The real Rainman dies

downfader

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -dies.html

Very sad, an amazing man despite his condition

BigJimmyB

Shows you just how capable our brains are, if wired differently....

RIP

rake

capable? he had trouble combing his hair or tying his shoes.

Anonymous

rake wrote:

capable? he had trouble combing his hair or tying his shoes.

Be careful..............

penugent

RIP Rain-man.

My son's best friend at PS had this condition. Like the Rain-man the boy excelled in some skills, but was woefull with others. Despite that he was a lovely boy and someone that elicited joy and wonderment rather than any feeling of pity.

Frank the tank

Savantism is an exceptional condition.

My son has Aspergers and when young had great difficulty making sense of the world. However due to the effort put in by Mrs Tank, myself, health and educational professionals, social services and no small amount by himself he now holds down regular employment.

The reason I mention this is although he struggled with "simple" tasks he excelled at computers and we were able to turn his exceptional ability to his advantage.

RIP "Rainman".

Porgy

I'm autistic and I'm sh1t at everything.

Hated rainman!! :evil:

Frank the tank

Porgy wrote:

I'm autistic and I'm sh1t at everything.

Hated rainman!! :evil:

If you're being sincere the first part of your post is one of the saddest things I've read.

rake

Porgy wrote:

I'm autistic and I'm sh1t at everything.

Hated rainman!! :evil:

i think he means the film.
its a broad spectrum. locally an autistic youth killed a young girl at a christmas party a few years ago.

Porgy

Frank the tank wrote:

Porgy wrote:

I'm autistic and I'm sh1t at everything.

Hated rainman!! :evil:

If you're being sincere the first part of your post is one of the saddest things I've read.

Don't be sad. I am being sincere, but as I read somewhere recently autism is a variable condition. I get good days and bad days. On bad days I just have to give up trying to achieve anything.

I'm not hopeless at everything - on reflection - just very little that's tangiable - but on a good day my brain works very well indeed - but nothing easily definable like being good at maths or computers i'm afraid.

I guess I'm lucky really - I've always had a job, have friends, been married twice, so probably hasn't affected me too badly.

Most people who meet me would never guess I was autistic in a million years - probably just think I'm a little odd or eccentric. :?

Porgy

rake wrote:

Porgy wrote:

I'm autistic and I'm sh1t at everything.

Hated rainman!! :evil:

i think he means the film.

Yeah - I mean the film - I wasn't diagnosed when I saw the film - but something about that film just really upset me and I've never been able to watch it since.

These days I am constantly bombarded with the Rainman stereotype so it's no wonder I'm a little touchy about the whole thing. Most autistic people I have met (or even all?) cope worse than I do and none of them as far as I can tell have any sort of 'superpower'.

Shame really - it would be some compensation.

Porgy

rake wrote:

locally an autistic youth killed a young girl at a christmas party a few years ago.

Do you think that was because he was autistic?

Do you think autistic people are dangerous?

rake

no. i didnt mean to imply that. just remarking its such a broad and varied thing its hard to categorise. i think i need to read a book on how to be tactful. il get my coat. :oops:

Porgy

rake wrote:

no. i didnt mean to imply that. just remarking its such a broad and varied thing its hard to categorise. i think i need to read a book on how to be tactful. il get my coat. :oops:

Ha - never mind - I didn;t think you meant that - just wanted to give you a chance to say so. 8)

downfader

Have worked with autistic people a few times, my cousin has mild autism too apparently - though the doctor seems unkeen to diagnose fully incase it sets her back.

On of my former workmates had aspergers, seeing that and seeing truely debilitating autism shows a real spectrum. Savantism is something else entirely... like comparing chalk and cheese, I find it amazing how one part of the brain can be affected in so many different ways

teticio

interestingly the wikipedia article on kim peek asserts that he did not have autism but FG syndrome.

its clear that rainman* totally glamourized autism but it did an enormous amount to bring it to the attention of society. since then, many people are aware that an "autistic spectrum" exists (perhaps as an indirect consequence of the awareness generated by the film). it is very important not to pigeonhole people... unfortunately, the common misconception that autistic people have got "superpowers" isn't very helpful and rainman has a lot to answer for on that front.

i very much enjoyed reading a (fictional) book, supposedly (but not actually) written by a severly autistic boy. its pretty famous: "the curious incident of the dog in the night".

lastly, the whole question of "intelligence" is interesting. it seems to us that it is incredibly intelligent to be able to perfectly record a book and yet this is a trivial task for a computer. just the simple task (for us) of buttoning our shirts is incredibly complex and i would be surprised to see a robot built capable of doing this (and not just this) in my lifetime. and this does not even begin to compare to the intelligence needed to guess whether someone is telling the truth or not, or just simply telling a joke.

* ps: when i say rainman i refer to the film of course

Anonymous

Both my son's have Aspergers. It can be tough but like frankthetank says, if you put the time in (as with any child) they hopefully will lead normalish lives. The Rainman film was at quite an extreme scale, institutionalised living etc but very good in a personal way for ASD people as it brought ASD conditions into the spotlight for the first time.

RIP, Kim Peek.

BigJimmyB

rake wrote:

capable? he had trouble combing his hair or tying his shoes.

My point being that while he was a genius in some respects, he couldn't relate to the 'real' world and struggled with things most us take for granted.

So what I'm saying is the human brain is capable of great things, even if 'normal' functions are by-passed, thus demonstrating what an amazing organ the human brain is.

Try engaging your brain and reading posts fully before typing

Parkpre Boy

My 7 year old son is autistic, really winds me up when you tell people and they assume that all autustic people must be really inteligent or have strict routines. The Rain Man movie is very good and if you watch it knowing an autistic person it is very true to life. This year our son was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which is not good news for his future but we live every day to the full and make his life as varied and interesting as we can.

RIP Rain Man