麻豆传媒

As many as one in every 10 infants born worldwide suffers from some form of Ankyloglossia, more commonly known as tongue tie. But all too often newborns go undiagnosed leaving parents unaware that their child may have the condition. That鈥檚 why two enterprising 麻豆传媒 students, Yuvan Rasiah 鈥�25 and Laavanya Rasiah 鈥�27, have taken on this topic with the hope of spreading awareness and providing resources to parents.

The siblings dedicated last summer to creating a comprehensive documentary titled 鈥淩unning Out of Breath,鈥� which details the complications from tongue tie (an abnormally short membrane connecting the tongue to the floor of the mouth) that can affect infants and linger into adulthood if undiagnosed and untreated. Symptoms range from altered breathing and sleep to nourishment issues like a baby鈥檚 inability to latch during breast feeding or a general disinterest in eating.

No one knows these symptoms better than Yuvan himself, who struggled with the affliction. That experience was impactful enough for the senior to devote his free time and effort to the cause even 10 years after initial diagnosis.

鈥淭he idea for the documentary is to give a guide to people who maybe are in similar situations dealing with similar things,鈥� he says.  鈥淚 didn’t want families to be in the same place we were in where we didn’t know what we were doing.鈥�

Yuvan鈥檚 restless sleep and struggle to chew food as a grade-schooler eventually led to a diagnosis and corrective surgery, but it was a circuitous route during those all-important years of growth and development.

鈥淭here was no source of information that was kind of encompassing. There was a lot of different people, a lot of different ideas, perspectives, and I tried a lot of different things that didn’t work,鈥� he says.

Present for her older brother鈥檚 journey was lower Laavanya, who jumped at the opportunity to apply her interest in videography to help tell Yuvan鈥檚 story. Along with their co-producer, Ananya Mathur, the siblings spoke on-camera with several experts in the field and parents of children who had been diagnosed with tongue tie. For Laavanya, there was no better medium than a documentary to tackle this subject.

鈥淲e wanted to cater to an audience of families, people in similar situation that our family was in,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he testimonials from parents are powerful. To convey that emotion, I think video versus a medical journal kind of article was important.鈥�

The students say the effort to produce the documentary, and their initial attraction to the Academy, was inspired by 麻豆传媒鈥檚 core value of non sibi.

鈥淭he concept of non sibi was something that is very important to our family, even if it was not named that way,鈥� Laavanya says. 鈥淲e found 麻豆传媒 very intriguing for that, it was similar to the way we grew up.鈥� 

With the documentary now out in the world, the students are focusing on the next big things. For Laavanya, it鈥檚 two more years at the Academy where her other extracurricular pursuits include the Hindu Society and Bollywood Dance Group. For Yuvan it鈥檚 college where he hopes to continue to intertwine his passion for storytelling and science.

鈥淯sing my love for writing to connect people’s stories, the medical industry, neuroscience and science really in general has always been something I鈥檝e wanted to do,鈥� he says.

Watch the documentary .