Rain Man the Movie

Rain Man is a movie directed by Berry Levinson. The movie won best picture in 1988. This movie is about a man Charlie Babbitt, played by Tom Cruise. In the beginning of the movie Charlie suddenly learns of his estranged and wealthy father’s death. After the funeral, Charlie is read his father’s last will and testament. He then finds out that he is not to be included in the estates finances. This news is somewhat disturbing to Charlie. He questions the lawyer to find out who the money has been left too. Charlie finds out that the three million dollars had been left to an un-named trustee.

Charlie is determined to find out who this unnamed trustee is, and why his father would leave so much money to him. Through some digging Charlie finds that the trustee is a man that lives at a mental institution. Charlie goes there to check out the institution and ask questions. At the institution Charlie runs into his long lost autistic and institutionalized brother. It takes him awhile to put the pieces of the puzzle together because Charlie was never told that he had a brother. Charlie is still angry about not inheriting his father’s money, and is very confused about the news of having an autistic brother.

Charlie decides to take his brother away from the institution, and back with him to Los Angeles. The news of having a brother is a big shock to Charlie, the fact that his brother has autism is very difficult for Charlie to deal with. Charlie’s brothers name is Raymond Babbitt he is played by Dustin Hoffman. Raymond is not allowed to leave the institution for longer than two hours, so it takes some manipulation on Charlie’s part to finally convince Ray to go with him to Los Angeles on this lengthy cross country road trip. Charlie had to promise Ray that he would take him to a major league baseball game.

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During the excursion Charlie slowly learns more about Raymond’s condition. It’s very challenging for both of them along the way. Charlie slowly learns how to adjust to all of Raymond’s autistic ways. Ray always likes to eat at the same time every day and gets very upset and nervous if anything is altered from his normal routine. He has certain menus he follows for each day of the week and any variation in these menus seems tragic to him. Ray also followed a strict television routine. He always watches the same programs every day. Ray would drive Charlie crazy by always repeating things, and insisting on only shopping at K-Mart.

Along the way Charlie realizes that Raymond has a gift to memorize and count things with great accuracy. To Charlie’s downfall he ends up taking him to Las Vegas to count cards at the black jack tables at Caesars Palace casino. Although at first Charlie was concerned mostly about the money, he does establish a very strong bond with his brother and decides that he wants him to live with him in Los Angeles. The doctors on the other hand want Raymond to come back to the institution to live. It is unclear if the doctor’s motives are the money, or if they truly care for this patient.

They have a custody hearing to determine where Raymond will live. The doctor at the institution meets up with Charlie to try to buy him off with money, but Charlie refuses, it is no longer an issue of money for him he just wants to be with his brother. The following day they go to the custody hearing. Even though it had appeared as though Raymond had made great improvements while in the care of his brother Raymond was unable to show the psychiatrist and doctor this because he became too nervous. It appears as though he was no different than he was when he left the institution.

The decision was made that Raymond would return to the institution to live. Charlie puts Raymond on a train back to the institution with a promise that he will be coming to visit him in two weeks. The movie ends with Raymond counting down the days until Charlie’s visit. He is counting how many days, weeks, minutes, and even the exact seconds it will be until he will get to see his little brother again. Levinson, B. (1988) Autism is a challenging disorder. It causes massive amounts of stress on families. Autism disorder tends to causes a lot of stress on parents, siblings, and caregivers alike.

Raising a child with autism usually causes more stress on a parent than mental retardation does due to the lack of interpersonal responsiveness associated with autism. Hoppes and Harris (1990). It is such a commonly known disorder for children to be diagnosed with that it scares new moms who are constantly looking for those red flags. If a child has a speech delay then parents often become concerned about a diagnosis of autism. It will lead parents to have their children tested when sometimes there is no reason for them to be concerned.

Pediatrician’s offices usually have tons of useful information pertaining to identifying symptoms of autism disorder. Some symptoms include but are not limited to violent temper tantrums, they can appear to be deaf at times but not at others, or not respond when their own name is called. Most often autism is recognized by a delay in language skill or even a regression of skills such as social or communication. Autism affects each individual differently, some cases can be very mild and some can be more severe. Parker and Parker (2002) often parents become aware that something is not right as early as infancy.

Sometimes it can take as long as three years of age before they notice something is wrong. It really depends on the severity. Patients with autism will or can show signs of communication problems, difficulty relating to people, difficulty to changes, and repetitive body movements ex: repetitive rocking. Children with autism usually do not like a lot of physical contact; they often do not like to even be held by their own parents. It is noted that adults with autism usually find looking people directly in the eye to be a problem, even people that they may know very well.

Many people with autism never learn to speak. Parker and Parker (2002) For years Scientist research to find a cure, but for now no one even knows exactly what causes autism. It is estimated that somewhere between three to nine percent of the population of the United States has been diagnosed with this disorder. Boys seem to be more likely to get it than girls are by a ratio of 2. 5 to four. Studies seem to show that genetics play a big role as siblings seem to be two hundred times more likely to get this disorder than the general population.

Piotrowski (2005). Yet over the years there have been many speculations, news stories and several documentaries on how vaccinations are the main cause of autism, as of yet there has been no scientific proof that this is true Parker and Parker (2002). There are also rumors of lead and mercury being a culprit although I was not able to find a documented source on this that I could cite. There are many people who feel that if they feed their children a certain diet plan that it will help their children’s symptoms, again these are not scientifically documented.

The main fact here is that there is no cure for autism, but there are treatment options available. The earlier the treatment is started the better chance the patient and families will have at a possibly of living a near-normal life. Usually it is recommended to start treatment before age two. Examples of treatment options are Individualized Education Programs, Comprehensive Treatment Programs, Applied Behavior Analysis, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support, and certain types of medications. Parker and Parker (2002) Autism is a challenging disorder. It causes massive amounts of stress on families. Through further education and treatment autism does not have to be a crippling disease, it can be managed with proper treatment and care.

References Berkell Zager, D. (1999). Autism: Identification, Education, and Treatment. Mahwah,NJ Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 17 Parker, J. & Parker, P. (2002). Official Parent’s Sourcebook on Autism. San Diego, CA Icon Health Publications, 10-25 Piotrowski, N. (2005). Psychology Basics. Hackensack, NJ Salem Press, 121-126 Johnson, M. (Producer), & Levinson, B. (Director). (1988). Rain Man [Motion picture]. United States: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios Inc.

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