Abnormality In Rain Man

Running Head: ABNORMALITY IN CINEMA 1

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ABNORMALITY IN CINEMA

Harmoni Ropp

Abnormality in Cinema

Bemidji State University

Abnormality in Rain Man

Rain Man is an old, classic film featuring two brothers, Raymond and Charlie Babbitt. Unbeknownst to Charlie for the first many years of his life, he was not an only child, but had a brother Raymond, who had been sent to a psychiatric facility when Charlie was quite young, due to his diagnosis of autism. As the movie progressed, it was revealed that Raymond had burnt baby Charlie prior to being sent to the mental institution, and stayed there for over twenty years until the death of their father. At this point, Charlie discovered his autistic older brother.

Raymond in Rain Man

Raymond, or Rain Man, as Charlie affectionately called him as a child, definitely portrayed characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, as his perception and socialization with others was affected. Clearly, Raymond often engaged in repetitious behavior. An example of this is when he would go to a restaurant for breakfast with his brother Charlie. He predictably would state that he wanted pancakes, but would then say, “Of course the maple syrup is supposed

to be on the table before the pancakes. When they bring the maple syrup after the pancakes, it’ll definitely be too late.”
Another example of Raymond’s evidence of autism is his lack of interest in social situations. During an exchange between his long-time friend Vern and Charlie’s girlfriend Susanna shortly after Susanna and Raymond met, Vern told Susanna, “I’m not sure, but I don’t think people are his first priority.” He also would avoid looking in the eyes of those he spoke to, and would instead keep his focus past the other individual or at the sky.
A third characteristic of people with ASD is spending a long period of time performing ritualistic behaviors. For Raymond, this included self-destructive behaviors, such as banging his head against a door repeatedly until told otherwise. Another thing Raymond did was to say the same thing over and over, as he did when he was traveling with Charlie down the highway. “Ninety-seven X. Bam! The future of rock ‘n’ roll. Ninety-seven X. Bam! The future of rock ‘n’ roll. Ninety-seven X. Bam! The future of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Autism
Autism is one of many neurodevelopmental disorders that have an affect on behaviors. As the textbook defines it, Autism Spectrum Disorder includes persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction along with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interest, or activities. The DSM-5 has two requirements for diagnosing ASD: impairments in social communication and social interaction, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior (Durand, 2016).
Symptoms
ASD has different symptoms for each individual with the disorder. The severity and range of symptoms vary depending on the individual, as well. According to the staff at Mayo Clinic, some persons with ASD may exhibit the following symptoms of social communication and interaction: appears listless in responding to others, dislikes affectionate touch and tends to play alone, avoids eye contact and has minimal expression, has a delay in speech, is unable to communicate well, speaks robotically or methodically, repeats things spoken to him word-for-word, or exhibits inappropriate social behavior (Mayo, 2014). There are examples of Raymond exhibiting each of these symptoms in Rain Man, and I believe this particular film is a mostly accurate portrayal of the symptoms of autistic disease.
Prevalence
At one point, having autism was nearly unheard of. However, in recent years the disorder has become much more common, with generally 1 in 50 children being diagnosed with ASD in 2013 (Durand, 2016). It is four times more likely for a male to have autism than a female, but the disorder seems to be increasing in prevalence worldwide. Individuals with ASD have varying IQ scores. Raymond Babbitt displayed brilliancy in working with numbers, and could calculate complex math in a matter of a few seconds. Despite this, there are many children with ASD that score below average on an IQ test. Studies have shown that those who score decently high on an IQ test are more competent in daily life and do not need as strong of social support as the low-scoring individuals do.
Risk Factors
Psychological and social.

There are a wide variety of influences that have been linked to autism, and some of these dimensions include psychological and social, biological, and environmental. In the past, people with ASD were suspected to be very low in self-awareness, and thus behaved unusually – referring to themselves as “him” or “her,” rather than using the first-person (Durand, 2016). In later years, it was discovered that some autistic individuals did show signs of self-awareness, though. Furthermore, some individuals with a less severe diagnosis of ASD exhibit savant skills, just as Raymond did in Rain Man when he was able to count 246 toothpicks in a short period of time. It is important to realize that only a third of individuals with ASD have these abilities,

however.
Biological. Biological causes seem to play a big part in autistic persons. Many discoveries have been made that show that autism is caused by a complex interaction of gene abnormalities. Other brain abnormalities, especially in the regions of the brain related to social functioning, have an influence on those with ASD. Autism is a moderately heritable disorder, and although each gene has an effect on psychological disorders, this effect is minute. Thus, there are hundreds of genes working together in the case of autism. Parents of one autistic child have a much higher likelihood of reproducing another child with autism than those who do not, which shows that the disorder is largely genetic (Durand, 2016). Studies are currently being done to find the linkage between oxytocin-producing genes and ASD, as oxytocin is related to social memory and functioning.
Other studies of ASD have found that the amygdala, the emotion-regulator of the brain, is linked to autism. Autistic individuals who die are found to have about the same size of amygdalae as other individuals, but lacked some neurons. In children, though, the amygdala is actually slightly bigger than normal. Over their lifetime, people with autism have an absence of neurons in their brain due to stress that aids in the destruction of the amygdala.
A final theory about the biological causation of Autism Spectrum Disorder is that is a result of vaccines. This is highly controversial, and ultimately has been disproven. Because many families believe in this theory, they have stopped providing their children with certain vaccines, and now there has been a bump in the number of measles and mumps cases as a result.
Environmental. Studies have shown that there are moderately significant correlations between environmental factors and a diagnosis of ASD. One of these factors is having prenatal complications. This may include virus, infection, or chemical exposure while in utero. Although this does have an effect on children, biological influences are much stronger.
Outcome
Regardless of what has been found to treat ASD so far, once an individual has been diagnosed with autism, there is very little to do to effectively get rid of the disorder. Just as there are multiple treatments discovered in reducing the effects of ASD in daily functioning, there are a variety of possible outcomes for individuals with autism. Because the severity of the disorder ranges widely, their outcomes vary, as well. In children, it is difficult to know a definite outcome, because some children miraculously recover, while others’ diagnosis gets progressively more severe into their adult life.
Treatments
As stated previously, there are multiple kinds of treatment available to individuals with ASD, based on the severity of their disorder. Some of these treatments are psychosocial, while others are biological. However, of all the available treatments, there are none that are completely effective.
Psychosocial. Psychosocial treatments attempt to address the problems autistic individuals face in communication and language. One popular technique is called naturalistic teaching strategies, which directs the technique toward the child, rather than the adult. Incidental training, pivotal response training, and milieu training also teach social communication skills to children with ASD. Because many of these children struggle academically, there are resources available in schools for autistic children to help them by improving their social skills, teaching them emotional recognition, broadening their interests, explaining common sayings to them, etc.
Biological. There are few medical treatments that have had a positive effect of those with autism. Although there are some drugs administered to patients with ASD to treat the symptoms of their disorder, such as agitation, many resort to psychosocial treatments instead. Currently, many experiments are being done in the field of pharmacological treatments for autistic children.
Integrating treatments. The most effective way of treating autism is early intervention for the autistic individual. This includes using therapy for school-aged children to teach them how to function socially, and offers them support. Parents are also given support, as it is very difficult and stressful to care for an autistic child. When these individuals grow older, treatment focuses on them being involved in their community to ensure that they function well. Ultimately, it is important that these individuals have a strong support system.
Stereotypes of Autism
Rain Man gave an excellent portrayal of individuals with autism, and rather than enforcing any stereotypes I had, it gave me an appreciation for who they are. Raymond was slightly different than all individuals with ASD, as he had savant skills; nevertheless, watching Rain Man is aiding in my knowledge of the disorder. As taught in Abnormal Psychology, it is important to raise awareness about autism by educating others about the disorder and how to best interact with them. I am now realizing that I must approach autistic individuals with compassion and understanding, and offer them my support, in order for them to thrive in their life.
The staff at the mental institution where Raymond stayed for a large portion of his life seemed to believe the stereotypes of people with mental illnesses by saying, “Raymond can not think for himself. He doesn’t know.” However, Charlie believed in him, and realized he was a lot more capable of doing things than people thought. This interaction filled me with a desire to be compassionate to any autistic individuals I encounter in the future.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I really enjoyed watching Rain Man and learning more about ASD. The story line is engrossing, and the film is filled with amusing quotes. Despite the fact that not every aspect of autism was portrayed, I found this particular movie to be very educational on the disorder. In the future, I will definitely approach autistic individuals with more compassion and understanding than I would have previously.

References
Durand, M. & Barlow, D. (2016). Essentials of abnormal psychology. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Johnson, M. & Levinson, B. (1988). Rain man [Motion picture]. United States: MGM Home Entertainment.
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2014). Autism spectrum disorder. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-disorder/basics/symptoms/con-20021148