Topics Include:
Disability AwarenessOvercoming AdversityCharacter Development
Documentary Film:Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown
The Jamiesons were featured in a 47-minute documentary, "Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown." This stereotype-shattering film gets inside the hearts and minds of Marni and Kris, a developmentally disabled married couple living and working in New York City.
Their story, filmed by a sister, reveals contrasting, sometimes irreverent perspectives on their lives and the prejudice they face. The film invites questions about what 'intelligence' is and what it means to be human, without being saccharine or condescending.
Hometown: Marni and Kris both grew up in Queens, New York, where they live today. Family: Marni is the youngest of three sisters. She has one "normal" sister, Nancy, and one with severe autism, Vicki. She lives with her husband Kris about 15 blocks from her parents. Kris has a sister and a brother-in-law, who live on Long Island. He also has a niece and nephew. Marni and Kris were married in June, 1993. Overcoming Adversity: Marni and Kris were both born with developmental disabilities causing them to be slower learners. Kris also has a speech problem that can make him difficult to understand, and learning disabilities that make it difficult to read and write.Kris gets around his reading problem by having Marni help with him with the household inventory, with restaurant menus, and other tasks that involve reading. Marni also helps translate Kris's speech. His advice: "Don't give up, and try to be happy." Marni says: "I couldn't go to high school, because I wasn't smart enough, and I know that I'll never be able to go to college, even though I wanted to. It's not easy sometimes, but it helps if you have a strong family. What helped me is I saw things that I was good at. What I also realized was that God made everybody, and that my life wasn't a mistake after all. We may have a lot to overcome, but we're going to get there. So keep the faith." Education: Kris and Marni both attended special education classes at public schools in Queens, New York. They both went to the Queens Occupational Training Center (O.T.C.) after finishing junior high school. Both have attended computer and academic classes at LaGuardia Community College, in a program for the disabled. Marni still attends regularly. Awards/Honors: Kris won an award for volunteering at the Hillcrest Senior Center in Queens. He's won many dance contests at his social program. Marni was on the Chancellor's Roll of Honor at the Queens O.T.C., were she also won an award for her popular advice column, "Ask Marni." She was one of three students chosen from her school to go to Italy on a school exchange program. Marni has also received awards for work performance at Goodwill Industries. Hobbies: Kris enjoys watching Scooby Doo mysteries on TV, going to yard sales, going to the beach, and playing Balderdash. Marni loves listening to music and dancing to it. She loves traveling, watching the Mets on television, and playing sports. Favorite Quotes: "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country." -- John F. Kennedy"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." -- Dr. Martin Luther King Role models: Kris: Rudolph Guiliani, for helping us through September 11th, 2001.Marni: "Dr. Martin Luther King, Helen Keller, my mom and dad, my big sisters Nancy and Vicki, my husband Kris, and my counselor Mavis." Goals: Kris: "To win the lottery 'Win for Life,' and to go to Scotland. And to become a comedian, though I know that's not possible."Marni: "I would like to change the world and really make a difference. I would want to show people that if love is there, it can conquer pretty much anything." Greatest accomplishments: Kris: "Getting married to Marni Ellen Jamieson. Seeing the documentary about us become more popular than I had hoped for. Being an uncle (twice)."Marni: "Getting to be an exchange student to Italy; my advice column, 'Ask Marni'; getting married to Kris; going to Boston and New Orleans to show the documentary; being an aunt (twice)." Describe the work you do to help others:Kris: "Helping people know what handicapped people go through."Marni: "I want to show that just because we're handicapped, we still have feelings, just like anyone else. A lot of people just take it for granted that they're OK, and that their brain works well. But they shouldn't, because God can do anything. One minute you're fine, and the next minute, poof! Anything can happen."
TESTIMONIALS
"Marni and Kris work, marry, cook, plan and take vacations, have parties, laugh a lot, and remind us all that life may be fully experienced by individuals who are too often viewed primarily in terms of their limitations." -- Arlyn Roffman, Ph.D. Professor, Lesley University, author of Meeting the Challenge of Learning Disabilities in Adulthood
"A poignant documentary...gives excellent and honest insight into the issues that face this couple by letting them tell their own story with wit and humor as they bring us into the workplace and into their home. Though Marni and Kris have educational deficits, they have tremendous maturity in their views on love, marriage, and relationships which they can teach the rest of us." -- Florence Lai, M.D., Neurologist, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
"Sensitive and realistic...reflects the multi-faceted elements in the lives of two persons who have disabilities...an excellent educational tool for schools, civic groups, parent groups, advocates, and self-advocates." -- Robert Fletcher, DSW, Executive Director, the National Association for the Dually Diagnosed, an association for persons with developmental disabilities and mental health needs
"This film shows that individuals with developmental disabilities live real lives with real problems and real fulfillment as well. Their experiences are just like everyone else's."-- Lucie Chansky, parent of son with profound mental retardation
"This film challenged both myself and the class on many of our notions of diagnoses, "normality", developmental disabilities, and how these issues are contextualized within our highly industrialized, competitive, capitalist society. This couple faces issues that all of us struggle within our daily lives. We were all very moved by the production. It presents many important points that can change the consciousness of those seeking to be 'helpers' in our society." -- William Sanchez, Ph.D. Department of Counseling Psychology, Rehabilitation, and Special Education, Northeastern University
"Opens a window into the lives of people who may seem very different, but are actually much like all of us ... applies to the diversity of the human condition as a whole." -- Stephen Shore, author of the book, Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome
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