08-08-2007, 10:15 PM
I think it was very wrong of them to portray Raymond as high-functioning- he is getting close to most low functioning possible- but people think that he is the most 'normal' it gets, so they think that is what they are curing.
08-08-2007, 10:15 PM
08-27-2007, 12:06 PM
09-13-2007, 10:08 PM
blacktext Wrote:
Yes, I'm a few decades late 
But one thing that confused me - is Raymond really considered high functioning? He was described as such a few times during the film.
But one thing that confused me - is Raymond really considered high functioning? He was described as such a few times during the film.
That annoyed me. Raymond Babbit is close to worst case scenario.
I think what it is is that the film was made in a time when nobody knew that first thing about autism, and probably thought that just being able to speak made someone high functioning.
Most genuine high functioning kids were passed off as strange or eccentric or shy.
11-01-2007, 08:10 AM
11-01-2007, 10:08 AM
aliengirl Wrote:
You can actually buy t-shirts that say "Yes I am autistic. No, I am not Rainman."
hehe, have you any idea where from?
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03-06-2008, 11:56 PM
03-11-2008, 12:47 PM
blacktext Wrote:
Well that explains much. He surely didn't fit my definition of someone who is high functioning, but I thought that maybe the true definition was vastly different from my own personal opinion.
This leads to many questions - How much does a popular film shape our perceptions over time? Is Raymond the portrait of HFA to the general public?
blacktext,
Like some of the other posters have mentioned, Raymond probably would have been considered somewhere in the middle of the spectrum by today's standards.
How does a film like Rain Man shape perceptions? Indelibly!
In 1988, when Rain Man was made, the public knew *very* little about autism; the film was the *one* thing that people could relate to about autism, so it became the 'gold standard' for autism, even though there *were* some inaccuracies (and I think the ending is a *major* cop-out!).
Incidentally, like Electric Dragon mentioned, Dustin Hoffman did a *lot* of study of autistics preparing for the role. In fact, I got to see Kim Peek (the basis for Raymond Babbitt) in Sioux Falls not long after I was diagnosed (I got the feeling it was kind of a freakshow, though); one thing that Fran Peek (his father) noted was that after the filming had wrapped, Dustin Hoffman actually had some difficulty *dropping* the autistic traits he'd adopted for the movie!
Unfortunately, there haven't been a lot of other specifically autistic characters that the public can relate to, so Raymond Babbitt kinda remains the default picture...
Interestingly, the soap opera All My Children has an autistic character; they actually do a fairly decent job with her, all things considered ...
blacktext Wrote:
I'm thinking about this at the moment because an interesting conversation occurred in my presence on Friday. A coworker of mine was having a discussion about the possibility that she may take a position with an organization that provides services to people with autism. In explaining to the group gathered about autism she gave as one example that you could dump a box on toothpicks on the ground and they could give an accurate count instantly. At the time I assumed that this was coming from her personal experience, but coincidently I see Rainman this weekend and I see she just lifted the toothpick thing from the movie.
If you want to have some fun with her, start talking about that, then have her get a box of toothpicks and drop them on the ground. When she does it, then just tell her, "Oh, I can't do that...", and walk away... 
-BobB
06-06-2008, 11:58 PM