In a Different Key

Photo: Title card

Credit: WGBH

A true story of love, difference and the fight to belong.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-nominated book of the same name by journalists Caren Zucker and John Donvan – In a Different Key, the film follows the film's producer, the mother of an autistic son as she finds and then befriends the first child ever diagnosed with autism – Donald Triplett, who still lives in the small Mississippi town where he was born nearly 90 years ago. In a Different Key airs Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 1 p.m. on WXXI-TV

Today, the rate of diagnosed Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has reached the level of 1 in 44 children. In a question relevant to many, co-director Caren Zucker seeks answers to the unknowable: will the non-autistic majority embrace and protect her child when she is no longer here. “Really, it’s an untold story of an unrecognized civil rights movement,” says Zucker, “but it’s also a love story, where the arc of justice is really bending in the right direction – just not fast enough for mothers like me.”

This film is presented as part of Move to Include, a partnership between WXXI and the Golisano Foundation designed to build a more inclusive community by inspiring and motivating people to embrace different abilities and include all people in every aspect of community life. Move to Include grew out of WXXI and Al Sigl Community of Agencies initiative, Dialogue on Disability, which is an annual week-long programming event that encourages community dialogue about the lives and abilities of people with disabilities.