When a mother, Catherine Green, learns her three and a half year old daughter is suffering from a serious learning disability, she is determined to find a cure. Driven by a desperate need to get some answers, Catherine does the rounds of the medical ‘experts’, but they offer little solace. Her daughter’s future appears bleak. By chance, Catherine uncovers a controversial education program, Arrowsmith, based in the US and Canada. She believes it could provide the answers she has been looking for and she finds herself transported into the brave new world of neuroplasticity, involving rewiring the brain. Won over by what the Arrowsmith Program offers, Catherine becomes entrusted with the challenge of not only giving her daughter a chance for a normal life, but for many other families throughout Australia with children with learning disabilities. Catherine manages to instate the Arrowsmith Program in Australia, galvanising support from the most unlikely of places. She unleashes her advocacy skills, finding a level of strength and resilience she never imagined she had, while at the same time supporting her own daughter through the program. In the wake of Catherine’s success in bringing the Arrowsmith Education Program to Australia, the number of detractors continues to grow. Many educators and scientists are sceptical of it’s benefits and for some participants, the program is not successful. For others however, it goes beyond their wildest expectations, truly chaining the trajectory of children’s lives.
Through this personal journey, many larger themes will be explored. On her search for answers for her own child, Catherine will interview; Scientists, researchers, ethicists, educators and parents. Subjects we would like to interview include: Those opposed to the Arrowsmith Program and those whose lives it has changed. A range of notable adults with learning disabilities; from wildly successful entrepreneurs to those overrepresented in the prison population.
Catherine Green is a director / producer with a passion for storytelling. Over the past 15 years she has produced & directed videos with a variety of budgets, audiences and visual styles, helping clients identify and bring to life the stories that best represent their brand and achieve their goals. She is adept at managing stakeholders, has an eye for detail whilst always seeing the big picture and the steps required to bring projects in on time and
on budget. She has worked for clients including The Australian Red Cross Blood Service, KPMG and The Country Road Group. Catherine also produces the fortnightly podcast, ‘William and Lonsdale – Lives in the Law’, about the legal ecosystem in Melbourne and the fascinating people that make it tick. This variety of experience has been a fertile training ground and given her the practical skills required to take the step into co-producing and directing her first feature documentary.
