@Makayla’s Voice

In a world with people who talk, many see those who are non-verbal as unintelligent. This short documentary breaks that notion to pieces.

“Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World” tells Makayla’s story through her mind. She is a young black girl with a rare form of Autism that renders her non-verbal. Around 8 months ago, she begun working with letter board therapy that was her path to communicate to those around her.

I have never seen a form a media that really tells the story of someone who is autistic, so this was so fascinating to see and hear what it was like in her head. I have friends and family members who are on the autism spectrum, so growing up I saw autism in a variety of ways, but never understood it or them entirely. “Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World” really helps brings the barrier of understanding between those who are not autistic and those who are closer together. It shows us that we are not much different from one another.

Something that is so fascinating about this documentary is that it truly is Makayla speaking to the audience. Through the letter board therapy, she essentially wrote the script for this documentary. In the director’s statement Julio Palacio said that he used her letter board session transcripts, over 140 pages, to piece together the script for this documentary. Then he gave Makayla the choice of who she wanted to be her voice.

@Makayla’s Voice

There was something that stuck out to me visually with the story telling. At one point Makayla is talking about her love for art, specifically Van Gogh. Then you see his famous “Starry Night” painting come to live through beautiful animation. Then you also see Makayla and her dad walking through the painting like they are in the scene. During this Makayla explains why she likes Van Gogh so much. She says “he is trapped inside his emotions, the way I am trapped inside my body.” That was honestly such a beautiful analogy and how they showed that visually was breathtaking.

I found that the use of animation to show her words was so beautifully done because it mixed her and the real world into the animation. I think visually it shows how complex her mind is on top of her poetic language.

Speaking of her words, for only being 14 years old, she has so many complex thoughts compared to people even older than her. Her words are so thought provoking and poetic. She has a drive to be an advocate for those with autism and be the voice for the many who haven’t found theirs.

She talks about the struggles she has not being able to communicate her emotions, how it feels and the loneliness that comes from that. That is something that’s beautiful in “Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World,” it shows the struggle that she faces on a day to day. It doesn’t just show the fact that she can communicate to her family and how great that is. It shows that it’s still an uphill battle for her and so many others with autism.

@Makayla’s Voice

Throughout this documentary, we see interviews with her parents and her letter board therapist Roxy. While I loved the insight they all gave about her, I think it would have added to it if we heard from her siblings about their perspective. We don’t hear from them besides small snippets during the credit scenes. Overall, I think it was beautifully done, I just wish we had her siblings insight to add to it.

This was a beautifully done documentary and honestly I wish it was longer. I would be interested in watching a follow up documentary about where she is in a few years. Of course I think Julio Palacio should direct it as he did an amazing job telling her story in this one. He really was able to craft an emotionally and visually driven story in the span of 30 minutes, but I definitely think there’s more to tell.

Overall,“Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World” is a beautiful story breaks the idea that non-verbal means unintelligent by telling an autistic girl’s story through her mind and words.

“Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World” had its world premiere on January 21st, 2024 at the SlamDance Film Festival.

Grade: A-

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Here’s the trailer of the film.