try to force children with autism to respond to community expectations.

According to the film, Westfalls’ new approach to treating autism was changed when they learned about Son-Rise.

“We accidentally ran into the program,” said Jennifer Westfal. “I met a girl with autism, and that’s when I started connecting. When she talks about her son’s behavior, she really says, ‘Wow, Kyle does that!’ And this is how all this happens.

“Everything you are told to do to help your child – the opposite is true,” says Son-Rise, the program’s website. “Our program shows that joining children in their own unique world before asking them to join us will take these special children to new heights!”

Let me be Westphals documented how they implemented the Son-Rise program for Kyle and the much-needed effort. Kyle started creating a “boy’s cave” for him, which contained all the comforting things, including dolls and blankets.

At the time, he could not express his feelings clearly, but he was putting everything into perspective. “Basically, I saw this playroom being built for me,” said Kyle Deadline, “and that was a great experience.

A series of volunteers came in every day to work with Kyle. Of his The world, instead of forcing him to agree with them. On one side of the room was a one-way mirror, which allowed Kyle’s parents to attend sessions and videotape them to train future volunteers.

Kyle remembers the process as hard and often fluid.

“Most ‘games’ were all work. “It started around 9:30 in the morning, around 4 in the afternoon 30-5, it was very strong five days a week. It looked like a calidoscope because there were so many different people in the room. I will begin to know who was better, not necessarily ‘fun’ or ‘unpleasant’ because that is not the right word, but I will begin to know who would tempt me in a more constructive way, who would be a little more fun and exciting. Be a little playful.

“It was not good to tell her how she felt,” Jennifer recalls. But there were clues as to how Kyle felt.

“When one of the sweetest things is really happy with something, the ear turns bright red,” she says. “Just say, ‘Oh, he’s happy with something!” You could say. On those occasions, his parents showed him flash cards with emotional faces. “‘Kyle, are you feeling this?’ And finally he can tell us that he is happy… There was a lot of work that you as a parent did to read the signs, and then we try to help him express himself.

He tells the story of his childhood obsession with Kyle’s Disney animation. Cinderella. The mother of the fairy tale has the power to change it by flashing with her staff and distributing it under the magic of BDB-Bobidi-Bu. Kyle’s gravity is the key to understanding fashion.

“For me, fashion was like this world – very similar. CinderellaIt was something I always met – how to make someone feel good, ”says Kyle.“ Like a magic wand. [creating] The dress, I was like this, how good is it to do that in your life? Now that I think back, I really got into fashion because that’s what I did as a child. The next step was the next step. It’s something I still love to do. ”

The film depicts Kile’s childhood scenes of a full-length cartoon animation series. The animation style also shows the world in which Kyle lives.

“When [co-director] Dan Crane came along and started rewriting the story, trying to find an animation for the fabric. So we found this company in New Zealand, Yukfu, and we started working with them, ”said Jennifer.

Let me be Available on VOD, as well as on Kino Now and on DVD via Kino Lawber; Filtering can be done through Kinema.com. The film continues to revolve around the festival, with a prize push expected in the fall. The filmmaker Jennifer Westfal became the lead actress in the documentary. Won’t you be my neighbor?, Athlete A.And Where is my Roy Con? Westfal herself said she was not eager to be on camera.

“It took a lot of filmmakers to convince me [whole] The family must be in the movie, ”said Jennifer. “I thought we could avoid telling Kyle’s story. [alone] Because it was clearly a very strong and beautiful story. But often people see what we have and ask, ‘Where is the family?’ They say.

Participating as a subject in the film became a profound experience.

“On the first weekend, we had an interview with Katie Taber and her staff. The family was talking about the story for the first time. It was stronger than I ever imagined because I still had a ‘filmmaker’s hat.’ It was emotional to wear a hat and be a mother for that weekend. “

Kyle Westfal now lives in Philadelphia, where he attended college. “Things are good,” he said. I am working on some independent fashion projects. He spent much of last year spreading the word about the film.

“According to my mother, this is one of the stories of autism, no. Of History. ” “We hope it inspires hope Yours History. The journey from class to the real world is, in fact, a relationship. And I always say, yellow is the brick road. It’s getting you – if you’re Dorothy, you’ve got your Scarecrow, your Tin man. You work with the people.

Over time, Jennifer did not reduce the amount of energy needed to create a Kyle care environment that allows her to connect with people and get creative. You also do not insist that the L-Rice program is valid for every family. But it was for her.

She says: “As a parent, Kyle is happy to know who he is and what he says about him.” “I am also grateful that we were able to help him overcome some of the traits that kept him out of the classroom. It’s a journey. ”