Autism film nets Southern Utah student national PTA award

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A 3-minute short created by a Southern Utah student about a teenager with autism has been named the national winner for Outstanding Interpretation in Film by the National PTA.

Porter Christensen, a senior at Pine View High School in St. George, wrote, produced, filmed and starred in "Help."

In a surprise presentation Friday, PTA representatives joined family, friends and teachers at the school to tell Christensen he had been named the winner. He will receive an $800 scholarship, a $200 prize for the Pine View High unit of the PTA and a free trip to New Orleans to present the video at the National PTA Awards and Reflection Celebration.

"It's very humbling," Christensen said. "There are so many people who have been supportive. It's so nice. Everyone is so compassionate."

Christensen said he spent about a month working on "Help." He portrays a person with autism, delivering a monologue describing the world through his eyes.

"Autism doesn't mean I can't think. It doesn't classify me as worthless," he says at one point in the film. "It just means I have a slightly different perspective."

A month short of graduating, Christensen said he plans to serve a mission for his church before coming back to attend college and study film.

A national winner is chosen in each of the six arts categories in the National PTA's Reflections program: dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts. This year there were 1,053 student submissions from 50 state PTAs up for the national awards. Christensen's entry was one of 30 from Utah that advanced.

Utah has among the highest rates of participation in the Reflections program, according to the National PTA. More than 15,000 students nationwide took part in this year's contest.