[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.83,0:00:04.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Voice over: It was straight to the top for Donato Tocci.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.50,0:00:08.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At eleven years old he's already a television news anchor.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.42,0:00:10.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he's about to go LIVE!
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.84,0:00:13.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Teacher: You look great Donato.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.23,0:00:16.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Adult announcer: This is Action 7 News!
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.82,0:00:18.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hello. I'm Donato Tocci.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.62,0:00:24.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Voice over: News has an agenda at Worral Elementary School in Broomall Pennsylvania.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.27,0:00:30.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The reporters aren't simply young and driven, they also have Asperger's Syndrome.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.90,0:00:35.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Children with this form of autism often have trouble with social cues
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.68,0:00:38.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like facial expressions and gestures.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.37,0:00:40.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And working well with others.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.24,0:00:42.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Child: I said Mona Lisa!
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.28,0:00:49.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Voice over: And that's the very reason Asperger's specialist Randy Rentz and speech pathologist Kristen Dercole developed the newscast,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.85,0:00:54.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,filled with kid-friendly skits and commercials.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.44,0:00:58.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They wanted their students to see the world from another angle.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.45,0:01:02.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Randy: A lot of my kids are very black and white so to speak,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.22,0:01:05.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where they don't understand the middle area-- the grey area.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.66,0:01:13.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they may know "happy", they may know "sad", but they don't know the difference in between.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.20,0:01:19.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Voice over: But television journalists, even miniature ones, need to watch themselves from time to time
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.22,0:01:25.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and think critically about how they present themselves. Especially how they sound.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.67,0:01:31.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Kristen: I think that reporters in general are really good role models for students as far as good speaking skills.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.07,0:01:36.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We always talk about how, to be on a newscast you have to over enunciate.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.10,0:01:41.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Child: His owner, Mike Sheelan, even takes him on cross-country races. (He slurs his speech a little...)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.42,0:01:43.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Kristen: You have to slow down your rate of speech.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.48,0:01:45.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Child: (slurs a little)... in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.75,0:01:48.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Kristen: You have to really work on your pitch.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.50,0:01:52.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Child: The greatest candy bar EVER MADE.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.10,0:01:53.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Kristen: You want to emphasize key words...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.99,0:01:57.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Child: In sports news, JETER HITS THREE THOUSAND!
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.69,0:02:03.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Kristen: So there's a lot of different parts of speech that we can work on while you work on the newscast.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.07,0:02:08.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Child is speaking.) Voice over: That's Augie Penteles, reporting the very latest in sports.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.87,0:02:13.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When his mother Michelle learned he has Asperger's and would need treatment,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.87,0:02:16.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This isn't exactly what she envisioned.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.95,0:02:22.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mother: So I was a little angry when I first met everyone here... a little frustrated..
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.80,0:02:31.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And you know, scared for my son. But I think that being in the program for six years has changed the course of his life.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.28,0:02:38.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The skills that he's learned... coping skills, strategies, just how to react to people and how to read people...
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.62,0:02:43.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Voice over: It's a good perk, but the journalists themselves can think of a better one.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.52,0:02:49.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When the half hour broadcast is complete each year, the whole school gathers to watch.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.60,0:02:57.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Child: Well I guess my favorite part about Action 7 is getting to do all the other skits.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.11,0:03:00.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,AND letting your friends envy you!
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.05,0:03:03.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Voice over: Even Donato, the anchor, feels it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.30,0:03:06.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Donato: I've never been this famous before.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.38,0:03:15.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Voice over: For children with Asperger's, kids who often stand out from the rest of the crowd, that feeling can be, well, monumental.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.13,0:03:23.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Teacher: One year I was over at the middle school and there was a huge huge difference with the kids who had been through the program socially.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.48,0:03:29.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not just with their confidence, but with their social skills overall, as a whole.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.42,0:03:37.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Voice over: At the moment, Action 7 is the only program of its kind in the nation. At least as far as Randy Rentz knows.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.27,0:03:46.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But she also believes shining this kind of spotlight on kids with Asperger's could be a good approach for any school.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.38,0:03:52.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For the PBS Newshour, I'm Betty Ann... Oh wait a minute! Let's let one of them do it!
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.67,0:03:56.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Child: Reporting live from the red streets of Spain, I'm Aaron Thomas for Action 7 news.