RAIN MAN

[maikuu]

[anniszhuang0416]

Chuxian (Annis) Zhuang
OS 702
Professor Mike Laib
Film Report
Frankly speaking, after I saw the TED Talking presented by Wendy Chung and the movie called Rain Man, I have a brand new and deep understanding about people who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Wendy Chung introduced us causes and symptoms of ASD. She revealed that vaccines did not cause autism. What might be the causes were increasing age of the father at the time of the conception, essential period when the mother was pregnant and some infectious agents. Moreover, she pointed out that the genes can cause autism. She used three groups of twins to prove her suppose: identical twins, versus fraternal twins and versus regular siblings. The results showed that the concordance rate of regular siblings was the least. In some individuals, they had autism not because of the genes from the family, but due to some brand new or mutations at the time of conception, which explained why Raymond in the movie had autism while his brother Charlie hadn’t. Although they were brothers, but they shared only 50% genes and Raymond might have some mutated genes when he was in the development of conception so that he was autism.

Both the movie and the talk showed us how the autism people performed in the daily life. They were not good at communicating with other people and making eye contacts. Usually, they would look at the nose and look off in other direction. They just performed like living in their own virtual world but not had connection with the real and social world. In most situations, they had difficulties starting a conversation, feeling nervous and performing strangely. “Obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety disorder frequently co-occur in persons with autism spectrum disorder” (Danielle et, al.).

In the movie Rain Man, Raymond repeated the same words every day and could not make an effect conversation with other people. If he could not do the thing at the exact time, he would become very anxious and lose patience. However, he had a genius for counting numbers. Just like what Wendy said in her presentation, those people who had autism were usually gifted in mathematics. At the end of her talk, Wendy told us some methods to intervene and treat those who were autism such as education and technology. Using technology such as Google Glass might help those people to brain their mind so that they could learn how to start a conversation or even start dating with a girl.

However, in the movie, Charlie spent several days staying with his brother, Raymond. He accompanies with Raymond and tried his best to meet Raymond’s needs to shorten the distance between them. Although Charlie had been depressed for several times because Raymond always caused thorny problems, he tried his best to solve all difficulties and had a better understanding of his brother. At the end, he realized that what the most important was not legacy but his brother, Raymond.

I was moved by this movie, especially moved by Charlie and Raymond. Although they could not live together in the future, there was an emotional link between them.
The lecture presented by Wendy Chung was professional and meaningful. She made a path to further study to do deep research about the effects of genes and some medicines to autism.

References
Cath, D. C., Ran, N., Smit, J. H., Van Balkom, A. J., & Comijs, H. C. (2007). Symptom overlap between autism spectrum disorder, generalized social anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder in adults: A preliminary case-controlled study. Psychopathology, 41(2), 101-110.

Teacher's note: I like how this author notices that both Wendy Chung and Rain Man indicate that persons characterized with symptoms of ASD can also have emotional disorders. For me, the most touching moment in Rain Man is the bathtub scene where Raymond confronts his greatest fear without possessing the emotional tools of a non-ADS person. He has never been able to confront the fact that his father punished him for what he didn't do.

I wonder if this author notices anything in Rain Man that seems a little too "Hollywood" in contrast to the realities of ASD. I also wonder if anyone notices similarities in the emotional features of the brothers? Does Charley actually seem to share some of his brother's genetic-based ASD characteristics, or based on what we know about Babbitt Sr., could Charley have inherited characteristics (cold-hearted stubbornness) which fall within the range of "normal"?

In any case, both brothers seem to lack emotional warmth (for different reasons?), at least at the beginning of the story, which suggests even more questions. Is it possible to change one's character over time? Or is it only our personalities that really change, our ability to cope with our inborn character? Maybe this is a key feature of humanity which persons with ASD sadly lack. Thank you, author, for a terrific first response to this assignment!

--mike http://www.moviesgrowenglish.com

[Mirai Kudo]

OS 702 “Rain Man”
Mirai Kudo

As it was mentioned in the TED Talk by Wendy Chung, in the movie, Raymond, who is diagnosed with autism, had both disabilities and special abilities. For example, he had difficulties when communicating with others and avoided making eye contacts. Moreover, he repeated same phrases and could not stand it when he was not able to follow his daily routines. Despite of these negative aspects, he was remarkably good at mathematics and memorizing. For example, the ability to count large amount in a second, multiple three and four digit numbers in mind, and good memory remembering various things. Additionally, he also had high ability of drawing pictures.

Other than the abilities, the fact of concordance, the differences of possibility rate of causing autism between different types of siblings was shown in the movie by Raymond being the only one that is diagnosed by autism even though his younger brother Charlie was born from the same parents. In contrast, one of the cause of autism, the rise in the age of the father was actually not exactly described because Raymond the older sibling is suffering from autism, which we could say that even though the father was 45 years old when Charlie was born, he was much younger when Raymond was given birth.

Another difference between the movie and reality is that Raymond had multiple unique skills. In the research I read, it was pointed out that only about 10% of the whole patients have some kind of special talents, which means 90% of the people do not have any. Among such, as I mentioned above, Raymond had at least four unique abilities such as memorizing, counting, calculating, and drawing. Therefore, I thought that this was illustrated in the movie to describe as much unique abilities they can through one character.

The scene that left most impression on me was the scene at Las Vegas. I was watching being worried about Raymond getting noticed of autism and the special ability causing him to be kicked out. However, it seems that he kept winning and was not found out as I worried. I was relieved, but at the same time I felt kind of awkward about this because in reality I thought it is highly possible that someone who were gathering around the brothers, or the staff at the game table, or the people who were watching the tape could have noticed something different about Raymond, but it seems like no one did, which could be because this is a movie. I also wonder if in reality people with autism can actually keep staying in the car for about three days, like they did when going back to Los Angeles.

Until I listened to TED talk and watch the movie I had only heard of the word autism and did not know much about it, so this was my first time to have an opportunity to learn and understand what is it actually like to have autism and to deal with people who are suffering.

Reference
Edelson, Stephen M. (n.d.). Autism Research Institute. Research: Overview of Autism
https://www.autism.com/pro_research

[CarolinaRE]

Carolina Ramirez
OS 702
Mike Laib
Film Report

There are still many questions about the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Both Wendy Chung Ted Talk and the Autistic spectrum disorders Medical Journal focus on giving more information about what is Autism, the causes of it, and why it has been apparently increasing in the last few years; whereas the movie Rain Man focuses more in how autistic people interact with the world and the behaviours they present in the different circumstances.

According to Wendy Chung, Autism is NOT a single condition, but rather a spectrum of disorders with many possible causes. Autistic people has different ways of communicating and expressing themselves. In 1943, autism was defined by Kanner as an unusual pattern of behaviour; presenting social aloofness, rigid interactions and elaborate repetitive routines. Even Though the movie heightened these behaviours in Raymond, it is clear to distinguish the awkward social interaction and communication he has. He created a routine for the day, this makes him feel secure; as well as some repeated behaviours and code words like VERN.

Regardless their awkward social interaction, autistic people usually has special skills or higher IQ. In the movie we can see that Raymond has a great ability for counting numbers and math problems. Accordingly to Wendy Chung, people with ASD learn and absorb their surroundings in a different way, which increases their special skills by focusing on theirs.

After researching a little more about autism and see how some people treat them just because they do not understand the way they behave; I discovered that many times we expect others to behave or express themselves in a similar way to ours and when this doesn’t happen we can judge or question them without even knowing the reasons why they do it. I think Both the movie, the Ted Talk and the article, help me understand how people with ASD think and learn to respect and be more sympathetic with their situation.


References:
Wing, L. (1996). Autistic spectrum disorders. BMJ : British Medical Journal, 312(7027), 327–328.
Wendy Chung. (2014). Autism - What We Know and What We Don’t Know Yet: Ted Talk
Rain Man. (1988). Movie

[farahalowaid]

Farah AlOwaid
OS 702
Mike Laib
Rain Man


ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is a group of mental conditions that a person is born with. It is a condition that affects someone all his or her life. It can alter the way a person acts, speaks, behaves and even the way he/she thinks. ASD is not a rare condition, as it is widely common and especially to males rather than females. This is a statistic made by the National Institute of Mental Health. ASD does not allow the affected to interact as a normal person with other people. They become socially distant and develop communicating problems with the society around them. These conditions tend to cause a problem during school years, as a child becomes different from the students around him/her. Autistic people are not capable of learning like normal people, they have their own way of understanding the environment around them.

There are quite a few similarities between the movie and what Wendy Chung has talked about. On Ted Talk, Wendy Chung mentioned that autistic people tend to have great abilities, such as being great in maths. In the movie, a similar case was brought up. Raymond, the autistic man, had a great ability in solving quick mental math. This case was similar to the young boy Wendy talked about during the seminar. The abilities that autistic people tend to have are not only maths, they are able to do a variety of other things. In the movie, Raymond, the autistic man had a great memory and can memorise very precise details. Another similarity is the age of the dad when Raymond was conceived. One of the causes of autism is the age of the father. As the father becomes older, the more the chances that autism might occur to the child.

Autism can be detected at a young age, it has no cure but can be improved. Medication is one of the ways that might help a person with ASD. Another is psychotherapy and this might make a huge difference if started from a younger age. Nearly 20 years ago the NIH formed the Autism Coordinating Committee (NIH/ACC) to enhance the quality and coordination of efforts at the NIH to find a cure for autism. Other research clinical trials have been done across the country to help in this particular case. There are more research that will be done to help people understand how to avoid this disorder and what can be done for future reference.


Reference:
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/ ... ndex.shtml
Rain Man (movie)
Wendy Chung (Ted Talk)

[Littlepiz486]

Chia-Che Tsai
OS 702
Mike Laib
Rain Man

When it comes to the stereotype of autism, people usually think autism is caused by vaccine. However, according to the recently studies, it has been proved that there is little relative between vaccine and autism. In fact, the person who published the journal which is about autism is the reason that cause by vaccine had his medical license taken away as well as his research was retracted. If it were not the reason of producing autism, what will be? What is the similarity? What is the difference? For the following paragraphs, there will be compared between the movie and the reality.

Like the example which is taken by Wendy Chung, a patient who has autism possess some special talents such as speciality in math, but he cannot communicate with people or do something unfamiliar. As what we watched in the movie, Raymond who suffers from autism is good at math, for example, he can count the toothpicks which spread out on the ground easily, he can remember all the things he read, calculating the number like what calculator did; while he cannot do something what he is not familiar with. Both in the Wendy’s presentation and the actor in the movie show the same symptoms of autism that they share certain skills which is higher than the average person in somewhere, however, they lack the social ability in life.

Nevertheless, there are still some gaps between the movie and the study. In the movie, people thought autism patients are cureless and let them lived in the special institution in that period. Compared to the professor in the Ted Talk, she believed it can be cure by early diagnosis in babyhood or some equipments. Google glass, for instance, it can help autism patients communicate with people effectively.


References:
Werling, Donna M. (2013). Sex differences in autism spectrum disorders. Current opinion in neurology, 26(2), 146-153.
Wendy Chung. (2014). Autism-What We Know and What We Don't Know Yet: Ted Talk
Rain Man. (1988). Movie

Teacher's note: Yes, I think Wendy Chung did mention that the symptoms of ASD can at least be reduced, possibly to a level where the person who suffers from ASD can live a somewhat normal life. Since it is a spectrum, I guess each case could have a different prognosis and results. Maybe Raymond's case is more severe, especially since he didn't have a mother, and his father seemed unusually cruel. Thanks for posting.

--mike http://www.moviesgrowenglish.com

[CarolinaMasuero]

Carolina Masuero
OS 702
Rain Man


Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or just autism, is widely discuss in two different plataforms: a Ted Talk and the movie Rain Man. The former explains in a more academic way what is this disorder and its causes; the latter educate the audience about autism through entertainment.

Wendy Chung explains on a Ted Talk that autism is a disorder that causes difficulty to interact and communicate. She shows that ASD has a spectrum of causes, such as advance paternal age or genetics. Moreover, she debates the importance of early diagnostics (through tests to see the child eye contact, for example) and how medication is not the only solution, it is possible to use educational strategies and technology to approach this disorder.

The movie Rain Man is about two brothers, one with autism and the other learning how to interact and deal with his brother disorder. It educates the audience, with common autism symptoms and behaviors with the character of Raymond. It is possible to see his difficulty with social interactions ( like the scene when, after Raymond and Charlie dance, Charlie tries to hug his brother and Raymond panics); his necessity for routines and rituals in his everyday life; his high mathematics hability, a common skill among those with autism; the way Raymond react when he is nervous, repeating one phrase a lot of times; or his lack of understanding some concepts like money.

The movie focus on the relationship between the two brothers, showing how impatient Charlie was with his brother ASD. Chung explains in her speech that autism has a spectrum of causes, and one of them is genetics. Siblings, like Raymond and Charlie, has 20% of probability to have the disorder; when the autism gene is not in the family, the cause can be a mutation or a genetical change, most likely the cause for Raymond having autism and Charlie not. I think the way Charlie handled with his brother disorder was exaggerated, because it was full of hate and lack of understanding, even if according to SAGE Publications and The National Autistic Society, “various authors report that the stress on families who have a child with ASD may be exacerbated because this disability is generally not identifiable by physical appearance. There appears to be a lack of understanding from the wider community of behaviours associated with ASD.” (Higgin, D. et,al. 2005).

Both the movie and Ted Talk are extremally good in educating its audience, even if it is through a more academical or entertainment approach. The movie Rain Man shows how we should have empathy, because autism make people perceive the world differently.

References
https://spectrumnews.org/news/superior- ... -autism-...
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/autism
https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
Higgin, D. et,al. 2005. Factors associated with functioning style and coping strategies of families with a child with an autism spectrum disorder. SAGE Publications and Autistic Society

[bukhari4]

Abdulrahman Bukhari
OS 702

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is "a brain-based disorder characterized by social-communication challenges and restricted repetitive behaviors, activities, and interests," according to the Autism Science Foundation. From this definition and what Wendy said in her TED talk, the author of Rain Man movie was able to characterize ASD in Raymond very accurately, and represent it in a way that most people can understand the depth of this disorder.

However, Raymond from Rain Man represented not only a single possibility of Autism, but combined many of its behaviors into one character, which quitely exaggerate how Autism really is, but that does not mean it is a less serious of an issue. In despite of that, the movie was able to show how some people react to others with similar disorders and misunderstanding their situation by taking it lightly, especially those who are close the autistic.

Comparing the two children in Wendy speech and Raymond, it's clear that Raymond has characteristics of both children, where he has difficulty in communicating and not making eye contact. He also snap out on his brother when he is out of control. In addition to that, he was genius and able to memorize numbers and names, as well as, his ability to calculate operations with complex numbers. According to a research done by Health Land on eight children who have autism to be very talented and can achieve a professional status by the age of ten (Szalavitz, 2012)

Sources:

What Is Autism?
http://autismsciencefoundation.org/what-is-autism/

What Genius and Autism Have in Common?
http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/10/w ... in-common/

Rain Man the Movie

What We Know and What we Don't Know About Autim - TED Talk