Rain Man is a critically acclaimed movie from 1988 that features a man who is an autistic savant and by all accounts Dustin Hoffman was the perfect “Raymond”. “Hoffman’s humane portrayal of a socially inept man prone to nervous tics and obsessive ruminations, punctuated by stunning feats of math and memory, challenged us to accommodate people with special needs and reconsider our notions of normalcy” (Gross, 2016, p. 1). Raymond is portrayed as an a-social person with limited social skills. “The predominant notion of autism is of an anti-social or a-social person (as illustrated in the media by the film Rain Man)…a person who is conspicuously at odds with social norms” (Macleod, Lewis, & Robertson, 2013, p. 42).
Raymond is portrayed as
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the quintessential person with autism as identify by Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). “Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by social-interaction difficulties, communication challenges and a tendency to engage in repetitive behaviors” (Autism Speaks, n.d.). In addition, he also presents with characteristics of a savant, which is connected to autism. “Most people with savant syndrome suffer from autism. (Brogaard & Marlow, 2013). Strengths and weaknesses are a common trait of people with special needs and Raymond exhibits both that are typical of a person with autism.
His strengths include his ability to apply and calculate mathematics and information recall. During the movie, he exhibits these traits through remembering dates and reciting numbers such as the exact number of toothpicks that remained in the fallen box. Additionally, he demonstrates good memory recall when repeats information he has heard such as “Who is on first?” Moreover, Raymond demonstrates challenges in communication and echolalia. When he is distressed or over stimulated he will have outbursts with hitting, screaming and yelling as evident when the water is too hot for him. Also, he will endlessly, repeat words and phrase such as “definitely” and …show more content…
“Wapner”. At the beginning of the movie his brother, Charlie, does not know or understand him and get very short tempered when interacting with him. Unfortunately, this is an all too common scenario when engaging with a person with autism. “Behaviours and barriers associated with the autism spectrum are often misunderstood and problems can be compounded by the fact that it is an ‘unseen’ disability, manifesting itself in contrasting and at times contradictory ways” (Macleod, Lewis & Robertson, 2013, p. 41). However, as the movie progresses Charlie begins to realize and understand the unique person that Raymond is and starts to build that brotherly love. The cognitive processes associated with autism vary vastly, however according to Speirs, Rinehart, Robinson, Tonge, & Yelland, (2014) in general terms the functions of strength include the areas of visual-spatial processing, attention, and sensory perception, while the deficits are in the areas of reasoning, motor abilities, complex memory and language domains. In particular, these deficits are key to Raymond’s character and present through the lack of reasoning in his ability to understand he would not be able to watch Judge Wapner at his usual time but was promised he could watch it later. Thus resorted to his echolalia and forced his brother to find a t.t. for him to watch. Furthermore, his language and communication skills are also adversely affected. As Raymond is an adult, he was placed in a residential facility by his father and remained there for the majority of his life until he was found by his brother. This facility was likely a state-of- the art care center with intensive daily therapy. “An intensive therapy centre provides 24-hour care for individuals, and therefore must take into consideration the living, therapeutic and educational needs of each individual when making design considerations” (Deochand, Conway & Fuqua, 2015, p. 328). Throughout the movie, both characters grow and change because of the brotherly love connection and with that love comes the understanding of just how special Raymond is as a person.
Thus, his seemingly selfish brother begins to desire to take care of him on his own despite the recommendations of the director of the center. Subsequently, he realizes he cannot and makes the hard decision to return him to the center. Just as in real life, students with this severity of autism need constant specialized treatment plan to address the deficits.
References
Brogaard, B. & Marlow, M., (2013).The brain of the real rain man new insights into the mechanism underlying extreme memory abilities. Psychology Today, Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201303/the-brain-the-real-rain-man.
Deochand, N., Conway, A. A., & Fuqua, R. W. (2015). Design considerations for an intensive autism treatment centre. Support For Learning, 30(4), 327-340. doi:10.1111/1467-9604.12103.
Gross, L. (2016). In Search of Autism’s Roots. Plos Biology, 14(9), 1-3. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2000958.
MacLeod, A., Lewis, A., & Robertson, C. (2013). 'Why should I be like bloody Rain Man?!' Navigating the autistic identity. British Journal of Special Education, 40(1), 41-49.
doi:10.1111/1467-8578.12015. Speirs, S., Rinehart, N., Robinson, S., Tonge, B., & Yelland, G. (2014). Efficacy of cognitive processes in young people with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder using a novel visual information-processing task. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 44(11), 2809-2819. doi:10.1007/s10803-014-2140-8. What Are the Symptoms of Autism? (2018) Retrieved from https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/symptoms.
The movie begins with self-centered, materialistic Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), learning the death of his father. To settle his dad’s estate, he and his business partner/girlfriend, Susanna (Valeria Golino) travel to his home town Cincinnati. While he was hoping to inherit all of his dad’s estate, all he got was a car and a collection of rosebushes that he simply has no use for. The remaining $3 million fortune was put into a trust for an unnamed beneficiary. Charlie demands to know the identity of the beneficiary and finds out that it is a mental hospital where his long-lost autistic brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) resides with a caretaker, Dr. Bruner (Gerald R. Molen).
This book was a great read. The heartwarming tale of two young children who manage to overcome the disability under the category of autism. The author, the mother of these two children, uses her language to make the reader feel connected with the struggles of the family and the elated feeling when the children are deemed functioning within normal levels. This book gives insight on several different therapies, some that seemed helpful and others that seemed silly. It touches on the subject of inclusion as well. This book allows individuals to relate to those who have children with autism and gives parents of children with autism hope that their child's disability is not a permanent one.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time exhibits real life situations experienced by an autistic, 15-year-old boy, from his own panorama. Christopher’s use of first person perspective ensures that his view on events are explained with accurate, detailed description, enhancing the responders understanding of how the mind of one with Asperger’s syndrome functions. This concept is elaborated on in Christopher’s struggle to become independent as the responder is able to grasp Christopher’s defensive mechanisms to dealing with stressful situations. Christopher narration “so I groaned to make the time pass quicker and not think” during a fit where his tendency to shut down and curl himself into a ball is essentially revealed substantiates his struggle to become independent as his
Both Christopher Boone, from the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Raymond Babbitt, from the movie Rainman, suffer from Asperger s disorder. They have several characteristics in common: they are both autistic savants with impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and non-verbal communication, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests and activities. Moreover, Christopher and Raymond are similar in that they are both autistic mathematical savants. According to the Wikipedia free dictionary. An autistic savant, historically described as an idiot savant, is a person with both autism and savant syndrome.
This scene may sound weird to neurologically-typical (NT), or “normal”, people, but it does demonstrate the coping strategies of people with autism, as exhibited through this scene from Rain Man. Charlie Babbitt, a neurologically typical adult, does not understand how his brother, Raymond Babbitt, who is a high-functioning autistic, functions in his little world that he has created. Manifestations of autism such as this indicate to people how an autistic was seen as “like a wolf” (Pollak 258) in older definitions. Recently, though, people are beginning to understand that the problem is organic, or biologically based, as opposed to the psychogenic, or psychologically based, hypothesis of the past. With the release of Rain Man came the increased understanding of autistics and a willingness to find out what autistics are thinking, thus i...
Therefore, there were no causal factors suggested in the film for the character’s disorder but it is generally accepted that it is caused by abnormalities in brain structure or function. Brain scans show differences in the shape and structure of the brain in children with autism compared to in neurotypical children. Researchers do not know the exact cause of autism but are investigating a number of theories, including the links between heredity, genetics, and medical problems (Autism Society)”. The movie was released in 1988 so during this time period there really wasn’t a lot known about this disorder. Towards the end of the movie, Charlie takes Raymond to a doctor in order to learn more about his condition and the doctor simply states that Raymond has autism and that, “there is really not much you can do for him other than to deal with it”. Raymond does not take any medication throughout the movie; so, the only treatment that he received, if any, is staying at the Walbrook mental Institute. If fact, members of the Walbrook Institute wanted to keep Raymond in order to learn more about him. The understanding of autism has come a long way since the release of this movie Rain Man. Some of the treatments today include medication, behavioral training and specialized therapy that includes speech, occupational, and physical therapy. “Early diagnosis and treatment help young children with autism develop to their full
The autobiographical novel, Somebody Somewhere, by Donna Williams demonstrates the road to recovery by an autistic, with multiple personality disorder. Williams reveals her battle with day to day encounters with family, friends, colleges and aquantences, because she cannot communicate with them. Chris Slater, an 18 year old, recovering, socially functioning autistic explains autism as “communication disorder”. He feels that autistic people “don’t have the ability or the instinct...
The issue of whether or not children with autistic disorders should be main-streamed, or placed in the same classrooms as non-autistic children, has been a very real concern for quite some time. While the debate is continuous, people often choose to side on a particular position of the argument without correctly evaluating all of the options. Should autistic children be main-streamed in regular classrooms, or should they be placed in self contained environments? Or, possibly, should a common ground be determined?
Autism savant is “individuals with autism who have extraordinary skills not exhibited by most people” In his case a rarity of high functional autism. Let’s analyzed the criteria for someone with autism. I will display the three criteria’s that are listed in the DSM-5 “Autism Spectrum Disorder” the first criteria is deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts. Meaning having the inability to communicate effectively with a variety of different individuals. At the custody scene the doctor asked Raymond a series of questions. The specific questions that the doctor kept asking Raymond was “Do you want to stay with your brother Charles?” Raymond was unable to make the distinction between staying with his brother or staying at the mental facility with Dr. Bruner. Raymond kept repeating the same question and rocking back and forth. Another instance is when Raymond was at the casino talking to a lady, but was unable to answer any of her questions with a direct response. As you can see he was unable to communicate effectively and engaged in a conversation beyond a few words such as “yeah, and I don’t
Murray, S. 2010. Autism Functions/ The function of Autism, in Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol 30, No 1, 2010. The Society for Disability Studies.
Snell, M. E. (2003). Autism, Education of Individuals with. In J. W. Guthrie (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Education (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 161-162). New York: Macmillan Reference USA.
First described and named by Leo Kanner in 1944, the mysterious disability of autism is characterized by a peculiar emotional and intellectual detachment from other people and the common human world. In autistic children, an impaired capacity for communication and human relationships and a severely restricted range of activities and interests become evident before the age of three. Although the symptoms vary in nature and severity, language and the capacity for a normal social life are always seriously affected. Two to four out of 10,000 children are autistic; 75% of them are boys (Chase et al., 1993).
Somebody Somewhere offers a rear glimpse of the world of autism—from within. Australian born Donna Williams was diagnosed as psychotic at the tender age two, later as deaf, and ultimately as autistic; “Autism had had me in its cage for as long as I had ever known” (p. 5). In her book she describes her escape from “my” world, into “the” world. She talks about “picking up the pieces after a war” and “learning how to build somewhere out of nowhere and a somebody out of a nobody” (p. xi); yet she has something for everyone: “within each of us there is a stranger (or strangers) lurking in the shadows of our subconscious minds” (ibid). The author
Andrews, K. (2002). Interpreting autism: a critique of Davidson on thought and language. Philosophical Psychology, 15(3). Retrieved from:
Dempsey, I. & Foreman, P. ( 2001). A Review of Educational Approaches for Individuals with Autism. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 48 (1), 105-116.