Arnie Gilbert Grape Disorder

Arnie Grape shows the signs and symptoms of an Intellectual Disability. As previously stated, the criteria for ID includes early onset, low intellectual functioning, and low adaptive functioning (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). There are no specific scenes that talk about Arnie’s disability, so it may be unfair to say that there was an early onset for ID. However, in the beginning of the movie Gilbert’s dialogue discusses how “doctor’s said we’d be lucky if Arnie lived to be ten. Well, ten came and went.” Now the Grape family would be celebrating Arnie’s 18th birthday, despite the doctor saying Arnie could die “any time now”. (GRAPE CITATION) Gilbert never mentions Arnie having a specific disease or disorder. The only information revealed

Arnie is always with someone in his family. The Grapes make reference to a sort of “to-do” list for Arnie when Gilbert does not help Arnie get out of the bath. While there are several scenes where Arnie is able to feed himself, someone is always serving him. Gilbert is always transporting him somewhere. Arnie’s social skills are also very poor. One example of this is Ken Carver’s funeral. Arnie is sitting by his father’s grave, pulling at the grass during the ceremony. When he sees a large Burger Barn semi-truck barreling down the road, he cannot contain his excitement and starts screaming for Gilbert. This is far from one of his only inappropriate bursts. In another scene, Arnie is sitting in a tree while Gilbert is working on the house with his friend, Tucker. Gilbert wants to Arnie to go down into the basement to help Tucker, but Arnie disagrees and says “Dad’s in there!” and pretends to hang himself with his necklace. (Grape). His father is not actually in the basement; however, Arnie is recalling his father’s suicide. This is an inappropriate moment that leaves Tucker feeling rather uncomfortable. As for his conceptual and occupational skills, there is not any defining moment in the movie that demonstrate his abilities. That being said, Arnie is often with Gilbert at

Specifically, it mentions that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is often comorbid with ID (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). It is unlikely, however, that Arnie’s ID is co-occurring with ASD. The DSM 5 criteria for ASD include problems with social interaction and communication and restricted, repetitive behavior. Symptoms of ASD need to be apparent during early development and must cause significant impairment in normal functioning. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Arnie’s deficits in social interaction are significant and could be considered characteristic of a child with Autism. However, the DSM 5 specifies that restricted, repetitive behavior requires at least two indications including repetitive motor movements or speech, insistence on sameness, severe fixations, or a high or low sensory input. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Arnie only clearly displays repetitive speech, or echolalia. He loves to repeat others, like when Gilbert says his father is dead at the dinner table, Arnie yells out “Dad’s dead!” over and over, despite his family’s contempt. This could possibly be a misconception about ID. Arnie’s life is constantly changing, yet he appears content with that. He has no evident fixations and does not appear to be sensitive to any stimuli. His social deficiencies come from his Intellectual Disability, so it seems incorrect to also diagnose