The Woman Who Willed a Miracle (1983), is an ABC Afterschool Special

ABC Afterschool Special

The ABC Afterschool Special is an American television anthology series that aired on ABC from 1972 to 1996, usually in the late afternoon on week days. Most of the episodes were dramatic presentations of situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were...

starring Cloris Leachman

Cloris Leachman

Cloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award...

, M. Emmet Walsh

M. Emmet Walsh

Michael Emmet Walsh is an American actor who has appeared in over 100 film and television productions.-Life and career:Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Kathrine and Harry Maurice Walsh, Sr., a customs agent...

, Leif Green and Rosemary Murphy

Rosemary Murphy

Rosemary Murphy is an American actress of stage, film, and television.Murphy was born in Munich, Germany, the daughter of American parents Mildred and Robert D. Murphy, a diplomat...

.

Produced

Television producer

The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...

 and directed

Television director

A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...

 by Sharron Miller

Sharron Miller

Sharron Miller is an American television and film director, producer, and screenwriter. She has also worked as a sound editor and film editor. Miller was the first woman ever to win the coveted Directors Guild of America Award for directing drama....

 and written by Arthur Heinemann, it tells the extraordinary true story of Leslie Lemke

Leslie Lemke

Leslie Lemke is a blind American autistic savant who is most notable for his work as a musician.Leslie Lemke was born prematurely in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1952. At birth, he was diagnosed with glaucoma, cerebral palsy, and brain damage. Doctors were forced to remove his eyes...

, a blind

Blindness

Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...

, mentally retarded

Mental retardation

Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...

 boy with cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....

 who was raised from infancy by a foster mother who stubbornly refused to let him die. Because of her love and dedication, he not only survived but was discovered to be a musical savant

Savant syndrome

Savant syndrome , sometimes referred to as savantism, is a rare condition in which people with developmental disorders have one or more areas of expertise, ability, or brilliance that are in contrast with the individual's overall limitations...

.

The film won numerous awards, including Emmy Award

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

s for Best Children's Programming, Best Director, Best Writer, and Outstanding Lead Actress. Sharron Miller

Sharron Miller

Sharron Miller is an American television and film director, producer, and screenwriter. She has also worked as a sound editor and film editor. Miller was the first woman ever to win the coveted Directors Guild of America Award for directing drama....

 also won the 1984 Directors Guild of America Award

Directors Guild of America Awards

The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D.W. Griffith....

for it.