@theMDMbeat The movie is out there and can be viewed by the unwashed anytime that they please. This video is trying to convey to said unwashed why not having this film at all would have been preferable to having it shape the public's consciousness of the autistic spectrum for the best part of two decades (and in some cases longer).
I thought Raymond was pretty high-functioning when he calculated exactly how many toothpick fell off the box by just taking one look, or when he read the phone book and memorized every name and phone number from a to half g.
I think someone realised, and convinced others, that a movie about people with a mental condition few understood at the time, that showed them screaming like maniacs, would attract a wide audience at that time, and garner critical acclaim at the time for taking on that kind of subject matter (rare in the 80s). And the movie came out just at the time that public curiousity about autism peaked. It appealed broadly, and got points just for showing a subject matter that was unheard of in films then.
It was the 80s. People were happier with simpler portrayals of everyone, especially those who were different. Complex, accurate descriptions had less sway with the masses, excluded the simpler folk, sold less movie tickets. At least take heart that today there would certainly be less tickets (proportionately to population) sold on the basis of autism being characterised by a screaming maniac than in 1988. We've moved on a little from that mentality.
@avidalocan One, Blade Runner was released in 1982. Midnight Cowboy was released in 1969. The Odd Couple was released in 1968. You following?
Two, if you think today's audiences are accepting more complex characterisations, then I have some beachfront property in Afghanistan I would like you to buy. And considering that this film has been rereleased on Blu-ray Disc mere months ago here, as opposed to being shelved in shame and forgotten about... need I say more?
@aspie182 I'm more scared that so many people think this film is a courageous attempt at representing autism, when it's really a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Leaving aside autistics for a moment, what does that say about so-called normal peoples' mentality?
@aspie182 How does bringing up pre-1988 movies disprove my contention that the kind of portrayal of an autistic that was praised by critics and audiences alike in the 80s, wouldn't make anywhere near the same splash if was released after about the year 2001? General awareness of the condition had increased enough to make the public more sceptical of your basic cartoons of them. It's not a lot of awareness, but enough to get over that initial phase.
@avidalocan The point that I am trying to make with such examples, and have been trying to make for years with videos like this, is that neither time nor what one says may have happened in the intervening years disproves the contention that this portrayal has caused, and continues to cause, a lot of real autistic people a lot of harm. It may be 2012 now, but society's attitudes towards autistic adults who do not scream and hit themselves when you fart at them is, if anything, worse.
@aspie182 No film ever drew more attention to autism than Rain Man. It turned a buried, hush-hush subject into a cool one. It became cool to interact with and like the mentally different. If you didn't do it, you were uncool. Accurate or not, that's a big leap for world that before then, had been largely indifferent and scared about the condition.
@avidalocan Are you fukking for real? Seriously? This film took a marginalised group of people who were in the majority of cases disallowed from knowing what they were and shat on them. Calling this film and its zeroing in on a small facet a big leap is like calling the Nightmare On Elm Street series a big leap in the portrayal of abused children. It just does not work.
I would suggest trying to live as one of the people you want to speak for before you try making such claims again.
@aspie182 The big leap is people having something to relate them to autistics, rather than it being something unrelatable and swept under the carpet. The film wasn't the big leap. The change in the public's relatability to autistics was the leap.
Before Rain Man there were fairly regular idiot sauvant stories in the media which inspired some interest. When Cruise and Hoffman teamed for a feature film on the subject though, it elevated that to a much greater level for the average Joe
@avidalocan You are the most full of shit moron who has yet commented on this video. And that is saying something. If an iota of what you have said was true, it would not have taken another sixteen years after this piece of shit was released for someone like me to be diagnosed.
And when people try to tell me "I put the person before the disability" and shit like that, I sense that the public's understanding of the autistic has in fact gone backward in a great leap.
One part of the film I quoted, and this is an extremely important point, has the completely clueless specialist describing the character as "actually very high functioning". Are you going to attempt to tell me next that the sky is red?
learn the definition of 'high-functioning' morons. counting toothpicks and memorizing a phonebook does not make you high-functioning, it makes you talented in a very specific area. To be highly functional, one must be able to function on their own. I don't know about any of you, by my day to day activities do not involve counting toothpicks in order to eat, or memorizing phonebooks as a means to provide for myself. please, do yourselves a favor, learn something, learn a few things.
@tanyawestisland Oh my god, tanya, I love you. This is the first time in I do not know how long I have received a comment on this video that suggests the author has enough of a brain to sustain a conversation with me. Currently, my day to day activities consist of trying to keep a count of how many codeine pills I have taken in order to dull my anesthetic-resistant body's sensations from having multiple moles cut out. It shocks people who assume being autistic equals good with numbers.
"Learn the definition of 'higher-functioning' morons" .. what an asshole comment. And you seriously want to educate people? Maybe learning to be more polite, patient and articulate would help you with the goal of educating people. Namecalling only shows that you are not articualte or patient enough to educate anyone. It's a shame. Of course being an ass in the anonimity of a YouTube comment is a way some people vent I suppose, cowardly though it is.
@Psychelectric If people want to learn, I will gladly be patient, articulate and polite. however, the comments on this video show me nothing but stubborn ignorance, with a mix of 'know-it-all" attitude. but Yup, I was an asshole by using the one word; 'morons'. You are absolutely right.
@tanyawestisland and when I say the comments on this video, I am not referring to your own, I am referring to previous, rude and misinformed comments. Because I honestly cannot understand how someone could possibly think that counting toothpicks within seconds makes someone 'high-functioning'.
@tanyawestisland You have also touched upon one of the biggest problems that has been caused by this After School Special. Many autistic adults who really are high-functioning have been ignored and forgotten simply because they are too high-functioning to get noticed. Many of the absolute retards commenting on this video seem to be perfectly okay with that state of affairs. No wonder our world is in as bad a shape as it is.
@Psychelectric Assholes get what assholes deserve. You want people to be polite? Then try being polite first. Since I have posted this video, you and your kind have rudely attempted to correct me as if I am a child or a drunk at the pub, then cried foul when responded to in kind. I, for one, do not want to try and educate the like of you. I want you to hear, in no uncertain terms, when I say "fukk off and leave me alone".
@Psychelectric Oh, and further, what is cowardly about a) trying to promote the truth against a bunch of people whose debate tactics boil down to "might makes right" or "I am automatically right", b) refuting them in a living, breathing document where everyone can see exactly what I look like and where I have been at one point, and c) speaking up for people who have been deliberately denied a voice by some very wealthy fiends? Care to explain that one?
@degree7 A look on my profile/channel can turn them up. I find it amusing that so many leap to the defense of this schooltime special, honestly. The other two entries I have posted (so far) in this list are equally scathing.
this vid is just as much propaganda as anything else. you only show the bad. There's also a part in the movie where he counts a pile of 246 toothpicks which are in an askew pile on the floor within about 6 seconds I would indeed call that 'high functioning'.
@KrankieV2 Are you for real? Seriously? Go to a real autism specialist and tell them this is what you call high functioning. Your face will be plastered all over their network with statements to the effect that you should not be allowed near anyone on the spectrum so quickly you will not know what hit you.
@gerdygirl8 People have taken out restraining orders against me because of how angry I get when they attempt to force words into my mouth. For one thing, I have been denied a voice for far too long and no longer care who I have to step on in order to stop that. For another, I suggest you do some research into what "right" really means in a legal context.
@easttexaspcrepair Excuse me, normalistic little asshole, but exactly what about being bitter and angry (about anything) automatically makes a person wrong? Care to answer that one in the manner expected of a person delivering a thesis? Or better yet, just go and fukk yourself. That people like you are allowed to even have positive experiences proves just how wrong our world has gone lately.
The guy this movie originated the idea from is Kim Peek. He memorized thousands of books word for word. He remembers dates, times, temperatures, weather on the day, etc. He's a lot more brilliant than they attribute in this movie. He speaks nearly the same as an average person with an extremely high functioning brain. I agree, this movie did portray some things...but not enough.
@GhettoBlaster100 Nope. Nowhere in the criteria does it say anything about having a photographic memory (which, by the way, is a totally separate thing to being autistic). It does, however, say quite a lot about the development of communicative skills (clearly far below normal in this case) and self-care skills (ditto). How would you like to be so staggeringly misrepresented that people ask stupid, retarded questions like this about something that directly affects you?
@njdevil281 I have seen parents literally punch children in the face for the slightest perceived transgression and never get so much as a filthy look from anyone other than I. Your point?
I bet I have a huge autism.. no one knowns because I'm so extremely good and practiced at imitating what the world around me sees as what's normal and what's weird, and where some things just reach the limits. I would do all kinds of stupid autistic shit if I were alone in the world.
@paulod27 Shallow, paper-thin portrayals, a typical performance from Tom "I Know Everything Even When I Know Nothing" Cruise, and setting vulnerable people back decades in the process is love and acceptance to you? Please tell me you are not ever going to have any children, for fukk's sake.
@JJMario080796 Because if they had an Oscar for actors solely given out on the basis of portraying autistic adults well, Brion James, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos would all have Oscars. Anna Paquin would have more than one. Michael Fassbender would be a no-contest for this year's Best Actor.
Or could it be you are just another self-righteous asswipe who wants to put words in our mouths and not let us talk back? Hmm?
@JJMario080796 I guess they were a little short when you were in the queue for brains.
If winning an Oscar somehow indicates merit in an actor's performance, then I am Stephen King. It really is that simple. They award Oscars on the basis of politics, on wanting to appear socially conscious (hint, hint), on how much money the studio has allocated to PR, or on the set of lungs that someone involved with the production has. Note that meritous performance is not even in that list.
@funlover2283 Awareness? This is what you call awareness? I have lived with this kind of awareness for more than two decades. I would have preferred no awareness because at least when there is nothing, the possibility exists that the right kind might emerge soonish.
@AbbyReidMcGee It was explicitly marketed at the time of release as a representation of "autism", period. If you think I am simply making that up, you do not know me or what I have seen so far.
@aspie182 I'm sorry that I didn't understand your meaning of bad portrayal. I wasn't aware of what you just told me, nor was I alive at the time of release. Thank you for enlightening me on that subjuce. Aspie? Do you have Aspergers? My brother does, which is part of the reason I came to this vidoe. Sorry for my misunderstanding of your point.
apse, it is pretty clear you have never worked with autistic children. I have and there are different levels of autism. There ARE high functioning autistic humans that can talk, get angry, show emotion and so on. do your research
@marsbars4 Maybe you could try explaining to a court, a peer review panel, or similar panel where a chain of assertion-evidence-conclusion is expected, how working with autistic children means you know better than someone who used to be an autistic child. I would love to document it in video. Better yet, learn to comprehend what you are actually watching.
@TheJoker7392 Why are you ignorant little normie assholes so frightened and repulsed by what YOU HAVE HELPED TO CREATE? Please... I would like something approaching a satisfactory answer to that very simple question.
@JoRdAnMaSt3R Thanks for clearing up... how I should respond. Albert Einstein is known, having been written about by his mother, to have not spoken a word before he was three years old. His first words were apparently a complete sentence to boot. This rules out Asperger's Syndrome as a diagnosis. Thanks for playing.
wait, how does this rule out asperger's syndrome? are you so desperate to acknowledge einstein as some sort of posterboy for autism that you'll disregard anything else?
this is a common theme with autistics apparently, every single one brags about how people like Einstein and shit were autistic. just accept the fact that autism isn't reserved for the greatest minds in history already.
@thaPrimus The diagnostic criteria for Asperger's Syndrome states, and I quote, that any delay in speech development rules out a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome.
Einstein's delays and variations from the expected norm in speech development, as well as his echolalia and eyebrow-raising questions concerning such subjects as his newborn baby sister have all been well documented. Maybe we just want you to accept that autism and retardation are very different things? Hmmm?
I think Rain Man was a wonderful movie simply because it opened the eyes of Autism to the public. Before this film, most people had never even heard of autism, and after this outbreak of knew knowledge, everyone has heard. While it may not be entirely accurate, I give this movie loads of credit for being the first to show people what a disability is.
Come on. The movie paints the picture of a specific type of autistic, it's goal wasn't to educate, it was to tell a story. It's not the responsibility of the movie to go into detail about how multifiaceted autism is. Being against the movie for that reason is asinine. You may be upset for the misperception of autism by some because of this movie. I'm sorry you're jaded by that stigma, but a better course of action would be to educate the ignorant, not bitch about it and blame a movie
@Psychelectric The ways in which people defend this film only help to prove my point. In legal circles, taking people to task for doing harm to others is not considered to be noble or heroic, but necessary and normal. There are ignorant people who simply refuse to be educated despite all of our best efforts. Being a film does not excuse the creators for being ignorant little assholes and the misery they have caused untold numbers of people. Stop resorting to that excuse, assholes.
@Psychelectric actually, it IS the responsibility of "the movie" to portray these types of things appropriately. The point of movies isn't always just to tell stories, most of the time, these stories are to educate people. I am personally finishing up my degree in Psychology so that I can get my Ba in Film. why? Because I want to educate people about mental illness. I want to make people aware of the misconceptions they have and what better way to do that than through film?
@tanyawestisland most people won't do the research they need in order to understand a mental illness, or in this case, autism (which is not a mental illness BTW). They will watch a movie, and have this idea of what something is. It is extremely important to pay attention to these things when making a movie. This is precisely why people get upset when a film portrays a stereotype (especially in the absence of the film being a comedy). People internalize this information and take it as true.
First of all the "autistic stereotype" everyone is up in arms about came about after the movie was created. Rain Man was the first movie to showcase a character with autism in a prononced role, thus people associate that portrayal with autism. The point you and many people are missing from this,is that Rain Man does showcase a certain type of autistic. The charater Dustin Hoffman plays is based on a real person, for God sakes. - Continued . . .
There is a huge spectrum of behaviors associated with autistics from lower functioning autistics with very particular ideosyncricies to higher functioning autistics and Aspergers. Given the huge range of behaviors in the disorder (Autism is a developmental disorder BTW, with many "mental" characteristics), its no wonder that this movie only chose to focus on ONE particular type of autistic, as they only have ONE autistic character. Why is that so hard to grasp?
Rain Man brought autism into the lime light which paved the way for many curious people to become more educated about autism (not less). There will always be ignorance, but to blame this movie as the cause for that is just asinine and quite frankly wrong. The irony is that the people complaining about this movie are doing so because they have their own narrow veiw of what autism is (typically a higher functioning autistic).
@Psychelectric I think you're missing my point. There is indeed a wide spectrum, and one end, there are high-functioning autistics. My point is that this portrayed to the audience that this was what a high functioning autistic resembles, which is not the case. The reason why the author of this video is so upset is because he is a high functioning autistic, and he is far from being similar to the character portrayed in this film. It gives people the wrong idea.
@tanyawestisland also, a developmental disorder is not a mental illness. They are two very different things. just as down syndrome is not a mental illness, it is a developmental disorder.
I know that autism is a developmental disorder however its not so easy to differentiate it from a mental illness.That distinction is merely semantic and not a clinical one The behaviors seen in autism are ones that are addressed from the perspective of mental illness. Such as OCD tendencies, ADHD symptoms, and anxiety disorders to name a few.
Also Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) is a genetic disorder with nuances that span from develpmental issues to cardiac problems
@Psychelectric Actually, it is quite easy to distinguish between the two. People are not born with mental illnesses, they may be born with genetic predispositions to them, but that hardly says anything. Developmental disorders, on the other hand, are present before birth. They cannot be treated, as mental illnesses can. And it is a clinical distinction, they are diagnosed on different Axes of the DSM-IV TR. Autism and Down Syndrome are diagnosed on the same Axis, of developmental.
@tanyawestisland Also worth noting is that there are mental illnesses that can result from external influences, such as the behaviour of others or illicit drugs. I guess one has to be autistic and suffering serious PTSD symptoms in order to know/understand this.
I understand that sentiment, however the term "high functioning autism" means different things to different people. For example, the doctor I work for terms "high functioning autism" as autism with normal to high intellegence. Intellegence and obsessive or extreme behavior are different things. Someone can have very extreme behaviors and still have average to high intellegence and thus could still be termed as having high-functioning autism.
You're conflating extremes in behavior with a lack of intellegence which are seperate things. Autism is not a simple disorder to understand so I can see how people can come to that misconception.
@Psychelectric No, that is not at all what I am saying. I am not at all concerned with the extreme behaviors that the character has in this film, this has nothing to do with being 'highly functional'. Intelligence is one big aspect of being highly functional, the other aspect is being able to care for oneself to a reasonable degree. someone who is termed 'highly functional' must be able to feed themselves, bathe themselves etc. This was not the case for the character in this movie
@Psychelectric I have asked before. I will ask it again. Do you people never get tired of being wrong? The doctor you work for is wrong. You are wrong. The diagnostic criteria for all of the listed varieties of autism is not only very clearly defined, it is designed to eliminate rather than include potential patients. If you are not able to care for yourself to such a degree that you need residential care, you are not high-functioning. So it says in the diagnostic criteria, simple as that.
I did not occur to me because it was not so and is not so. The movie did not cause you your troubles in school. Thank goodness that "best practices" are constantly changing for the better. Young people before you were not allowed to go to school and young people after you are getting a more appropriate education. Some day, autistic people will benefit from the most appropriate education they each, individually, need and deserve. Enjoy adulthood as best your can♥
@ElsaStevens I am sorry to have to tell you this, but it has been so and still remains so. One complaint you hear frequently from autistic 30-somethings is that when they disclose being autistic to others, comparisons to "rain man" are always invoked by the other party. The film has been, and will remain forever, the autistic equivalent of Buckwheat. I am sorry if that contradicts the little sliver you see, but it is the wide experience of numerous people.
Autistic people are very unique. The Rain Man character was a composite of more than one individual interviewed/observed/lived with. My husband and I were so moved and grateful when this movie came out. It illustrated the joys and challenges of caring for an extraordinary person with autism. One moment he's higher functioning than everybody else around him, the next moment he collapses into self-injury triggered by maybe a small change in schedule. This can be a huge burden on caregivers.
@ElsaStevens It did not occur to you that by presenting this ridiculous exaggeration and proclaiming "this is autism, period" to the world, the film's makers did many autistic individuals a boatload of harm. Did it? I could have had a vaguely normal schooling that did not leave me wanting to beat the crap out of teachers on sight if this had not been presented as the whole picture until I was an adult. And "person with autism" gravely offends me as much as my former teachers' existence.
@wreyoG Wow. Before you go accusing people of bad research, I think you better get your facts straight. You could probably count the number of films in history that have made it to completion without a script on your fingers and toes. Guess what the name of the asshole who wrote Rain Man is? And maybe you should study the number of autistic adults who have had their lives cheapened and diminished by the blind acceptance of portrayals like this. Or better yet, just go and kill yourself.
@Bex9590 One thing that would be worth writing about is that a lot of how disabilities affect people is tied into public perception. There is also the reversion effect, where one imagines how the people who are "disabled" would be viewed if the difference in numbers between them and everyone else were reversed. Would they still be seen as disabled. In the case of diabetes (which I also have), the answer is a resounding yes. In the case of autistic spectrum disorders... hell no.
I've got to say that although I do understand your POV I think you are extreme ( 'Bass' body thrust upon a fifty foot spike'!!!) and very naive. I can't believe the Idea that Hollywood doesnt accurately portray real life comes as such a shock to you.
Or do think that The Shawshank Redemption really sums up the entire US Prison System and that prostitutes feel Pretty Woman actually depicts hoe they live their lives? Rain is a movie not a documentary and should be viewed as such!
@SASHBYNOE I do not think you understand quite as well as you would like to say. You are taking my explanation of my disappointment with this film and making a strawman out of it. Maybe not on purpose, I do not know.
The truth is that many business interests in the US use fiction as a propaganda device against interests that they disagree with. There is a whole book called How To Read Donald Duck that deals with this very subject. Look it up on Google and it may enlighten you.
@aspie182 Extreme, condesending and vaguely paranoid? What a combo! Could you enlighten me as to which business interests funded rainman so as to promote an inacurrate view of autism? Maybe if you used less shock tatics (such as comparing a man who made a movie you didnt like to a man who slaughtered millions of innocent people) your message wouldn't get so lost.
@SASHBYNOE Being autistic makes me able to tell things about people just by the words they choose to say. For instance, I can tell from your words that you have never even heard of, leave alone read, the media-political discourse known in English-speaking circles as How To Read Donald Duck.
Suzanne Wright is an owner in one of the richest whitegoods manufacturers in the world. It is in her express interests to do a Donald Duck upon the autistic.
@aspie182 and I have the ability to tell when others with disabilities are just being unjustifiably pretentious assholes. you're doing more of a disservice to autism than rain man did.
@michaelmccay123 If you are referring to my being autistic as "others with disabilities", then the only person being an asshole here is you. The only disability I have is called diabetes, and whereas I will kill anyone who threatens to remove my autism, I would kiss the ground the man who creates a cure for diabetes walks on.
Further, how is getting up and saying "no, I will define myself, not let Ronald Bass define me" doing anyone a disservice? Enquiring minds would like to know.
back then they called his symp. a high functioning autistic but they misunderstood. its the 80s. now they look closely today and his disorder must be mid functioning.
@pesematology Exactly who in the cosmos of creation told you that? They happen to be very, very wrong, by the way. But you could have found that out yourself simply by doing a search on Google for the diagnostic criteria for Low-Functioning Autism and High-Functioning Autism, and reading the two out loud point by point.
Dean, mate, understand that autistic people often have issues with sensory overload. The music is just way too loud & shocking in this vid. I paused it every time you showed a clip from the movie so I could turn the sound up and hear it, but it was like a train crashing through my skull when the music resumed! And not in that good heavy metal way either!
Don't get me wrong, I'm a metalhead from way back, but it has to be in context!
If you change high functioning to low functioning the rest of the movie's ok because Autism is related to throwing tantrums.
I'm pretty sure Einstein wasn't Autistic (maybe Aspergers but its not the same) because to be high functioning you need years of early training (ex the ABA technique by Lovaas), though you're right that you can't easily tell a high functioning Autistic from someone who's not Autistic.
Also echolalia is pure repetition of what another says, hindering normal communication.
For you to be a high functioning autistic (so that you are hardly discernible from someone without the condition) you need years of early training so I doubt Einstein was autistic. Maybe he had Aspbergers, but they're not really the same thing.
If you change high-functioning to low-functioning, the movie's ok. Throwing tantrums is related to autism (though through training it can be controlled). This just a little mistake in the movie, nothing to go ballistic about.
@innocentse Real autism experts such as Anthony Attwood and Isabelle Hénault consider it a fact in the same sense as I am sitting here on a computer typing at 0720 hours. Again, if you lived through what I have lived through, you would realise the full extent of what I am saying when I quote Yoda: only different in your wee little mind.
High functioning autism has nothing to do with training. Do you train someone to be black or Chinese? Are you really that profoundly ignorant?
* echoed the speech of those around him when he did start speaking
* made queries concerning new additions to his environment (most notably his baby sister) that scientifically would not make a lick of sense even to someone of comparable age
So if I were to bring a list of all the things Einstein did as a boy to a real expert like Attwood, he would tell you the only person making a mistake here is you. Fukk off.
You are wrong. I was diagnosed with high-functioning autism as a 20 year old. I am so barely discernible from someone without the condition that nobody noticed until I was 20 and I sought a specialist myself. Given that nobody knew I had autism until then, I obviously did not go through any early training whatsoever. Given that your argument is therefore fundamentally flawed, I don't really feel that we can trust your assessment.
@HappyHawaiinSauce First of all, are you aware of what the expression "too small a sample size" means in scientific research? Secondly, that is not what the autistic refer to as compulsion. It is complete dysfunction punctuated by a violent overload.
One thing to remember about the autism "spectrum" is that although Dr. Asperger documented his findings in the 1940s his work was not accepted into the medical community at large and added to the DSM until 1994. Which means that Dr.s in med school wouldn't have even been taught that a link between aspergers and autism existed until 1995 or later. As far as the medical community knew in 1988, rainman was a high functioning autistic person because aspergers wasn't part of autism back then.
4. Albert Einstien was never officialy diagnosed as an autistic although it is easily possible that he had autism, but a post-mortem on his body revealed that he had a brain deformity that would nowadays be classed as Macrocephaly, Witch could have lead to his odd behaiviour (Einstien was well known for writing letters for people requesting stuff, if the people refused then he would send them more letters but sign a different name)
You have to understand that in 1988 autism was far less common and much less understood than it is today. We don't actually know if raymond is autistic or not, all we know is that the guy from brookhaven and some sham doctor said he was, but in those days autistic was a general term for mental conditions that were not well understood. Also even today autism is misunderstood many people are labelled autistic when really they are suffering from metal poisoning from vaccines and food.
Hans Asperger wrote much of his research in the 1930s, so the less understood defense simply does not wash. Nor does the less common defense. Truly enlightened researchers contend that the percentage of the world's populace that is autistic has not changed in the last two million years. What has changed in the past ten years is that we are finally getting a researched definition instead of a stereotype, which this film was almost entirely based on.
it seems that Kim Peek; the man which Rain Man was based around, doesn't actually have AS in the true sense at all, but a sort of AS mimic called "Agenesis of the Corpus Calossum" (where the corpus calossum is non-existent, in AS we DO have a corpus calossum of about normal size, but it's formed differently, apparently branching off into nodules within each cerebral lobe).
aspie182: What's really your point? Is it that there's something wrong with the way Rain Man is portrayed, or are you afraid that people will think that all autistic people are like him?
Well that's not the issue here. It seems like you have had a bad experience with people and might think it has to do with how much society know about autism. That's true, but what's that got to do with Rain Man? Don't blame a movie. If you think that people in general see Rain Man as an autistic stereotype, and try to make us think that Einstein is a better representant, You seem to have underestimated people around you. We know better, so don't try to look like a victim by referring to THIS.
No, I am an autistic adult who is sick of people like you dehumanising us by denying us our achievements and amplifying our flaws. Dustin Hoffman did a far better job of portraying a real autistic adult in Midnight Cowboy.
Albert Einstein was known to have not spoken a word before his third birthday. His earliest speech frequently echoed that which he heard from the people around him, and his focus upon a singular subject at the expense of all other considerations eventually made him a legend.
Professor Anthony Attwood sees people like that during every working day. They are described in the DSM as High-Functioning Autistic. Sorry if that hurts your little normalist perception, but that is how it is.
Interesting video, but Einstein's "diagnosis" is merely retrospective and, to be honest, unprovable and, to be even more honest, of little relevance in any discussion about ASD.
Actually, hegemon, it is extremely relevant because "charities" concerned with our genocide are spending millions of dollars donated by morons to try and portray us as inferior and no use to mankind. The fact that Albert Einstein's childhood sounds suspiciously like that of a true HFA, and that other persons who have done great things are actively saying that they are in fact autistic is a very relevant point in trying to avert disaster.
HFA is not what Raymond Babbit suffers from. HFA is always a controversial diagnosis and many believe that beyond aspergers the term 'autistic' whould not be used. Raymond Babbit is quite severely autistic but is has unusually high language skills he is not a HFA!!! The two are worlds apart, most people with HFA or borad spectrum autistic disorder can comprehend their problems and exist in mainstream social life. Rainman is NOT a portrayl of a HFA!
Did you not see the *pieces of the film* I showed in graphic detail in which the film tries to tell us it is a portrayal of a High-Functioning Autistic adult?
For me dianogsis of broad spectrum autism of HFA is always controversial. Muany experts in the field reject diagnosis beyond aspergers syndrome. If somebody can comprehend their diagnosis of HFA I think they are so far removed from most with autism that it is perhaps unhelpful to use the term 'autistic.' Rainman creates confusion because he is portrayed as severely autistic but with good communication skills. Most people with 'HFA' can function in mainstream society as can many with aspergers.
There seems to be massive confusion here between high functioning autism and broad spectrum autism (which some people call HFA). The former refers to those with autism but who are able to communicate much greater than most autistics. The latter is a controversial diagnosis and very far removed from autistics who communicate well. Raymond Babbit does not have HFA he is an autistic who is high functioning, that's the difference.
I myself am believing the word "Autism" to a bit of a trap. It really seems to be that autism is a state induced by very irregular, coincidental factors relating to the corpus calossum.
I like the term Aspergers' better because there does seem to be a specific basis for it, it is genetic and corrosponds with a neurological configuration. Autism appears to be something induced, often in Aspergers' (but sometimes in others from aggrivated assaults on a developing mid-brain).
actually this guy behaves similarly to my brother who is 'high functioning'.. low functioning is more like my brother in law who has a vocabulary of about 50 words. ASD is a spectrum, of course, but high functioning does make sense here... particularly when you take into account the value of the 'care' he was getting up to that point.
As far as I have been able to discern, knowing your arse from your ear about autism is not any real requirement of being a member of the Academy. I would not expect any Oscar winners save for Steven Spielberg to even know that there is a difference between high-functioning autism and the autism demonstrated in this film.
...and now he is trying to tell the world that a hack who wrote a daytime-special-quality film knows more about being autistic than... someone who actually IS autistic.
Lostcaus is probably not even aware he is making a fool out of himself. Sad, is it not?
Perhaps you should not be too hard on the poor fellow though. He probably has no real-life experience with autism, and all he knows about the subject, comes from this movie.
By the way, Aspie182. I do not know if you watch "Criminal Minds" or not, but if you do: Do you think Dr. Spencer Reid is autistic?
Well, there really is nothing more sad that a person who thinks he knows everything when in fact he knows nothing.
As a rule, I always try to limit what I comment on to subjects that I have sufficient knowledge of. Hence, you will not see me offering comments about the right way to treat heart attacks. Just as an example. Lostcaus does not even have that going for him.
No, I do not watch Criminal Minds. In fact, I have watched about zero hours of TV in the past three months.
Sorry for driving this thread kind of off topic. I haven't seen the Rain Man movie and I guess it's not worth seeing, although Hoffman is a pretty good actor.
It is perfectly fine, and what you bring up is probably more relevant to the subject of the video than you might think. Autism diagnosis and classification is really even less advanced than mental health's equivalents were fifty years ago.
I always like to tell people who ask me in person that Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight did a better job of portraying autistic adults in Midnight Cowboy. It always gets a good reaction.
I don't even know if my son could be called high functioning or not. He only speaks to get food when hungry. Just says cracker milk and more. He is 3. He is very affectionate but his interest in toys and the way he plays is still that of a baby about 12 months old, except for his physical development which is normal for his age. (He rides trikes, climbs etc...) but mostly only likes rattles, bead frames pushing cars around. That's baby stuff.
One psychologist my father talked to about a similar subject told him that they do not like to diagnose children as low/high-functioning specifically until they are a few years older than your son. Reason being that the brain's structure changes very rapidly during the first few years of life. And it does not really stop changing, although the more profound visible effects slow down a lot as we enter adolescence.
The interest of a child in toys also changes a lot up until adolescence, when an interest in more expensive and less imagination-based toys becomes the norm. At age three, playing with rattles and bead frames is slightly out of expectation, but it is not something to be overly concerned about. If he were to grow a few more years and not move on from this stage, then I would be a bit more concerned. Just remember that not everyone develops at the same rate.
I will quote aspie "Speech delays exclude a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. "
This is actually driving me crazy. Friends of mine who are PSYCHOLOGISTS keep saying to me hopefully that maybe my 3 year old has Aspergers. This makes me ANGRY and disgusted with them that they don't know better when I do. HELLO MY SON DOES NOT TALK. He only says three words that excludes a diagnosis of Aspergers.
Keep in mind that I am a cinematographer, not a psychologist or pediatrician, but I am curious. These words, are they just individual words that are not strung together, or do they form a complete sentence? And are they used in response to situations such as expressing hunger or other such needs? These factors might influence diagnosticians in regard to where your son sits on the spectrum. But you are right to be upset to an extent. Your son is more likely to be high functioning than aspie.
The pediatrician diagnosed my son with autism which I believe is correct. He can't have Aspergers because he doesn't talk except for the very occasional one word. He is 3.
I just get annoyed that friends who are psychologists and health professionals say to me hopefully "maybe it's only Aspergers" revealing that they have no clue what Aspergers actually is.
Generally, people who have not done their homework do not know what Asperger's Syndrome actually is. It does not help either that some psychologists who should know better regard the two as being interchangeable.
I am no expert in psychology, so I could be wrong, but I think it is highly unlikely that your son meets the criteria for low-functioning autism. The rate at which he is developing speech and other such functions is slow, but he is at least "getting there".
I think the movie Rain Man hit many soft spots with people due to the wide spectrum of autism. Despite the varying types of autistic people, others who saw this movie just lumped everyone together into one category.
Kim Peek is *not* autistic. He has agenesis of the corpus callosum. The nerve bundles that form a bridge between the hemispheres failed to connect, and instead, those nerve fibers were rerouted into the two hemispheres, forming other neural structures. His differently wired brain allows him to memorize vast amounts of information, and to rapidly compute complex equations.
For people to use Hoffman's portrayal of Peek in Rain Man as an example of an autistic person is inaccurate and misleading.
Fair enough, but please note that the producer of this clip did not call Peek (in Rain Man) autistic, the script of Rain Man called Peek autistic. Therefore, any misleading which happens is the fault of the writers, director, and producers of Rain Man, not aspie 182
My comment about Peek's condition was not directed at Aspie182. My comment was directed at people who wrote text replies to this clip stating that Peek is autistic.
For instance, jillra65 states: "Dustin Hoffman formed his acting after a real autistic named Kim Peek."
I wanted to provide information on Peek's actual condition to clear up this common misconception. Part of the deception of Rain Man is that Hoffman based his portrayal of an "autistic savant" on someone that is not autistic.
What I find ironic about all this, and I am sure many of my kind will agree, is that both Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight came far closer to portraying the average autistic adult in Midnight Cowboy. I just find that really funny for some reason.
As far as I am concerned, however, portrayals of my variety of autistic adult peaked with Brion James in Blade Runner.
Jillra65, I've heard that it turned out that Kim Peek was not autistic after all- rather various parts of his brain were abnormal (and not relating to the autistic spectrum) or absent.
Right. Because if there is one thing we need less of at the moment, it is autistic people having their own say. We need more of people like you shoving words into their mouth like a particularly excited verbal rapist.
Perhaps you should look into asking your autistic child what he wants in his life when he gets to be in this stage thereof. Because unless what you desire for any part of his life perfectly coincides with his desires, your opinion as a parent counts for nothing. Nothing.
Its only trying to make people see how someone autistic might live their life and how other people don't understand autism and it's a film it's not going to be completely accurate but a lot of research was done and there is different types of autism so its unfair to say that its an exceptionally bad potrayal of autism because what it was based on maybe pretty similar to the film!
I have posted this previously, so maybe in future you should take the time to read it.
People on the autistic spectrum have had their lives and wellbeing severely compromised in the past because they failed to match the ignorant stereotyping this film put forth.
How would you feel if a medical professional told you to your face that you cannot possibly be what you are simply because you do not remind them of a poorly-researched film? That is not a trick question. (cont'd)
"How would you feel if a medical professional told you to your face that you cannot possibly be what you are simply because you do not remind them of a poorly-researched film? That is not a trick question."
I am not so sure that I would refer to him/her as a 'professional', if their autism-criteria is resemblance of a character, in a movie. When did this happen anyway?
Alright, you tell me how to get to your magical fairy-land where so-called professionals base their decisions on actual facts and patient needs, please. Because children of the 1980s missing out on a timely diagnosis because of the stereotype in this film and suppression of information that disagrees with it is a verifiable fact.
Autistic adults being told they are not autistic because they can make prepare their own meals is a daily event. Many autistic adults will happily attest to that.
you dont understand the movie if you just watch this part.
theMDMbeat 1 week ago
@theMDMbeat The movie is out there and can be viewed by the unwashed anytime that they please. This video is trying to convey to said unwashed why not having this film at all would have been preferable to having it shape the public's consciousness of the autistic spectrum for the best part of two decades (and in some cases longer).
aspie182 1 week ago
I thought Raymond was pretty high-functioning when he calculated exactly how many toothpick fell off the box by just taking one look, or when he read the phone book and memorized every name and phone number from a to half g.
TheExplosiveBurrito 2 weeks ago
I think someone realised, and convinced others, that a movie about people with a mental condition few understood at the time, that showed them screaming like maniacs, would attract a wide audience at that time, and garner critical acclaim at the time for taking on that kind of subject matter (rare in the 80s). And the movie came out just at the time that public curiousity about autism peaked. It appealed broadly, and got points just for showing a subject matter that was unheard of in films then.
avidalocan 3 weeks ago
It was the 80s. People were happier with simpler portrayals of everyone, especially those who were different. Complex, accurate descriptions had less sway with the masses, excluded the simpler folk, sold less movie tickets. At least take heart that today there would certainly be less tickets (proportionately to population) sold on the basis of autism being characterised by a screaming maniac than in 1988. We've moved on a little from that mentality.
avidalocan 3 weeks ago
@avidalocan One, Blade Runner was released in 1982. Midnight Cowboy was released in 1969. The Odd Couple was released in 1968. You following?
Two, if you think today's audiences are accepting more complex characterisations, then I have some beachfront property in Afghanistan I would like you to buy. And considering that this film has been rereleased on Blu-ray Disc mere months ago here, as opposed to being shelved in shame and forgotten about... need I say more?
aspie182 2 weeks ago
@aspie182 I'm more scared that so many people think this film is a courageous attempt at representing autism, when it's really a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Leaving aside autistics for a moment, what does that say about so-called normal peoples' mentality?
avidalocan 2 weeks ago
@aspie182 How does bringing up pre-1988 movies disprove my contention that the kind of portrayal of an autistic that was praised by critics and audiences alike in the 80s, wouldn't make anywhere near the same splash if was released after about the year 2001? General awareness of the condition had increased enough to make the public more sceptical of your basic cartoons of them. It's not a lot of awareness, but enough to get over that initial phase.
avidalocan 2 weeks ago
@avidalocan The point that I am trying to make with such examples, and have been trying to make for years with videos like this, is that neither time nor what one says may have happened in the intervening years disproves the contention that this portrayal has caused, and continues to cause, a lot of real autistic people a lot of harm. It may be 2012 now, but society's attitudes towards autistic adults who do not scream and hit themselves when you fart at them is, if anything, worse.
aspie182 2 weeks ago
@aspie182 No film ever drew more attention to autism than Rain Man. It turned a buried, hush-hush subject into a cool one. It became cool to interact with and like the mentally different. If you didn't do it, you were uncool. Accurate or not, that's a big leap for world that before then, had been largely indifferent and scared about the condition.
avidalocan 2 weeks ago
@avidalocan Are you fukking for real? Seriously? This film took a marginalised group of people who were in the majority of cases disallowed from knowing what they were and shat on them. Calling this film and its zeroing in on a small facet a big leap is like calling the Nightmare On Elm Street series a big leap in the portrayal of abused children. It just does not work.
I would suggest trying to live as one of the people you want to speak for before you try making such claims again.
aspie182 2 weeks ago
@aspie182 The big leap is people having something to relate them to autistics, rather than it being something unrelatable and swept under the carpet. The film wasn't the big leap. The change in the public's relatability to autistics was the leap.
Before Rain Man there were fairly regular idiot sauvant stories in the media which inspired some interest. When Cruise and Hoffman teamed for a feature film on the subject though, it elevated that to a much greater level for the average Joe
avidalocan 2 weeks ago
@avidalocan You are the most full of shit moron who has yet commented on this video. And that is saying something. If an iota of what you have said was true, it would not have taken another sixteen years after this piece of shit was released for someone like me to be diagnosed.
And when people try to tell me "I put the person before the disability" and shit like that, I sense that the public's understanding of the autistic has in fact gone backward in a great leap.
aspie182 2 weeks ago
Comment removed
gilchristionson 1 week ago
Rain Man is actually based on someone who was a low functioning autistic with high intelligence.
Monique13666 3 weeks ago
@Monique13666 Is there actually a point to this?
One part of the film I quoted, and this is an extremely important point, has the completely clueless specialist describing the character as "actually very high functioning". Are you going to attempt to tell me next that the sky is red?
aspie182 3 weeks ago
learn the definition of 'high-functioning' morons. counting toothpicks and memorizing a phonebook does not make you high-functioning, it makes you talented in a very specific area. To be highly functional, one must be able to function on their own. I don't know about any of you, by my day to day activities do not involve counting toothpicks in order to eat, or memorizing phonebooks as a means to provide for myself. please, do yourselves a favor, learn something, learn a few things.
tanyawestisland 1 month ago
@tanyawestisland Oh my god, tanya, I love you. This is the first time in I do not know how long I have received a comment on this video that suggests the author has enough of a brain to sustain a conversation with me. Currently, my day to day activities consist of trying to keep a count of how many codeine pills I have taken in order to dull my anesthetic-resistant body's sensations from having multiple moles cut out. It shocks people who assume being autistic equals good with numbers.
aspie182 1 month ago
@tanyawestisland
"Learn the definition of 'higher-functioning' morons" .. what an asshole comment. And you seriously want to educate people? Maybe learning to be more polite, patient and articulate would help you with the goal of educating people. Namecalling only shows that you are not articualte or patient enough to educate anyone. It's a shame. Of course being an ass in the anonimity of a YouTube comment is a way some people vent I suppose, cowardly though it is.
Psychelectric 1 month ago
@Psychelectric If people want to learn, I will gladly be patient, articulate and polite. however, the comments on this video show me nothing but stubborn ignorance, with a mix of 'know-it-all" attitude. but Yup, I was an asshole by using the one word; 'morons'. You are absolutely right.
tanyawestisland 1 month ago
@tanyawestisland and when I say the comments on this video, I am not referring to your own, I am referring to previous, rude and misinformed comments. Because I honestly cannot understand how someone could possibly think that counting toothpicks within seconds makes someone 'high-functioning'.
tanyawestisland 1 month ago
@tanyawestisland You have also touched upon one of the biggest problems that has been caused by this After School Special. Many autistic adults who really are high-functioning have been ignored and forgotten simply because they are too high-functioning to get noticed. Many of the absolute retards commenting on this video seem to be perfectly okay with that state of affairs. No wonder our world is in as bad a shape as it is.
aspie182 1 month ago
@Psychelectric Assholes get what assholes deserve. You want people to be polite? Then try being polite first. Since I have posted this video, you and your kind have rudely attempted to correct me as if I am a child or a drunk at the pub, then cried foul when responded to in kind. I, for one, do not want to try and educate the like of you. I want you to hear, in no uncertain terms, when I say "fukk off and leave me alone".
aspie182 1 month ago
@Psychelectric Oh, and further, what is cowardly about a) trying to promote the truth against a bunch of people whose debate tactics boil down to "might makes right" or "I am automatically right", b) refuting them in a living, breathing document where everyone can see exactly what I look like and where I have been at one point, and c) speaking up for people who have been deliberately denied a voice by some very wealthy fiends? Care to explain that one?
aspie182 1 month ago
So where's episodes 1 and 2?
degree7 1 month ago
@degree7 A look on my profile/channel can turn them up. I find it amusing that so many leap to the defense of this schooltime special, honestly. The other two entries I have posted (so far) in this list are equally scathing.
aspie182 1 month ago
this vid is just as much propaganda as anything else. you only show the bad. There's also a part in the movie where he counts a pile of 246 toothpicks which are in an askew pile on the floor within about 6 seconds I would indeed call that 'high functioning'.
KrankieV2 1 month ago
@KrankieV2 Are you for real? Seriously? Go to a real autism specialist and tell them this is what you call high functioning. Your face will be plastered all over their network with statements to the effect that you should not be allowed near anyone on the spectrum so quickly you will not know what hit you.
aspie182 1 month ago
@gerdygirl8 People have taken out restraining orders against me because of how angry I get when they attempt to force words into my mouth. For one thing, I have been denied a voice for far too long and no longer care who I have to step on in order to stop that. For another, I suggest you do some research into what "right" really means in a legal context.
aspie182 1 month ago
@aspie182
Before ever finding this comment, I had the feeling you were bitter and angry. Three simple sentences have answered a question I haven't even asked.
easttexaspcrepair 1 month ago
@easttexaspcrepair Excuse me, normalistic little asshole, but exactly what about being bitter and angry (about anything) automatically makes a person wrong? Care to answer that one in the manner expected of a person delivering a thesis? Or better yet, just go and fukk yourself. That people like you are allowed to even have positive experiences proves just how wrong our world has gone lately.
aspie182 1 month ago
He's a savant.
Boredpersons55 2 months ago
i have autism. but im mild and high functioning. but i find it hard to talk to people
wiisalute 2 months ago
@wiisalute wow i have the same problem.
USSWISCONSIN64 1 month ago
@Griffinltd Autism sufferers... wow, way to reveal what an ignorant cunt you are in just two words. Go away.
aspie182 2 months ago
The guy this movie originated the idea from is Kim Peek. He memorized thousands of books word for word. He remembers dates, times, temperatures, weather on the day, etc. He's a lot more brilliant than they attribute in this movie. He speaks nearly the same as an average person with an extremely high functioning brain. I agree, this movie did portray some things...but not enough.
jmr1068204 2 months ago
The person Rainman is based off of memorized every word of over 8,000 books. That isn't high functioning?
GhettoBlaster100 2 months ago
@GhettoBlaster100 Nope. Nowhere in the criteria does it say anything about having a photographic memory (which, by the way, is a totally separate thing to being autistic). It does, however, say quite a lot about the development of communicative skills (clearly far below normal in this case) and self-care skills (ditto). How would you like to be so staggeringly misrepresented that people ask stupid, retarded questions like this about something that directly affects you?
aspie182 1 month ago
@GhettoBlaster100 idiot.
tanyawestisland 1 month ago
@njdevil281 I have seen parents literally punch children in the face for the slightest perceived transgression and never get so much as a filthy look from anyone other than I. Your point?
aspie182 2 months ago
I bet I have a huge autism.. no one knowns because I'm so extremely good and practiced at imitating what the world around me sees as what's normal and what's weird, and where some things just reach the limits. I would do all kinds of stupid autistic shit if I were alone in the world.
humanice2 2 months ago
RainMan was a story about love and acceptance, and it was very effective at achieving these goals.
paulod27 2 months ago 4
@paulod27 Shallow, paper-thin portrayals, a typical performance from Tom "I Know Everything Even When I Know Nothing" Cruise, and setting vulnerable people back decades in the process is love and acceptance to you? Please tell me you are not ever going to have any children, for fukk's sake.
aspie182 2 months ago
@JJMario080796 Because if they had an Oscar for actors solely given out on the basis of portraying autistic adults well, Brion James, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos would all have Oscars. Anna Paquin would have more than one. Michael Fassbender would be a no-contest for this year's Best Actor.
Or could it be you are just another self-righteous asswipe who wants to put words in our mouths and not let us talk back? Hmm?
aspie182 3 months ago
@JJMario080796 I guess they were a little short when you were in the queue for brains.
If winning an Oscar somehow indicates merit in an actor's performance, then I am Stephen King. It really is that simple. They award Oscars on the basis of politics, on wanting to appear socially conscious (hint, hint), on how much money the studio has allocated to PR, or on the set of lungs that someone involved with the production has. Note that meritous performance is not even in that list.
aspie182 3 months ago
hey we can't forget the fact that this is what began the AWARENESS. It started with this movie.
funlover2283 3 months ago
@funlover2283 Awareness? This is what you call awareness? I have lived with this kind of awareness for more than two decades. I would have preferred no awareness because at least when there is nothing, the possibility exists that the right kind might emerge soonish.
aspie182 3 months ago
RainMan showed Raymond. It wan't meant to represtent autism, it was meant to represent Raymond. Autism is different for everyone.
AbbyReidMcGee 3 months ago
@AbbyReidMcGee It was explicitly marketed at the time of release as a representation of "autism", period. If you think I am simply making that up, you do not know me or what I have seen so far.
aspie182 3 months ago
@aspie182 I'm sorry that I didn't understand your meaning of bad portrayal. I wasn't aware of what you just told me, nor was I alive at the time of release. Thank you for enlightening me on that subjuce. Aspie? Do you have Aspergers? My brother does, which is part of the reason I came to this vidoe. Sorry for my misunderstanding of your point.
AbbyReidMcGee 3 months ago
apse, it is pretty clear you have never worked with autistic children. I have and there are different levels of autism. There ARE high functioning autistic humans that can talk, get angry, show emotion and so on. do your research
marsbars4 4 months ago
@marsbars4 Maybe you could try explaining to a court, a peer review panel, or similar panel where a chain of assertion-evidence-conclusion is expected, how working with autistic children means you know better than someone who used to be an autistic child. I would love to document it in video. Better yet, learn to comprehend what you are actually watching.
aspie182 4 months ago
@TheJoker7392 Why are you ignorant little normie assholes so frightened and repulsed by what YOU HAVE HELPED TO CREATE? Please... I would like something approaching a satisfactory answer to that very simple question.
aspie182 5 months ago
@JoRdAnMaSt3R Thanks for clearing up... how I should respond. Albert Einstein is known, having been written about by his mother, to have not spoken a word before he was three years old. His first words were apparently a complete sentence to boot. This rules out Asperger's Syndrome as a diagnosis. Thanks for playing.
aspie182 7 months ago
@aspie182
wait, how does this rule out asperger's syndrome? are you so desperate to acknowledge einstein as some sort of posterboy for autism that you'll disregard anything else?
this is a common theme with autistics apparently, every single one brags about how people like Einstein and shit were autistic. just accept the fact that autism isn't reserved for the greatest minds in history already.
thaPrimus 4 months ago
@thaPrimus The diagnostic criteria for Asperger's Syndrome states, and I quote, that any delay in speech development rules out a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome.
Einstein's delays and variations from the expected norm in speech development, as well as his echolalia and eyebrow-raising questions concerning such subjects as his newborn baby sister have all been well documented. Maybe we just want you to accept that autism and retardation are very different things? Hmmm?
aspie182 4 months ago
I think Rain Man was a wonderful movie simply because it opened the eyes of Autism to the public. Before this film, most people had never even heard of autism, and after this outbreak of knew knowledge, everyone has heard. While it may not be entirely accurate, I give this movie loads of credit for being the first to show people what a disability is.
aspieworld451 7 months ago
@aspieworld451 Do you people ever get tired of being wrong all the time?
First, an inaccurate, keyhole-narrow, and ultimately disservicing view is something we are supposed to be thankful for? Can you hear yourself?
Second, Hans Asperger's work was largely done in the 1930s. New knowledge my foot.
Finally, if this is the first film to show people what a disability is, then I am Donald Duck. Seriously.
aspie182 6 months ago
@aspie182
Come on. The movie paints the picture of a specific type of autistic, it's goal wasn't to educate, it was to tell a story. It's not the responsibility of the movie to go into detail about how multifiaceted autism is. Being against the movie for that reason is asinine. You may be upset for the misperception of autism by some because of this movie. I'm sorry you're jaded by that stigma, but a better course of action would be to educate the ignorant, not bitch about it and blame a movie
Psychelectric 6 months ago 13
@Psychelectric The ways in which people defend this film only help to prove my point. In legal circles, taking people to task for doing harm to others is not considered to be noble or heroic, but necessary and normal. There are ignorant people who simply refuse to be educated despite all of our best efforts. Being a film does not excuse the creators for being ignorant little assholes and the misery they have caused untold numbers of people. Stop resorting to that excuse, assholes.
aspie182 6 months ago
@Psychelectric actually, it IS the responsibility of "the movie" to portray these types of things appropriately. The point of movies isn't always just to tell stories, most of the time, these stories are to educate people. I am personally finishing up my degree in Psychology so that I can get my Ba in Film. why? Because I want to educate people about mental illness. I want to make people aware of the misconceptions they have and what better way to do that than through film?
tanyawestisland 1 month ago
@tanyawestisland most people won't do the research they need in order to understand a mental illness, or in this case, autism (which is not a mental illness BTW). They will watch a movie, and have this idea of what something is. It is extremely important to pay attention to these things when making a movie. This is precisely why people get upset when a film portrays a stereotype (especially in the absence of the film being a comedy). People internalize this information and take it as true.
tanyawestisland 1 month ago
@tanyawestisland
First of all the "autistic stereotype" everyone is up in arms about came about after the movie was created. Rain Man was the first movie to showcase a character with autism in a prononced role, thus people associate that portrayal with autism. The point you and many people are missing from this,is that Rain Man does showcase a certain type of autistic. The charater Dustin Hoffman plays is based on a real person, for God sakes. - Continued . . .
Psychelectric 1 month ago
@Psychelectric
There is a huge spectrum of behaviors associated with autistics from lower functioning autistics with very particular ideosyncricies to higher functioning autistics and Aspergers. Given the huge range of behaviors in the disorder (Autism is a developmental disorder BTW, with many "mental" characteristics), its no wonder that this movie only chose to focus on ONE particular type of autistic, as they only have ONE autistic character. Why is that so hard to grasp?
Psychelectric 1 month ago
@Psychelectric
Rain Man brought autism into the lime light which paved the way for many curious people to become more educated about autism (not less). There will always be ignorance, but to blame this movie as the cause for that is just asinine and quite frankly wrong. The irony is that the people complaining about this movie are doing so because they have their own narrow veiw of what autism is (typically a higher functioning autistic).
Psychelectric 1 month ago
@Psychelectric I think you're missing my point. There is indeed a wide spectrum, and one end, there are high-functioning autistics. My point is that this portrayed to the audience that this was what a high functioning autistic resembles, which is not the case. The reason why the author of this video is so upset is because he is a high functioning autistic, and he is far from being similar to the character portrayed in this film. It gives people the wrong idea.
tanyawestisland 1 month ago
@tanyawestisland also, a developmental disorder is not a mental illness. They are two very different things. just as down syndrome is not a mental illness, it is a developmental disorder.
tanyawestisland 1 month ago
@tanyawestisland
I know that autism is a developmental disorder however its not so easy to differentiate it from a mental illness.That distinction is merely semantic and not a clinical one The behaviors seen in autism are ones that are addressed from the perspective of mental illness. Such as OCD tendencies, ADHD symptoms, and anxiety disorders to name a few.
Also Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) is a genetic disorder with nuances that span from develpmental issues to cardiac problems
Psychelectric 1 month ago
@Psychelectric Actually, it is quite easy to distinguish between the two. People are not born with mental illnesses, they may be born with genetic predispositions to them, but that hardly says anything. Developmental disorders, on the other hand, are present before birth. They cannot be treated, as mental illnesses can. And it is a clinical distinction, they are diagnosed on different Axes of the DSM-IV TR. Autism and Down Syndrome are diagnosed on the same Axis, of developmental.
tanyawestisland 1 month ago
@tanyawestisland Also worth noting is that there are mental illnesses that can result from external influences, such as the behaviour of others or illicit drugs. I guess one has to be autistic and suffering serious PTSD symptoms in order to know/understand this.
aspie182 1 month ago
@tanyawestisland
I understand that sentiment, however the term "high functioning autism" means different things to different people. For example, the doctor I work for terms "high functioning autism" as autism with normal to high intellegence. Intellegence and obsessive or extreme behavior are different things. Someone can have very extreme behaviors and still have average to high intellegence and thus could still be termed as having high-functioning autism.
Psychelectric 1 month ago
You're conflating extremes in behavior with a lack of intellegence which are seperate things. Autism is not a simple disorder to understand so I can see how people can come to that misconception.
Psychelectric 1 month ago
@Psychelectric No, that is not at all what I am saying. I am not at all concerned with the extreme behaviors that the character has in this film, this has nothing to do with being 'highly functional'. Intelligence is one big aspect of being highly functional, the other aspect is being able to care for oneself to a reasonable degree. someone who is termed 'highly functional' must be able to feed themselves, bathe themselves etc. This was not the case for the character in this movie
tanyawestisland 1 month ago
@Psychelectric I have asked before. I will ask it again. Do you people never get tired of being wrong? The doctor you work for is wrong. You are wrong. The diagnostic criteria for all of the listed varieties of autism is not only very clearly defined, it is designed to eliminate rather than include potential patients. If you are not able to care for yourself to such a degree that you need residential care, you are not high-functioning. So it says in the diagnostic criteria, simple as that.
aspie182 1 month ago
I did not occur to me because it was not so and is not so. The movie did not cause you your troubles in school. Thank goodness that "best practices" are constantly changing for the better. Young people before you were not allowed to go to school and young people after you are getting a more appropriate education. Some day, autistic people will benefit from the most appropriate education they each, individually, need and deserve. Enjoy adulthood as best your can♥
ElsaStevens 8 months ago
@ElsaStevens I am sorry to have to tell you this, but it has been so and still remains so. One complaint you hear frequently from autistic 30-somethings is that when they disclose being autistic to others, comparisons to "rain man" are always invoked by the other party. The film has been, and will remain forever, the autistic equivalent of Buckwheat. I am sorry if that contradicts the little sliver you see, but it is the wide experience of numerous people.
aspie182 8 months ago
Autistic people are very unique. The Rain Man character was a composite of more than one individual interviewed/observed/lived with. My husband and I were so moved and grateful when this movie came out. It illustrated the joys and challenges of caring for an extraordinary person with autism. One moment he's higher functioning than everybody else around him, the next moment he collapses into self-injury triggered by maybe a small change in schedule. This can be a huge burden on caregivers.
ElsaStevens 8 months ago
@ElsaStevens It did not occur to you that by presenting this ridiculous exaggeration and proclaiming "this is autism, period" to the world, the film's makers did many autistic individuals a boatload of harm. Did it? I could have had a vaguely normal schooling that did not leave me wanting to beat the crap out of teachers on sight if this had not been presented as the whole picture until I was an adult. And "person with autism" gravely offends me as much as my former teachers' existence.
aspie182 8 months ago
@wreyoG Wow. Before you go accusing people of bad research, I think you better get your facts straight. You could probably count the number of films in history that have made it to completion without a script on your fingers and toes. Guess what the name of the asshole who wrote Rain Man is? And maybe you should study the number of autistic adults who have had their lives cheapened and diminished by the blind acceptance of portrayals like this. Or better yet, just go and kill yourself.
aspie182 10 months ago
I'm writing my dissertation of how disability is portrayed in the media and this will be a great video to show to my focus group, so thanks!
Bex9590 11 months ago
@Bex9590 One thing that would be worth writing about is that a lot of how disabilities affect people is tied into public perception. There is also the reversion effect, where one imagines how the people who are "disabled" would be viewed if the difference in numbers between them and everyone else were reversed. Would they still be seen as disabled. In the case of diabetes (which I also have), the answer is a resounding yes. In the case of autistic spectrum disorders... hell no.
aspie182 11 months ago
I do agree that they made a mistake calling him high functioning.
HyperNessie 11 months ago
I've got to say that although I do understand your POV I think you are extreme ( 'Bass' body thrust upon a fifty foot spike'!!!) and very naive. I can't believe the Idea that Hollywood doesnt accurately portray real life comes as such a shock to you.
Or do think that The Shawshank Redemption really sums up the entire US Prison System and that prostitutes feel Pretty Woman actually depicts hoe they live their lives? Rain is a movie not a documentary and should be viewed as such!
SASHBYNOE 1 year ago
@SASHBYNOE I do not think you understand quite as well as you would like to say. You are taking my explanation of my disappointment with this film and making a strawman out of it. Maybe not on purpose, I do not know.
The truth is that many business interests in the US use fiction as a propaganda device against interests that they disagree with. There is a whole book called How To Read Donald Duck that deals with this very subject. Look it up on Google and it may enlighten you.
aspie182 1 year ago
@aspie182 Extreme, condesending and vaguely paranoid? What a combo! Could you enlighten me as to which business interests funded rainman so as to promote an inacurrate view of autism? Maybe if you used less shock tatics (such as comparing a man who made a movie you didnt like to a man who slaughtered millions of innocent people) your message wouldn't get so lost.
SASHBYNOE 1 year ago 9
@SASHBYNOE Being autistic makes me able to tell things about people just by the words they choose to say. For instance, I can tell from your words that you have never even heard of, leave alone read, the media-political discourse known in English-speaking circles as How To Read Donald Duck.
Suzanne Wright is an owner in one of the richest whitegoods manufacturers in the world. It is in her express interests to do a Donald Duck upon the autistic.
aspie182 1 year ago
@aspie182 and I have the ability to tell when others with disabilities are just being unjustifiably pretentious assholes. you're doing more of a disservice to autism than rain man did.
michaelmccay123 4 months ago
@michaelmccay123 If you are referring to my being autistic as "others with disabilities", then the only person being an asshole here is you. The only disability I have is called diabetes, and whereas I will kill anyone who threatens to remove my autism, I would kiss the ground the man who creates a cure for diabetes walks on.
Further, how is getting up and saying "no, I will define myself, not let Ronald Bass define me" doing anyone a disservice? Enquiring minds would like to know.
aspie182 4 months ago
Good question, just what does he call "high functioning?"
DieselProductions11 1 year ago
back then they called his symp. a high functioning autistic but they misunderstood. its the 80s. now they look closely today and his disorder must be mid functioning.
freghtliner12667 1 year ago
@freghtliner12667 Do you people not get tired of being wrong all the time?
aspie182 1 year ago
i hear a lot about "rain man" from my fans who I try to educate about the spectrum. it seems they know little about it.
Stephie2007 1 year ago
Well to be fair "high functioning" technically just means without mental retardation. But yeah.
pesematology 1 year ago
@pesematology Exactly who in the cosmos of creation told you that? They happen to be very, very wrong, by the way. But you could have found that out yourself simply by doing a search on Google for the diagnostic criteria for Low-Functioning Autism and High-Functioning Autism, and reading the two out loud point by point.
aspie182 1 year ago
Rain Man is a very accurate portrayal... of the way my cats react to a bath.
pesematology 1 year ago 2
the wind can't be broken, specially not in a certain direction.
BarrenBlueElf 1 year ago
Dean, mate, understand that autistic people often have issues with sensory overload. The music is just way too loud & shocking in this vid. I paused it every time you showed a clip from the movie so I could turn the sound up and hear it, but it was like a train crashing through my skull when the music resumed! And not in that good heavy metal way either!
Don't get me wrong, I'm a metalhead from way back, but it has to be in context!
dcs002 1 year ago
@Leekduck Raymond Babbit doesn't speak fluently; he's not high-functioning
bbphnix 1 year ago
@bbphnix ive seen the movie and by autistic standards he does
The Guy who they based Rainman off (Kim Peak) Was not actualy autistic, he had what is called Optiz-Kaviegg sydrome.
Leekduck 1 year ago
If you change high functioning to low functioning the rest of the movie's ok because Autism is related to throwing tantrums.
I'm pretty sure Einstein wasn't Autistic (maybe Aspergers but its not the same) because to be high functioning you need years of early training (ex the ABA technique by Lovaas), though you're right that you can't easily tell a high functioning Autistic from someone who's not Autistic.
Also echolalia is pure repetition of what another says, hindering normal communication.
innocentse 1 year ago
@innocentse 1) Plenty of people throw tantrums all the time when they are not autistic. Just ask my father.
2) Asperger's Syndrome IS the same. If you went through all the abuse I went through as a boy, you would not even dare to dispute this fact.
3) ABA is child abuse. This is one of the few things you will find participants in the autism civil rights fight agreeing about.
4) Echolalia is still very commonly associated with autism, and is one of the many giveaways I gave as a child.
aspie182 1 year ago
For you to be a high functioning autistic (so that you are hardly discernible from someone without the condition) you need years of early training so I doubt Einstein was autistic. Maybe he had Aspbergers, but they're not really the same thing.
If you change high-functioning to low-functioning, the movie's ok. Throwing tantrums is related to autism (though through training it can be controlled). This just a little mistake in the movie, nothing to go ballistic about.
innocentse 1 year ago
@innocentse Real autism experts such as Anthony Attwood and Isabelle Hénault consider it a fact in the same sense as I am sitting here on a computer typing at 0720 hours. Again, if you lived through what I have lived through, you would realise the full extent of what I am saying when I quote Yoda: only different in your wee little mind.
High functioning autism has nothing to do with training. Do you train someone to be black or Chinese? Are you really that profoundly ignorant?
aspie182 1 year ago
@aspie182 NO, Einstein was NOT autistic;
YES, saying that Raymond Babbitt is high-functioning, when he is clearly low-functioning, is a horrible blunder, big mistake in the movie;
but no one's perfect; you said einstein had autism which isn't true, so you too made a mistake
bbphnix 1 year ago
@bbphnix Albert Einstein:
* did not speak a word before his third birthday
* echoed the speech of those around him when he did start speaking
* made queries concerning new additions to his environment (most notably his baby sister) that scientifically would not make a lick of sense even to someone of comparable age
So if I were to bring a list of all the things Einstein did as a boy to a real expert like Attwood, he would tell you the only person making a mistake here is you. Fukk off.
aspie182 1 year ago 2
@innocentse
You are wrong. I was diagnosed with high-functioning autism as a 20 year old. I am so barely discernible from someone without the condition that nobody noticed until I was 20 and I sought a specialist myself. Given that nobody knew I had autism until then, I obviously did not go through any early training whatsoever. Given that your argument is therefore fundamentally flawed, I don't really feel that we can trust your assessment.
TwistedxKiss 1 year ago
I've met a couple of autistic children. They do have compulsions like the airport scene.
HappyHawaiinSauce 1 year ago
@HappyHawaiinSauce First of all, are you aware of what the expression "too small a sample size" means in scientific research? Secondly, that is not what the autistic refer to as compulsion. It is complete dysfunction punctuated by a violent overload.
aspie182 1 year ago
yea, that is not high functioning.
gasmbay 1 year ago
One thing to remember about the autism "spectrum" is that although Dr. Asperger documented his findings in the 1940s his work was not accepted into the medical community at large and added to the DSM until 1994. Which means that Dr.s in med school wouldn't have even been taught that a link between aspergers and autism existed until 1995 or later. As far as the medical community knew in 1988, rainman was a high functioning autistic person because aspergers wasn't part of autism back then.
droptopmama 2 years ago
Continuing,
4. Albert Einstien was never officialy diagnosed as an autistic although it is easily possible that he had autism, but a post-mortem on his body revealed that he had a brain deformity that would nowadays be classed as Macrocephaly, Witch could have lead to his odd behaiviour (Einstien was well known for writing letters for people requesting stuff, if the people refused then he would send them more letters but sign a different name)
Leekduck 2 years ago
finally
5.Dealing with an autistic person is really difficult for people without autism
6.aspies for freedom lies
Leekduck 2 years ago
You have to understand that in 1988 autism was far less common and much less understood than it is today. We don't actually know if raymond is autistic or not, all we know is that the guy from brookhaven and some sham doctor said he was, but in those days autistic was a general term for mental conditions that were not well understood. Also even today autism is misunderstood many people are labelled autistic when really they are suffering from metal poisoning from vaccines and food.
TheNightWriter101 2 years ago
Hans Asperger wrote much of his research in the 1930s, so the less understood defense simply does not wash. Nor does the less common defense. Truly enlightened researchers contend that the percentage of the world's populace that is autistic has not changed in the last two million years. What has changed in the past ten years is that we are finally getting a researched definition instead of a stereotype, which this film was almost entirely based on.
Vaccines and food, huh? Sure. Rightio.
aspie182 2 years ago
If you were as diabled as him, you'd be in a home too.
It's theatrical effect.
molewizard 1 year ago
In a bit of irony:
it seems that Kim Peek; the man which Rain Man was based around, doesn't actually have AS in the true sense at all, but a sort of AS mimic called "Agenesis of the Corpus Calossum" (where the corpus calossum is non-existent, in AS we DO have a corpus calossum of about normal size, but it's formed differently, apparently branching off into nodules within each cerebral lobe).
DChatc 2 years ago
aspie182: What's really your point? Is it that there's something wrong with the way Rain Man is portrayed, or are you afraid that people will think that all autistic people are like him?
thrasher90 2 years ago
Are those really the only two possibilities you thought of?
aspie182 2 years ago
Well that's not the issue here. It seems like you have had a bad experience with people and might think it has to do with how much society know about autism. That's true, but what's that got to do with Rain Man? Don't blame a movie. If you think that people in general see Rain Man as an autistic stereotype, and try to make us think that Einstein is a better representant, You seem to have underestimated people around you. We know better, so don't try to look like a victim by referring to THIS.
thrasher90 2 years ago
I asked you a question. Are those really the only two possibilities you thought of?
aspie182 2 years ago
No, I am an autistic adult who is sick of people like you dehumanising us by denying us our achievements and amplifying our flaws. Dustin Hoffman did a far better job of portraying a real autistic adult in Midnight Cowboy.
You are about as punk as Howard Stringer.
aspie182 2 years ago
Comment removed
alterbr33d 2 years ago
Albert Einstein was known to have not spoken a word before his third birthday. His earliest speech frequently echoed that which he heard from the people around him, and his focus upon a singular subject at the expense of all other considerations eventually made him a legend.
Professor Anthony Attwood sees people like that during every working day. They are described in the DSM as High-Functioning Autistic. Sorry if that hurts your little normalist perception, but that is how it is.
aspie182 2 years ago
Interesting video, but Einstein's "diagnosis" is merely retrospective and, to be honest, unprovable and, to be even more honest, of little relevance in any discussion about ASD.
33hegemon 2 years ago
Actually, hegemon, it is extremely relevant because "charities" concerned with our genocide are spending millions of dollars donated by morons to try and portray us as inferior and no use to mankind. The fact that Albert Einstein's childhood sounds suspiciously like that of a true HFA, and that other persons who have done great things are actively saying that they are in fact autistic is a very relevant point in trying to avert disaster.
aspie182 2 years ago
*miles
AbsolutelyCrackers 2 years ago
For some reason this film made me lol when he did that screamy thing. It's not the worst portrayal but its not the best by a thousand miled
AbsolutelyCrackers 2 years ago
HFA is not what Raymond Babbit suffers from. HFA is always a controversial diagnosis and many believe that beyond aspergers the term 'autistic' whould not be used. Raymond Babbit is quite severely autistic but is has unusually high language skills he is not a HFA!!! The two are worlds apart, most people with HFA or borad spectrum autistic disorder can comprehend their problems and exist in mainstream social life. Rainman is NOT a portrayl of a HFA!
bpatrice49 2 years ago
Did you not see the *pieces of the film* I showed in graphic detail in which the film tries to tell us it is a portrayal of a High-Functioning Autistic adult?
Did you miss the whole message of the video?
aspie182 2 years ago
For me dianogsis of broad spectrum autism of HFA is always controversial. Muany experts in the field reject diagnosis beyond aspergers syndrome. If somebody can comprehend their diagnosis of HFA I think they are so far removed from most with autism that it is perhaps unhelpful to use the term 'autistic.' Rainman creates confusion because he is portrayed as severely autistic but with good communication skills. Most people with 'HFA' can function in mainstream society as can many with aspergers.
bpatrice49 2 years ago
There seems to be massive confusion here between high functioning autism and broad spectrum autism (which some people call HFA). The former refers to those with autism but who are able to communicate much greater than most autistics. The latter is a controversial diagnosis and very far removed from autistics who communicate well. Raymond Babbit does not have HFA he is an autistic who is high functioning, that's the difference.
bpatrice49 2 years ago
I myself am believing the word "Autism" to a bit of a trap. It really seems to be that autism is a state induced by very irregular, coincidental factors relating to the corpus calossum.
I like the term Aspergers' better because there does seem to be a specific basis for it, it is genetic and corrosponds with a neurological configuration. Autism appears to be something induced, often in Aspergers' (but sometimes in others from aggrivated assaults on a developing mid-brain).
DChatc 2 years ago
actually this guy behaves similarly to my brother who is 'high functioning'.. low functioning is more like my brother in law who has a vocabulary of about 50 words. ASD is a spectrum, of course, but high functioning does make sense here... particularly when you take into account the value of the 'care' he was getting up to that point.
rsaylors 2 years ago
The movie got oscars because it is made in highly emotional manner, and yes i completely agree with you.
It is a shame, to see how many things keep certain illusions going which makes it painful for others.
I btw really like your videos, keep going.
Expressing can be extremely important, and i feel your words man!
Peace
paindoll 2 years ago
so this must mean u know better than the people who voted hoffman for his oscar?
lostcaus 2 years ago
As far as I have been able to discern, knowing your arse from your ear about autism is not any real requirement of being a member of the Academy. I would not expect any Oscar winners save for Steven Spielberg to even know that there is a difference between high-functioning autism and the autism demonstrated in this film.
But hey, nice attempt to argue from authority.
aspie182 2 years ago
and ur authority is what? u some kind of world renouned psychologist?
lostcaus 2 years ago
...and now he is trying to tell the world that a hack who wrote a daytime-special-quality film knows more about being autistic than... someone who actually IS autistic.
aspie182 2 years ago
Lostcaus is probably not even aware he is making a fool out of himself. Sad, is it not?
Perhaps you should not be too hard on the poor fellow though. He probably has no real-life experience with autism, and all he knows about the subject, comes from this movie.
By the way, Aspie182. I do not know if you watch "Criminal Minds" or not, but if you do: Do you think Dr. Spencer Reid is autistic?
WarlordXVII 2 years ago 2
Well, there really is nothing more sad that a person who thinks he knows everything when in fact he knows nothing.
As a rule, I always try to limit what I comment on to subjects that I have sufficient knowledge of. Hence, you will not see me offering comments about the right way to treat heart attacks. Just as an example. Lostcaus does not even have that going for him.
No, I do not watch Criminal Minds. In fact, I have watched about zero hours of TV in the past three months.
aspie182 2 years ago
Sorry for driving this thread kind of off topic. I haven't seen the Rain Man movie and I guess it's not worth seeing, although Hoffman is a pretty good actor.
gingerwoman555 2 years ago
It is perfectly fine, and what you bring up is probably more relevant to the subject of the video than you might think. Autism diagnosis and classification is really even less advanced than mental health's equivalents were fifty years ago.
I always like to tell people who ask me in person that Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight did a better job of portraying autistic adults in Midnight Cowboy. It always gets a good reaction.
aspie182 2 years ago
I don't even know if my son could be called high functioning or not. He only speaks to get food when hungry. Just says cracker milk and more. He is 3. He is very affectionate but his interest in toys and the way he plays is still that of a baby about 12 months old, except for his physical development which is normal for his age. (He rides trikes, climbs etc...) but mostly only likes rattles, bead frames pushing cars around. That's baby stuff.
gingerwoman555 2 years ago
One psychologist my father talked to about a similar subject told him that they do not like to diagnose children as low/high-functioning specifically until they are a few years older than your son. Reason being that the brain's structure changes very rapidly during the first few years of life. And it does not really stop changing, although the more profound visible effects slow down a lot as we enter adolescence.
aspie182 2 years ago
The interest of a child in toys also changes a lot up until adolescence, when an interest in more expensive and less imagination-based toys becomes the norm. At age three, playing with rattles and bead frames is slightly out of expectation, but it is not something to be overly concerned about. If he were to grow a few more years and not move on from this stage, then I would be a bit more concerned. Just remember that not everyone develops at the same rate.
aspie182 2 years ago
I will quote aspie "Speech delays exclude a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. "
This is actually driving me crazy. Friends of mine who are PSYCHOLOGISTS keep saying to me hopefully that maybe my 3 year old has Aspergers. This makes me ANGRY and disgusted with them that they don't know better when I do. HELLO MY SON DOES NOT TALK. He only says three words that excludes a diagnosis of Aspergers.
gingerwoman555 2 years ago
Keep in mind that I am a cinematographer, not a psychologist or pediatrician, but I am curious. These words, are they just individual words that are not strung together, or do they form a complete sentence? And are they used in response to situations such as expressing hunger or other such needs? These factors might influence diagnosticians in regard to where your son sits on the spectrum. But you are right to be upset to an extent. Your son is more likely to be high functioning than aspie.
aspie182 2 years ago
The pediatrician diagnosed my son with autism which I believe is correct. He can't have Aspergers because he doesn't talk except for the very occasional one word. He is 3.
I just get annoyed that friends who are psychologists and health professionals say to me hopefully "maybe it's only Aspergers" revealing that they have no clue what Aspergers actually is.
gingerwoman555 2 years ago
Generally, people who have not done their homework do not know what Asperger's Syndrome actually is. It does not help either that some psychologists who should know better regard the two as being interchangeable.
I am no expert in psychology, so I could be wrong, but I think it is highly unlikely that your son meets the criteria for low-functioning autism. The rate at which he is developing speech and other such functions is slow, but he is at least "getting there".
aspie182 2 years ago
I think the movie Rain Man hit many soft spots with people due to the wide spectrum of autism. Despite the varying types of autistic people, others who saw this movie just lumped everyone together into one category.
amieamie12 2 years ago
Kim Peek is *not* autistic. He has agenesis of the corpus callosum. The nerve bundles that form a bridge between the hemispheres failed to connect, and instead, those nerve fibers were rerouted into the two hemispheres, forming other neural structures. His differently wired brain allows him to memorize vast amounts of information, and to rapidly compute complex equations.
For people to use Hoffman's portrayal of Peek in Rain Man as an example of an autistic person is inaccurate and misleading.
CaterinaFreeman 3 years ago
Fair enough, but please note that the producer of this clip did not call Peek (in Rain Man) autistic, the script of Rain Man called Peek autistic. Therefore, any misleading which happens is the fault of the writers, director, and producers of Rain Man, not aspie 182
Saturniia 3 years ago
My comment about Peek's condition was not directed at Aspie182. My comment was directed at people who wrote text replies to this clip stating that Peek is autistic.
For instance, jillra65 states: "Dustin Hoffman formed his acting after a real autistic named Kim Peek."
I wanted to provide information on Peek's actual condition to clear up this common misconception. Part of the deception of Rain Man is that Hoffman based his portrayal of an "autistic savant" on someone that is not autistic.
CaterinaFreeman 3 years ago
Thank you for clearing that up, by the way.
What I find ironic about all this, and I am sure many of my kind will agree, is that both Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight came far closer to portraying the average autistic adult in Midnight Cowboy. I just find that really funny for some reason.
As far as I am concerned, however, portrayals of my variety of autistic adult peaked with Brion James in Blade Runner.
aspie182 2 years ago
I am high functioning and I do that when I have bad anxiety
Kumari58787 3 years ago
Jillra65, I've heard that it turned out that Kim Peek was not autistic after all- rather various parts of his brain were abnormal (and not relating to the autistic spectrum) or absent.
shuckydog 3 years ago
Right. Because if there is one thing we need less of at the moment, it is autistic people having their own say. We need more of people like you shoving words into their mouth like a particularly excited verbal rapist.
Perhaps you should look into asking your autistic child what he wants in his life when he gets to be in this stage thereof. Because unless what you desire for any part of his life perfectly coincides with his desires, your opinion as a parent counts for nothing. Nothing.
aspie182 3 years ago
Its only trying to make people see how someone autistic might live their life and how other people don't understand autism and it's a film it's not going to be completely accurate but a lot of research was done and there is different types of autism so its unfair to say that its an exceptionally bad potrayal of autism because what it was based on maybe pretty similar to the film!
tillyandtiger 3 years ago
I have posted this previously, so maybe in future you should take the time to read it.
People on the autistic spectrum have had their lives and wellbeing severely compromised in the past because they failed to match the ignorant stereotyping this film put forth.
How would you feel if a medical professional told you to your face that you cannot possibly be what you are simply because you do not remind them of a poorly-researched film? That is not a trick question. (cont'd)
aspie182 3 years ago
"How would you feel if a medical professional told you to your face that you cannot possibly be what you are simply because you do not remind them of a poorly-researched film? That is not a trick question."
I am not so sure that I would refer to him/her as a 'professional', if their autism-criteria is resemblance of a character, in a movie. When did this happen anyway?
WarlordXVII 3 years ago 2
Alright, you tell me how to get to your magical fairy-land where so-called professionals base their decisions on actual facts and patient needs, please. Because children of the 1980s missing out on a timely diagnosis because of the stereotype in this film and suppression of information that disagrees with it is a verifiable fact.
Autistic adults being told they are not autistic because they can make prepare their own meals is a daily event. Many autistic adults will happily attest to that.
aspie182 3 years ago
Well, my best experiences with professionals, were in Scandinavian countries, mainly Norway.