Educational Media Reviews Online

Alison Peebles has a handicap. She also has a life to live and that is now upside down. A successful actress, she now has to cope with a life changing condition. This film is about how her life has changed and how she is dealing with multiple sclerosis.

We see Alison describe the stages that she has gone through from denial, acceptance, coping and as she states in the end, her “coming out” a new journey begins.

One of the ways she has learned to cope is to express her inner feelings by sketching herself on paper. She has kept this condition a secret for six years, from her mother and sister, and her director. She’s afraid that the revelation may destroy her career. She is no longer able to hide her symptoms, she is frustrated by forms to fill out, having to toss away fashionable shoes that she loves to wear and to now wear a leg brace. If all this is not enough, the thought of her father who also had MS and died plays upon her mind.

To anyone viewing this film you will feel the frustration, the fear and anxiety that Alison is going through. You will also begin to see her inner strength develop as she goes through therapy sessions and later relates to her family what she is going through.

As Alison learns to accept her limitations, she finds humor in her new lifestyle such as throwing away the clothes she can no longer wear, and a shopping trip to buy new ones. She is also supported by sympathetic therapists, co-workers and family. In the end we see a brave woman facing her uncertain future with humor and determination.

After viewing this film I could feel Alison’s fear of the unknown, the fear of losing her job, the fear knowing that her father had died from MS, how she appears to her family, friends and co-workers. Not all films are capable of this. I thought the use of humorous animations helped to keep my interest in what was going on. The only problem I had with the technical aspects of the DVD was trouble hearing the dialogue in a couple of spots.

This film is a welcome addition to college library collections for students and faculty involved with therapeutic intervention, psychological evaluations and sociologic understanding.

I highly recommend this film for any campus library in the health and social sciences area as a valuable learning tool.