Autism In The Movie Loving Lampposts : Movie Reflection

In Chapter four it talks about how people that have autism are concrete thinkers. Before reading this chapter I was unaware of much of our social language is figurative. This is something that a child with autism would struggle with. The author makes a good point when saying “you wouldn’t dream of issuing instructions to you child in a foreign language but English can seem that way” ( Notbohm 66). This put it in to words how hard it can be for a child with autism to grasp the language people use. The author identifies four things that people need to watch out for when speaking with a child with autism. The first thing was to avoid idioms and cliches, so this means instead of saying “something smells fishy” try saying “this does seem right to me”. It gives a better and clearer

There are autistic individuals on both ends of the spectrum. Those on the lower end exhibit some of the behaviors associated with “classical autism,” like jitters and cognitive impairment. While others, like myself, are on the other end, still “autistic,” but can mask mild symptoms quite well, and function in society though wearing labels of “odd” or “quirky” with high functioning autism, and some are in the middle. No matter which form of autism an individual has, life is different for that person in more ways than one, both beneficial and challenging.

“Work to view my autism as a different ability rather than a disability. Look past what you may see as limitations and see the gifts autism has given me…Be my advocate, be my friend, and we’ll see just how far we can go” –Ellen Botbohm, author of Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew.

Autism, a developmental disorder is becoming widely diagnosed here in the U.S. and throughout the world affecting children in all different types of backgrounds. From children living in rural or urban, rich or poor. Currently there are many speculations and superstitions as to the causes for developing autism but science has no clear evidence as to why autism affects certain people and not others, autism can greatly affect the families and its patients for their entire lives. Most of you do not know that I have twin younger brothers with Autism. Before this speech, I had no clue what autism really was. Through my research I am now able to relay this information to you. Today I want to talk about Autism. The three things I will be speaking about is what is Autism? How does autism affect the family and how does autism affect people who have it?

Let’s say you have a box of crayons. It represents ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), now inside the box you have different colors of crayons. Each color/crayon is a different disorder. The color we want to talk about today is teal, the official color for autism. Stuart Duncan once said, “Autism, like a rainbow, has a bright side and a dark side and even though it can mean rough waters it can be beautiful.” Autism isn’t a label, it’s a diagnoses. People with autism can be just as successful as neurotypical people. People with autism have been the subject of stereotypes and neglect for decades. Only in the last 150 years or so have things started to change. We don’t know what causes autism, but thanks to increased research and awareness we’re making more progress than ever. People with autism face many challenges everyday, autism is a spectrum. It’s not the same for everyone. Due to it being a spectrum it can be hard for people without autism to understand the challenges autistic people face, and how to go about interacting with autistic people. There are lots of autistic people worldwide, it’s time we start making them feel more like people.

Autism has been made to seem like this huge issue, something that needs to be stopped. While there are many issues that come with autism, it is not something that should be getting such negative attention. People with autism seem to be the most extraordinary out of any of us. “They are usually intelligent, gifted, honest, hard workers when interested in a task and excellent problem solvers. People with high-functioning autism are thought to become excellent scientists and engineers or enter other professions where painstaking, methodical analysis is required. Some believe this particular assertion is a stereotype, as some high-functioning autism adults tend to struggle with the traditional work setting and the surrounding societally accepted ways of behaving,” (Synapse, Pg 2). There

      Autism is a disability that can create a barrier between the individual and his or her friends, family, and community. This disability often interferes with an individual’s ability to communicate, interact with others, engage in play or leisure skills, and to relate to the world around them. People with autism may exhibit repetitive movements, have unusual responses to people, be resistant to change and demonstrate aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior.

When reading the first chapter of Ten Things Every Child with Autism wishes you Knew by Ellen Notbohm, multiple thoughts ran through my head. I honestly feel that she did an excellent job expressing the thoughts about autism. In my point of view autism is so much more than a diagnosis. Two important people in my life have autism and honestly, they are the most amazing individuals I have ever met. The authors words that brought tears to my eyes was, “My autism is part of who I am, not all of who I am” (Notbohm 17). This statement moved me, because individuals with autism are so much more than a label. Individuals that have autism are talented, intelligent, caring, kind, and funny. We should not judge or treat an individual different by the way they express themselves. Each individual is unique and should be able to express themselves in their personal way instead of being labeled in a negative way. I have personally encounter individuals use words such as, “that autistic boy” or “just leave him other there, he doesn’t understand the material because he is autistic”. When I hear people says these negative things, it makes me angry and sad, because I believe that they have not fully comprehended the diagnosis as well as not allow themselves to get to know

To eliminate bias and hatred against autistic or differently abled children and individuals, it is important to educate the masses about the endless possibilities autistic people are born with.

Exploring Autism in the Movie, Rain Man Autism is considered a unique disorder that affects 1 in 500 people. Autism impairs three main areas of human development: speech, communication, and social interaction. The trademark feature of autism is impaired social interaction. All impairments can range from mild to severe. Individuals with autism may lack speech altogether or only learn basic language specific to their needs.

The issue that is in our world today would be that there is not enough education presented to the public about autism, as well as any or all special needs. Everyone should in some way be educated about these things, at least in a generalized aspect. There are so many families that have a child in their lives who struggle with a disorder that they have no control over, it takes control of them. It is very typical for families to go out with one another, to shop or eat. Environments as such may be an everyday thing to an atypical person. However, everything is heightened to an individual with autism. This causes an overstimulation for an individual, which ultimately results in misconduct. One common thing amongst these individuals is that how they look physically may not represent how they think mentally. For someone from the outside looking in on a situation, seeing someone with a physical characteristic one way, yet behaving another looks absurd. We as a society need to change people’s understanding of the functionality of a person on the spectrum. A negative response can affect this individual’s behavior, take someone approaching them in the wrong way, and ultimately not comprehend a situation correctly. Autism awareness should be understood unanimously, offering people the right education, getting them to be compassionate, and simply showing manners there would be much more respect shown to people with autism.

In Rain Man, they portray someone with autism as a person as a person that has multiple problems will how their brain works and will forever have to be watched over even in their adult age. Instead we should be looking at them like anyone else. Sure, they may need more help than someone without autism, but doesn’t mean we don’t all have problems of our own. We have to look at the pros of having autism, not the cons. We all think and cope with things differently, but that’s what makes us who we are.

The topic that I have chosen to write about is Autism. Have you heard about it? I am sure you may know someone who suffers from this disease, but do you really know what it is, or its causes and effects? That is what I am going to explain to you. Autism is a disability that affect young children, and we need to understand the symptoms, treatments, and what it is like to live with this disorder.

According to the CDC, autism is “a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges (Facts About Autism, 2016)”. Autism was first discussed in 1943 by Dr. Leo Kanner, after he observed 11 children who had fixations on the inanimate environment rather than people (Quick Facts About Autism). It affects about one percent of the population, and is

The documentary of Autism: The Musical showcases children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families throughout a twenty two week program ending with a live performance. The documentary not only highlights the growth the children experience socially and emotionally throughout the program, but the challenges faced by the families and the strategies they employ to overcome them. There are five children focused on over the course of the documentary, Neil, Lexi, Henry, Adam, and Wyatt. Each child is at a different place on the spectrum therefore each family is effected differently by it. In fact each family can be seen at a different stage of acceptance ranging from sock, denial, anger, loneliness, sadness, to acceptance (Autism & Your Family, 2015). Lexi’s father Joe nicely describes some of the stages he experienced starting with denial which he said ended up taking over his whole life for a period of time, a period he describes as fix it mode, then depression because the parent realized that no amount of money or wishing can change the fact that the child has ASD and will always be living with it and finally comes acceptance.