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

is that doctor’s gave Arnie a grim prognosis at an early age. While the prognosis was given early in Arnie’s life, it is debatable whether or not the diagnosis is ID. Given his other symptoms, it is fair to assume this fulfills the early onset criteria.
Intellectual functions are measured by clinical assessment and intelligence testing (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The Grape family struggled financially, thus clinical assessments or intelligence tests were out of the question. Arnie’s IQ is never mentioned, but evidence is presented. Low intellectual functioning can include difficulties with reasoning, problem solving, planning, abstract thinking, judgment, academic learning, and learning from experience (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The movie appears to take place in the summer, so school is not in session. Regardless, nobody ever mentions anything about Arnie attending school. He is under constant supervision and school would probably be difficult for him. However, he has many more difficulties in other areas. Arnie is constantly struggling with reasoning. An example of this is in the one of the first scenes. Arnie is engrossed with a grasshopper. He sticks the head of the grasshopper through part of his mailbox and ends up decapitating the grasshopper. He was having so much fun playing with the grasshopper, but could not come to the realization that slamming the door to the mailbox on the grasshopper would kill him. This could also be seen as a deficiency in abstract thinking or planning. There is no thought behind his action. He doesn’t wonder what will happen if he slams the mailbox door on the grasshopper. He simply acts without thinking and is surprised by the outcome.
Arnie also shows symptoms of low intellectual functioning with his trips to the water tower. The water tower appears to be one of Arnie’s favorite places because he is always running back to it. He climbs the water tower over and over, despite being scolded by the police. He has been told many times by the police and his siblings to stay away from the water tower or else he will get into trouble. Arnie fails to learn from his experience and continues to run back to the water tower. His judgment can also be questioned in these scenes due to the fact that climbing the water tower is unsafe. He yells to the crowd below that he has never gone up so high before and also loses a shoe. It is a long way to the ground, but Arnie continues to climb until Gilbert coaxes him down. (GILBERT CITE)
Arnie also has difficulties with problem solving. When Gilbert tries to get Arnie to bathe by himself, Arnie reassures Gilbert that he can do it. Gilbert leaves without a second thought, but Arnie cannot figure out how to bathe himself. He is sitting in the tub shivering, but cannot figure out how to alleviate the problem. Then, when he finally gets help out of the tub, he attempts to solve his problem by never bathing ever again. This situation causes a lot of tension within the family, so Arnie’s problems are not solved.
Deficits in adaptive functioning can include problems with conceptual skills like money concepts or reading, social skills, practical skills such as daily care, and occupational skills (TEXTBOOK CITE 127).

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

his job, but is often just messing around. He is not given any responsibility, especially with money. When Gilbert goes on deliveries, Arnie is instructed to stay in the truck. Arnie does not listen and does not give himself a safe environment.
Intellectual Disabilities have four levels of severity, mild moderate, severe, and profound, which is determined by adaptive functioning (American Psychological Association, 2013). Arnie appears to meet the DSM symptoms ID on a severe level. In order to fall into the category of severe Intellectual Disability, one must achieve few conceptual skills, have a need of support from a caretaker constantly, use single words or phrases when speaking and has a limited vocabulary, and needs constant supervision among other issues. (TEXTBOOK) Looking back on the previous symptoms listed, Arnie surely falls into this level of ID.
Something important to keep in mind is the DSM states that neurodevelopmental disorders can be comorbid.

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

Autism.
Throughout the movie, Arnie participates in challenging behaviors. As discussed in Poppes’, Van der Putten’s, and Vlaskamp’s article, challenging behaviors can include behaviors that cause bodily harm to the individual, stereotypical behavior, or destructive behavior. Those with ID are more likely to develop a challenging behavior (Poppes, Van der Putten, and Vlaskamp, 2014). Arnie does not display many challenging behaviors. There is one scene where he drops Becky’s groceries and realizes it was a bad thing, so he begins to punch himself in the head. This does not last long and there is no other evidence of challenging behavior. His trips to the water tower could potentially be self-injurious because it was so dangerous. However, he was never harmed. It is possible the media could be misinformed since research shows challenging behavior is fairly common in individuals with ID; however, the findings in this article showed few reports of challenging behaviors in individuals with ID. (Poppes et al., 2014).
Arnie’s social deficiencies are rather apparent throughout the film. His main sources of social interaction come from his family. He has no true friends to spend time with and members of the community do not appear interested in socializing with Arnie. Studies have shown that it is common for individuals with ID to only communicate with family, caretakers, or other individuals with ID (Kamstra, Van der Putten & Vlaskamp, 2015). Arnie’s primary caretakers are his siblings and he does not know anyone else with ID, so he is restricted to communicating with his family. The Grape family is under a lot of pressure. Not only are they struggling financially, but the young siblings are forced to take care of their brother with ID and their severely obese mother. When Bonnie Grape passes away, Gilbert decides to take full responsibility of Arnie. When the parents of a child with ID pass away, it is common for a sibling to become the primary caregiver (Saxena, 2015). Gilbert was already one of the main caregivers for Arnie, so this was not a difficult decision for him. Although he is used to taking care of Arnie, some push-pull factors could have also been influential. The family circumstances and values could be a major push factor, as well as Gilbert’s close relationship with Arnie (Saxena, 2015).
Members of the community do not communicate with Arnie often. The town of Endora is small enough that everyone knows who Arnie is and they understand that he is different. Research shows that those who are familiar with ID are less prejudiced than those who are unfamiliar (Werner, 2015). The people of Endora are never incredibly kind to Arnie, but they do not treat him poorly. The worst treatment Arnie receives from another member of the community is when he is climbing the water tower. The police officers do not seem to understand why he continues to climb after being told to stay away. Perhaps a lack of knowledge about the disorder is what caused them to arrest Arnie after climbing the water tower one too many times. Older males have often shown signs of discrimination and prejudice towards those with an Intellectual Disability (Saxena, 2015). Overall, the film agreed with the article and showed that familiarity with the disorder can reduce stigma.