Thursday 14 February 2013

Read, Watch, Critique-"Radio"-The Story of James Robert Kennedy

Film: “Radio”-The Story of James Robert Kennedy
Director: Michael Tollin
Date of Release: October 24, 2003
Characteristics of Learning Disabilities
James Robert Kennedy – “Radio”
Academic lags
Inconsistent performances
Memory and attention problems
Perceptual deficits
Problems with self-regulatory behaviors,
social perception, and social interactions
Irregular or uneven development
Average or above –average intelligence
Exhibits memory and thinking disorders
Problems remembering information
Forgets personal information
Performance deficits rather than ability deficits
Problems with expressive language
General uncoordination-“lack of muscular control”
Repetitive task-walked around school with his shopping cart for years
Socially awkward-does not speak when spoken to
Childlike speech-language is limited
Poor motor skills-unable to perform some of the exercises with the football players
Uncoordinated-was unable to jump in and out of tires with football players
Takes everything literally –does not understand sarcasm
Same as everyone else just slower than most-what doctors told his mother
Average intelligence-seems to understand everything but cannot verbalize it
Forgetful-does not know his name when asked and has to think about where he lives

The movie Radio does a fantastic job of depicting a person who suffers from moderate learning disabilities. Radio is verbal but displays memory problems, academic problem, expressive language problems, and receptive language difficulties. These are common characteristics in people who have learning disabilities. I would highly recommend this film to everyone. It is a touching story the shows the impact a little bit of kindness can have on a person’s life. Coach Harold Jones took the time to realize that although Radio was different that did not mean he could not be included or that he could not learn. Coach Jones found a way to connect with Radio and he learned different approaches to teaching Radio. Everyone is different and we all learn differently. It is our differences that make us unique and the same truly applied to Radio.

To learn more about Radio and Coach Jones feel free to visit their website:

1 comment:

  1. I like that you provided a link to the website. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete