Let’s Go to the Movies

If a person has autism, quite often they are not comfortable in social situations, and loud noises are accentuated due to hypersensitivity, making it extremely uncomfortable, if not painful, for them to be in situations where there are loudspeakers and loud music.

This is not true of all individuals with autism, but it occurs in a large number of individuals. Because of these and other issues, it is often not possible to take a child with autism to the movies.

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Autism and the Media

There is a lot of information on the motion picture scene that is swirling around the topic of autism and other mental health issues this week.

First, the organization supporting individuals with autism, Autism Speaks, is protesting the movie “Tropical Thunder” starring Ben Stiller and Robert Downey, Jr. The film, by DreamWorks, is about an actor who is playing the part of a soldier, but had previously had the role of an individual who had a mental disability. The character with the disability had been called Simple Jack, and the movie not only made light of that, but put labels on individuals dealing with these problems.

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