Being a clinical psychologist myself, I have to work with autistic children. And being a movie freak, I once decided to download as many movies as possible depicting mental illnesses. When looking for autism I happened to find some very brilliant ones, like Ben-X and this movie.
So far I have found Black Balloon to be one of the best ones in which autism has been displayed as accurately as possible. Acting by Luke Ford (Charlie in the movie) as the autistic child is brilliant, never losing the actual flavor of autism. Reality is shown at its core and the unfolding of the character of Charlie's brother, Thomas has again been displayed brilliantly. The film never bores you and the intensity of relations that emerge in last few minutes thrill you in several ways. The way the character of Thomas has developed might not just be confined to such specific relationships. When interacting with such children, and especially when there is such a child in the family, such realizations are bound to happen to anyone involved.
Surprisingly for therapists too. As a therapist too, one may expect a lot from such children to improve in therapy but the reality is not always fair. Anyone working with such children may get frustrated and exhausted by the repetitive failures and disappointments, but it should be kept in mind that success need not be quantitative, rather qualitative. A simple and minor change in behavior is enough to be considered of significance. Acceptance of the real condition of such children is the key to work successfully with them.
So far I have found Black Balloon to be one of the best ones in which autism has been displayed as accurately as possible. Acting by Luke Ford (Charlie in the movie) as the autistic child is brilliant, never losing the actual flavor of autism. Reality is shown at its core and the unfolding of the character of Charlie's brother, Thomas has again been displayed brilliantly. The film never bores you and the intensity of relations that emerge in last few minutes thrill you in several ways. The way the character of Thomas has developed might not just be confined to such specific relationships. When interacting with such children, and especially when there is such a child in the family, such realizations are bound to happen to anyone involved.
Surprisingly for therapists too. As a therapist too, one may expect a lot from such children to improve in therapy but the reality is not always fair. Anyone working with such children may get frustrated and exhausted by the repetitive failures and disappointments, but it should be kept in mind that success need not be quantitative, rather qualitative. A simple and minor change in behavior is enough to be considered of significance. Acceptance of the real condition of such children is the key to work successfully with them.