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 …show more content…
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…
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.
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?
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.
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...
middle of paper ... ... he says. Raymond cannot change, his whole life is anchored and defended by routine. Like Christopher, he also tries to find a pattern that will enable him to make sense of his world.
Meaning doing the same routine in the same order, there is no change. At the mental facility Raymond informed Charles that he has only 13 more minutes before the “People court comes on”. At another scene inside Raymond room at the facility Charles pick out a book that’s on the shelf and Raymond freaks out and get very anxious. Raymond stated don’t touch the books. Charles girlfriend Susanna gave Raymond back his baseball cards and Raymond continues to go through the cards to make sure they are in the exact order that he left it. Another scene at the facility is when Charles asked Raymond if he wanted to take a walk and Raymond response was there is “20 minutes until Jeopardy” In addition, Charles took Raymond to the restaurant and Raymond had to eat the exact food at the same time on the same day. Instead of Raymond eating with regular utensils he had to eat with toothpicks. If he was eating pancakes than syrup had to be on the table before he order pancakes. His sleeping pattern consisted of the bed facing the window. If any of his pattern was not performed than Raymond would have an outburst and be unable to function. Charles had to stay at a hotel until it stopped raining outside because Raymond didn’t like the rain. As you can see Raymond clearly meets the second criteria for repetitive
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...
Whilst the concept of autism and what it means to be autistic is still widely unrecognised by many, Mark Haddon’s use of conventions of prose fiction and language amplifies the distinctive qualities of the text. Haddon exemplifies key themes such as the struggle to become independent, the nature of difference and the disorder of life through the strategic placement of literary devices.
Murray, S. 2010. Autism Functions/ The function of Autism, in Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol 30, No 1, 2010. The Society for Disability Studies.
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).
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.
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).
Raymond consistently exerted these behaviors throughout the movie. For example, Raymond freaked out and screamed when his brother Charlie attempted to extend to him a loving hug. He answered with the same response to the therapist who asked him opposing questions. Raymond also has repetitive behaviors like tapping his hands, rocking back and forth, repeating the television, radio, and absurd noises. Raymond also possess’ an amazing ability with numbers. He memorized the telephone book from A to G in one night. He can also add, subtract, multiply, divide, and even square root large number in a matter of
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.