Neuro Note 2: Rain Man

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For my neuro note, I watched the movie Rain Man, starring Tom Cruise as Charlie and Dustin Hoffman as Raymond, Charlie's older brother.  I watched this movie several years ago, but I chose to focus on it because it is a heartwarming story of a brother that learns to love his brother despite his disability.  The movie opens up in California showing Charlie facing serious and sudden debt with his job of reselling Lamborghinis.  Shortly after, he receives a phone call where he is informed his father has passed away. He anxiously returns back to Cincinnati to receive his share of his fathers will, only to find out he was left his father’s rose bushes and his car, and 3 million dollars is being directed towards a mental institution.   Charlie travels to the institution with hopes to find reasoning to why all of the money was directed here.  Instead, he discovers that he has a brother, Raymond, who is a patient at the institution. Raymond has savant autism and was put in treatment early enough to where Charlie did not know he even had a brother. However, Raymond is still the designated recipient of the money from their dads will.  Charlie kidnaps Raymond from the institution and they set off back to California where he plans to gain custody of his brother and secure the 3-million-dollar inheritance.  Plans to fly home were diminished when Raymond had a breakdown in the airport upon dramatically recalling and reciting statistics of airplane crashes. Therefore, the brothers begin their trek across the country by car.  As we follow the boys across the country during the film, Raymond exemplifies many symptoms of autism, such as repetitive recall of phrases from memory, lack of empathy and affection, and a narrow-minded interest in numbers, specifically statistics.  It is evident that Charlie was not prepared to take care of his brother, and this is shown through frustration and anger.  As they travel, Charlie slowly gains patience and begins to understand and respect Raymond as a human and a brother. Once they arrived in California, Charlie didn’t want the money, he just wanted to stay with his Raymond.  The movie ends with Charlie realizing that he is not capable of caring for him, and he must agree to return Raymond back to treatment, where we see the first sign of affection from Raymond when he and his brother unite foreheads before they say goodbye.  My main concern after finishing the movie was the accuracy of Hoffman’s depiction of autism.  Raymond has savant autism, which is a form of autism where the individual possesses extraordinary skills, especially in mathematical calculations.  They are able to remember dates and details that “normal” people could not. Even though Hoffman successfully acts out savant autism, every individual with autism is different.  Therefore, one should not compare symptoms to another person, especially from a film. Watching this movie after beginning OT school with new knowledge of this autism was very eye-opening specifically in regard to caregiver education.  Charlie should have never taken Raymond out of the institution without an in-depth evaluation to determine if he was able to live outside of treatment.  Also, Raymond should not have left without proper caregiver education for Charlie.  Educating all family members on care of an individual with a neurological disorder is necessary in order to provide the safest living environment with any modifications to provide optimal comfort and accessibility. Charlie did not care to accommodate for Raymond or even understand him at the beginning of their adventure.  His attitude towards his brother dramatically changes as he selflessly returns Raymond back to treatment.  Even though I will never know if Charlie continues to visit Raymond in his institution, I believe Charlie's experience with him made him more sensitive, patient, and open-minded, and he is now fulfilling the roles of a brother and a friend towards Raymond. 

Edelson, S. M. (n.d.). Research: autistic savants. Retrieved from 
https://www.autism.com/understanding_savants

Loveland, K. (2008, October). Are movies such as 'Rain Man' accurate depictions of autism? Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AutismOverview/story?id=5388361

Levinson, B. (Director). (1988). Rain man [Motion picture].


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