The concept of autism includes a series of disorders that affect the communication skills, socialization and empathy of the person. Autistics have a personality withdrawn on itself in a pathological way.
Patients who suffer from this syndrome have a series of identity signs that determine this condition. In this sense, I would highlight, for example, that they have an IQ that is generally below normal, that they have limited language and grammar or that they show total disinterest in social relationships.
Autism will be taken as the excessive reference of the person himself over what happens in the context or as the congenital impossibility to establish communication or develop an affective bond with others.
The autistic disorders, therefore, affect relationships and foster repetitive behaviors in those who suffer because they need to retain a fixed and stable environment. In general, autism manifests itself in the first years of life and lasts throughout life since there is no cure, although abnormal behaviors can be reduced and social interactivity improved.
Statistics show that autism affects between two and ten people per 10,000 inhabitants, with a higher occurrence in men than in women. Its causes are often unknown, although some experts attribute the development of the disorder to a combination of genetics and certain environmental factors.
The milder manifestations of autism, such as Asperger syndrome, can go almost unnoticed and be mistaken for an eccentric personality or an excess of shyness. The most severe cases, on the other hand, include the inability to express oneself through speech and a behavior that is not only repetitive to the extreme, but also causes damage to the patient himself and generates attacks on third parties.
The syndrome that concerns us has been projected on the big screen through various films, thus making society aware of the difficulties faced by those who suffer from it as well as their families. And, of course, also the characteristics that define autistics.
This would be the case of the film titled Rain Man, from 1988 and directed by Barry Levinson. Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman are the protagonists of the same one in which he narrates as Charlie Babbit, the first of the interpreters, when his father dies he discovers that he has an older brother (Raymond) who suffers from autism.
Hoffman won an Oscar for his masterful portrayal of this character, which was based on the figure of Kim Peek, an American who surprised everyone with his magnificent abilities and intellectual abilities that curiously clashed with his absolute inability to perform everyday tasks.
To this aforementioned film, we should add other film titles that also give an exact and profound knowledge of autism. This would be the case of Red Hot (1998), Miracle Run (2008), El Cubo (1997), Son-Rise (1979) or Beyond Reality (1986).
