Autistic Savant Syndrome in the Film Rain Man Essay

Autism is a form of neurodevelopment disorder in the autism spectrum disorders. It is characterized by impaired development in social interactions and communication, both verbal and non-verbal. There is an observed lack of spontaneous acts of communication; both receptive and expressed, as well as speech impairments. A person diagnosed with Autism will also show a limited range of activities and interests, as well as forming and maintain peer relationships. The individuals will display limited interests, which are often very focused and repetitive. He or she is likely to be very routine oriented and may show behavioral symptoms such as hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggressiveness, and self-injurious behaviors.

Autism spectrum disorder has become the most common neurological and developmental disorder diagnosed in children today. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012) estimate that 1 out of every 88 American children have been properly diagnosed. There is no known cure for autism, and the inconsistencies of the symptoms of autism in each case make it difficult to target a particular set of effective treatments. However some behavior management therapies, specifically physical therapy, may help to significantly control the unwanted symptoms in young children with autism spectrum disorder.

Most people think children with Autism will never be able to learn and function in normal society but in fact, children with autism have the ability to learn and improve their education and even their behavior which allows them to function as close if not equally in society. Depending on the level of the disease, most children diagnosed with autism still need assistance with living and job skills throughout their adulthood and later years. Most autistics are classified as “mentally retarded” but there are about 10 percent are considered “autistic savants.” (POV, 2013) A savant is defined as “someone who excels in a particular area.” (Riccio, 1999) An example of an autistic savant is someone who can play Beethoven sonata after only hearing it one time. Another great example is an autistic person can tell you if September 2, 1962 fell on a Saturday or Sunday. These examples are part of the autistic child’s brain function. Even though autistic children may seem mentally challenged they have great ability to stick to a particular motive and excel in that one

The Rain Man stars Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. The movie was made in 1988. The movie is about an autistic man named Raymon, who is a idiot savant played by Dustin Hoffman and his fast, talking self absorbed, egocentric brother Charlie Babbitt, who is played by Tom Cruise. A egocentric person is a person with the simple recognition that every living thing views the world from a unique, self-oriented perspective(LIFE: Inherently Egocentric written by James Craig Green http://pw2.netcom.com/ zeno7/ego.html).

Released in 1988, writers Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow created a compelling story by introducing many to the world of autism. These two writers brilliantly plotted the dramatic story of a brother's greed developing into love in the 1988 Oscar winning movie Rain Man. Charlie Babbitt, the first main character played by Tom Cruise, is an arrogant, selfish businessman, striving to be wealthy, but his business is failing. The second main character in the film is Raymond Babbitt, played by Dustin Hoffman, who is an autistic savant who lives and is cared for at a mental institution. Charlie receives word that his father, whom he hasn't had contact with in years, has deceased. His father left an inheritance to Charlie and his unknown (or

These prodigies, who had reached professional status at a very young age had varying theories of causation ranging from nurture to nature. The results indicated they had elevated level of intelligence, working memory and attention to detail. Interestingly, however, their family pedigrees showed an over-representation of relatives with autism. This indicates a potential commonality between child prodigies and savants genetically leading to the conclusion that child prodigies possess a form of autism but suppress typical signs.

Autism- is a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before the age of 3, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences.

Distraught with the idea that someone else has the money that Charlie needs, he heads off to meet with the trustee at WallBrook. Once there, Charlie Babbot finds himself not helped at all and upon leaving meets Raymond Babbot, which begins the story of Rain Man. Raymond Babbot is autistic. Raymond has an extensive routine which he follows daily from the times of television shows he watches, to bed times, to food he eats, even in the exact arrangement of his room. Anything interfering with this exact routine makes Raymond extremely nervous.

The Rain Man is a story about the relationship between two brothers, one being Autistic. The story line follows the as they drive across the country and their interaction as the one brother (Charlie) tries to deal with being thrust into a twenty-four hour a day week long journey and his first exposure to someone with Autism, his brother Raymond. Charlie Babbot is a younger guy who is involved in some high-risk exotic car sales when he realizes that he might not be able to make his bank notes on time. Charlie's father dies and leaves him with a car and some roses, while some unnamed beneficiary receives the remaining three million dollars the estate is worth. Charlie finds out from the bank that the trustee

Raymond was diagnosed in the movie the Rain Man with having autism. The autism symptoms disorder had several of Raymond’s characteristics, such impairment in social interaction, and multiple nonverbal behaviors. In this moment the Medical Model applies in Raymond case, when Raymond as a patient and needed a specialist for his psychological, behavioral, or cognitive disabilities. (Cole). Raymond could not look at people eyes, and most of the times slouched down spoken to keeping on a conversation. He refuse any kind the touch or even any fast anticipation in his directions. Raymond did not like when Charlie tried to hug him, the action was accept even when Charlie tried to explain. Raymond proves to have a personality of his own, that most of the time irritates Charlie. In this time the Client Centered Model when the client with your disability and barriers try to have participation on the life (Cole). During the conversation Charlie was asked Raymond a question, and he often answered with a negative answer. Raymond had hard time to carrying a conversation, sometimes used short answer was his away to put people away from his world. Would never start up a conversation with others or acted like he wanted to be around others, most of the times he was in self word without pay attention in others conversation around. When Raymond meet new people he tensed up and did not want to look, or act like anyone was there or speaking with him. Similarly situation made Raymond nervous, like

The Rain Man stars Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. The movie was made in 1988. The movie is about an autistic man named Raymon, who is a idiot savant played by Dustin Hoffman and his fast, talking self absorbed, egocentric brother Charlie Babbitt, who is played by Tom Cruise. A egocentric person is a person with the simple recognition that every living thing views the world from a unique, self-oriented perspective(LIFE: Inherently Egocentric written by James Craig Green http://pw2.netcom.com/~zeno7/ego.html).

In the 1988 movie Rain Man, Charlie Babbitt, a self-centered car dealer world is turned upside down after discovering he has an autistic older brother. When Charlie learned that his father died and bequeathed all his money to the mental institution in which Raymond (his older brother) lives, Charlie takes Raymond out of the facility in hopes of getting his share of the money. Along the way, Charlie is no longer driven by money. He wants to be involved in Raymond’s life as much as possible.

In conclusion, autism is developmental disorder, many people that are diagnosed with autism have also found to have savant syndrome. Savant syndrome is a condition characterised as having remarkable and outstanding abilities that general population are unable to achieve. Weak central coherence and executive dysfunction are two theories that attempt to explain the source of this phenomenon and provide answers. Weak central coherence theory is the inclination to access local information processing, rather than global information processing. An object consists of both charateristerics, local (details) and global (context and meanin). Persons with autism have greater privileges in accessing local information processing, where attention,

Savant syndrome is an uncommon yet extraordinary status that individuals with developmental inabilities, or another central nervous system (CNS) injury or illness possess some extraordinary talent. Savant syndrome can be congenital or acquired. According to [1], not all savants are autistic, and not all autistic are savants. One in ten individual with autism possess savant abilities, and nine out of ten do not. In the two types of savant, congenital and acquired, there is damage in some area of the brain. Usually this damage occurs on the left hemisphere, and still uninjured tissue somewhere in the brain. When this uninjured tissue is rewired, it liberates the inactive potential in a person. In addition, the two principal scientific mysteries

Autism is a complex disability, as the way it manifests in each child differs in severity across numerous characteristics. Children diagnosed with autism qualify to receive special services and a “free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment” under the federal legislation, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Hunt & Marshall, 2012, p. 15). Autism was added to IDEA in 1990 as a new disability category. The legislation defines autism as “a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age 3 that adversely affects a child’s educational performance” (Hunt & Marshall, 2012, p. 301). The “Rules for the Provision of Special Education” from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Washington state also outlines eligibility and individualized education programs for children diagnosed with autism (Rules for the Provision of Special Education, p. 11 & 46). Furthermore, the DSM diagnoses autism when a child shows “qualitative impairments” in social interaction, communication, and “restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities” (Hunt & Marshall, 2012, p. 302).