AUTISM WEEK - RAIN MAN

AUTISM WEEK - RAIN MAN MOVIE REVIEW TOO

I saw a movie on TV early this morning on autism- RAIN MAN brilliantly played by Dustin Hoffman as an autistic brother of Tom Cruise overshadowing him completely. Movie taken in 1988 still has such a powerful impact today.

A brilliant mind with autistic mind dealing in numbers and advanced calculations at fraction of a second!

Story of a normal brother (Tom) failing in his business deals finds out that his late dad had just left 3 million dollars to a ‘retarded’ brother (Dustin) whom he did not know, leave alone the autism in the brilliant brother!

So he steals the brother away from the institute for demanding half his share of inheritance, but gets to understand subsequently that his brother had been institutionalized to save his (Tom’s) life as a toddler! And then begins to love him as a brother.

Rain Man won four Oscars- Best actor, Best movie, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay and was the highest grossing film of 1988.

Dustin Hoffman intensely studied Kim Peek – the real life savant, an autistic person intensely before the movie – but apparently after the movie, cut off all ties with Kim’s family after the movie was a success. He did not even acknowledge the sudden death of Kim which was lamented by Kim’s father.

Did you know from 1 April to 30 April it is the AUTISM MONTH?

Autism is present in children with difficulty in communication due to different sensory input and behavior with other people. Autistic children are usually very talented in many ways which normal children are not!

Communication of these autistic children with others will not be normal and hence they may appear to be different to the others.

The Autistic Month of April is to highlight public awareness of this condition in children and to understand their brilliance in life.