Running head: LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL GIFTS AND TALENTS 1

Learners with Special Gifts and Talents: Movie Review

Misti Neely
Ivy Tech Community College

LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL GIFTS AND TALENTS

Standard Two: Learner Differences

The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and
communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high
standards.
Brief Description
For this assignment, I watched a movie that portrayed people with special gifts and
talents. After watching the movie of my choice, I made connections to my textbook by reflecting
on the movie.
Rationale
To demonstrate my understanding of Standard Two: Learner Differences, I have included
my Learners with Special Gifts and Talents: Movie Review. This assignment introduced me to
students with physical and mental disabilities and the importance of support and friendship
between students with exceptional needs.

LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL GIFTS AND TALENTS

Learners with Special Gifts and Talents: Movie Review

The movie I had the privilege of watching is The Mighty. It is about two boys, one has
physical disabilities (Kevin) and the other has a mental disability (Max). Despite all of the odds,
two boys who are complete opposites form an unbreakable friendship. They become more like
brothers than friends. Both boys also have adventurous imaginations, believing they are King
Arthurs knights. Each boy has his own unique strengths and personalities that create a dynamic
balance to their friendship. Max is physically strong and Kevin is extremely smart. Their
strengths balance out the others weaknesses. Kevin helps Max learn how to read and write,
which eventually leads to Max writing a book about their friendship.
Characteristics
The main character Max is a mentally disabled middle school student. He is physically
much larger than all of other students. The writers of the movie went with the big and dumb
stereotype that is often given to disabled children. Despite his size, he is shy and reserved and
tries to avoid conflicts. He does not stand up for himself and lets others push him around. He
often says that he does not have a brain and lacks complete confidence in himself. His is also
very quiet and slow to respond. Max also has literacy issues. He cannot read very well at all. 80
- 90% of all children with learning disabilities have reading problems. Children with severe
reading disabilities have trouble reading single words, deficits matching sounds with letters
(phonological awareness), and difficulty quickly naming what they see. (Education, 2015) All
of these are traits that Max displays in the movie. Psychologically, Max has a negative outlook
towards himself. When his father is mentioned, he freaks out and is unable to control his
outbursts. I feel that Max suffers from depression based on the observations that he hates
himself, avoids others and always seems to mope around. Once he befriends Kevin, he starts to

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come out of his shell and gains more confidence. Overall, he is a caring and sweet individual,
and may even be seen as a gentle giant. He just lacks the confidence to confront his issues.
Portrayal
Because Max towers over the other students, he sticks out like a sore thumb. People stare
at him everywhere he goes. The other kids tease him and call him a killer and a freak.
Apparently, his father is in prison for killing his mother. He just wants the other students to leave
him alone. He likes to escape into his brain creating a more peaceful place in his head. He walks
around with headphones on to drown out the outside world. Movies and media often display
children with disabilities as angry uncontrollable students that may or may not have a trigger to
set them off on a rampage. Apparently, Maxs trigger is his father. Kevin is depicted as an
independent child that likes to challenge the world despite his physical disabilities. Kevin desires
to show the world that he can do anything a non-disabled child can do.
Biological and Environmental Influences
Max comes from a low-income family that has many issues with physical violence. Max
witnessed his father strangle his mother to death which caused a lot of trauma to Max at a young
age. After witnessing this event, Max went a long period of time without speaking at all. Max
was sent to live with his grandparents after his mothers death. They are in no condition to raise a
child let alone a child with disabilities. They believe Max will follow in his fathers footsteps,
which makes Max think that he is a bad boy and his mothers death is his fault. One night when
Max shows up at home with the police, his family thinks the worst of him. They are surprised to
find that he saved Kevins life. Just because Max is mentally disabled and his father went to jail,
they believe that he is not capable of making good choices or doing good deeds. This is very
common in our society. People think that because someone is disabled that they dont have a

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chance of contributing to society or the ability of make good choices. The way society views
disabled children is how they begin to view themselves. Its a sad continuous cycle. Maxs
family was psychologically destroying his confidence and self-worth.
According to the article, A child who cannot bear to feel traumatic events can alter the
behaviors and mental abilities of children. Often young children who are abused or witness
traumatic events develop a learning disability. The child does everything possible to keep the
events from replaying in their mind. Different events can bring back memories of the traumatic
events. (Greenwood, 2002) This could explain why Max displays the behaviors he does and why
he avoids conflicts. Perhaps, conflicts bring back memories of his mothers traumatic death.
Kevin, on the other hand, was born with a disorder causing his physical deformities.
Kevin is being raised by a loving and supportive mother, which is probably why Kevin believes
he can do anything. Kevin doesnt let his physical disability get in the way of life. He is an
extremely outgoing active kid. A lot of this has to do with his home support system giving him
the positive motivation that he needs. Kevins upbeat outlook on life reflects his mothers love
and compassion towards him.
According to the study, Perceived parental acceptance-rejection, psychological
adjustment and self-concepts of persons with disabilities, children who dont receive adequate
amounts of parental love and support, tend to be psychologically unstable and display poor selfesteem and are likely to form a negative perceptions of the world. This disrupts the childs
interpersonal relationships and psychological wellbeing. (Qasmi & Riaz, 2012) This explains
why the child without parental support had a negative perception of life and people, while the
child who had a supportive mother was more outgoing and had good socializing skills.
Overall, it is important to remember that children with disabilities mental and physical
are all individuals. Therefore, they are going to have their own individual traits and

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characteristics. Yes, it is possible that a majority of special needs students carry some similar
behavioral characteristics but it is also possible to have children that are unique and nothing like
anyone else. I feel that the movie The Mighty did a wonderful job representing a child with
learning disabilities and a child with physical disabilities. This is a wonderful movie, that even
students would benefit from watching.

LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL GIFTS AND TALENTS

References
Education. (2015). 10 Common Traits of Kids with Learning Disabilities. Retrieved July 15,
2015. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/slideshow/common-characteristicsstudents-learning/most-common-disability-reading/
Greenwood, A. (2002). The child who cannot bear to feel. Psychodynamic Practice, 8(3), 295310. doi:10.1080/1353333021000019015
Riaz, M. N., & Qasmi, F. N. (2012). Perceived Parental Acceptance-Rejection, Psychological
Adjustment and Self Concepts of Persons with Disabilities. Journal Of Behavioural
Sciences, 22(1), 64-82.
The Mighty [Motion picture]. (1998).