The film alleges that at the age of thirteen, she learned to express herself through typing of a computer keyboard, revealing that she was in fact highly intelligent.

[3] Autism researchers such as Gina Green of San Diego State University have criticized the film for its positive portrayal of facilitated communication.

[2] Ann M. Donnellan and Martha R. Leary's 2012 book "Autism: Sensory-Movement Differences and Diversity" mentions Lisa Barrett Mann's 2005 article as a "troubling example of misinformed skepticism".

The 2005 article by Lisa Barrett Mann is Autism Is a World is described as a propaganda film for the pseudoscience facilitated communication in a report of the magazine Slate.

[4][5] The Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan (BAAM) pointed out that although Sue Rubin has 2q37 deletion syndrome, which causes handicaps like skeleton malformations and severe developmental disabilities, this issue is not mentioned in the film.