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CBS SUNDAY MOVIE LOOKS AT DYSLEXIA, BLINDNESS

October 22, 1999

The CBS television network plans to shine the spotlight this month on two disabilities and their impacts on friendship when it airs "Anya's Bell" as its Sunday Night Movie. The made-for-TV movie stars gospel singer and "Touched By An Angel" star Della Reese as a blind woman in 1949 who meets a 12-year-old boy with dyslexia. Mason Gamble, who starred in the feature film "Dennis the Menace," plays the boy. Finding they have something in common, the two form a friendship and encourage each other to overcome their disabilities.

The story of Anya, an elderly blind woman, and Scott, a sixth-grader who is having trouble in school, examines each person's disability from different angles. For Anya, blindness is not a major hurdle, but she is being forced to move to a retirement home for blind people because her mother, who cared for her, recently died. Scott, on the other hand, is frustrated and afraid because he does not understand why he cannot read as well as his peers. As the two become friends, "their uncommon bond allows Anya to break through Scott's fear in an effort to find him help," CBS says.

The movie also stars and Kelly Rowan, star of the recently released film "Three To Tango." It airs at 9 p.m. ET, Oct. 31. CBS offers little other information about the program on its web site, but the network does provide a list of the TV stations planning to air the program. CBS also offers links to a handful of other web sites dealing with disabilities, including the International Dyslexia Association and the Davis Dyslexia Association International's Dyslexia.com site. At the end of the movie, the IDA plans to air a public service message about dyslexia and the associations' work.8