The 56-minute documentary, FINDING THE WORDS, was originally released in 2007. No US Television Network would carry it then. Internationally, Al Jazeera aired the documentary, and it was eventually seen in over 30 countries.

Since that time, there have been over 75,000 views of this 10-minute trailer for the film on YouTube. With renewed interest in the underlying biology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Producer/Director Elizabeth Horn has made the full-length (56-minute) film: FINDING THE WORDS, available to viewers via Nicole Shanahan through X.com. The film was released at the end of 2024 and has experienced 675,000 views.

FINDING THE WORDS is the story of eight “perfect babies” each given a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as toddlers, whose grieving families fight prejudice, misinformation, and despair to get their children healthy again.

Filmed in 13 locations across the United States, this hour long documentary is an ensemble piece, presenting elements of each family’s long emotional journey through home videos, photographs, and medical reports; as well as interviews with the families, the children’s doctors, therapists and friends. Commentary on these remarkable stories is provided by courageous doctors all working to rewrite the future of children with ASD by accepting a surprisingly controversial premise: children can recover from many of the life-limiting symptoms the often accompany an ASD diagnosis.

FINDING THE WORDS captures complex human emotions—watching parents move from infinite sorrow to ultimate joy as they realize their dream and improve the health of their child. These eight remarkable families overcame their fears of the negative stigma autism carried in the 2006 to tell their stories—determined to change the world for all of the children struggling to find their way back to health.

Since releasing the original film, the Fund for Sustainable Tomorrows was the Fiscal Sponsor of Elizabeth’s remarkable follow up film on ASD and autoimmune disorders: In Our Own Hands: How patients are reinventing medicine.