Savant Syndrome and Kim Peek
Introduction Autism is “a developmental disorder that is characterized by impaired development in communication, social interaction, and behavior,” (Dryden-Edwards, 2010). However, savant syndrome is a very rare form of autism that “occurs when a person with below normal intelligence displays a special talent or ability in a specific area,” (Davidson, 2012). The criteria for DSM-IV is “organized into three categories of symptoms, conceptually approximating Wing and Gould’s (1979) triad of impairment: (a) impairment in social interactions, (b) impairment in communication, and (c) restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities,” (Wallace, 2008).In the movie Rain Man the protagonist named Raymond Babbitt clearly shows signs of having savant syndrome. “Rain Man illustrates the problems people with autism have in forming and maintaining relationships, and, in that sense at least shows us they are really not that different from the rest of us,” (Parish, 2008). Charlie Babbitt came into Raymond’s life only by chance because of the death of their father. Charlie is a young exotic car dealer that is having a lot of financial difficulties at the time. He comes to find out that his father has an undisclosed trustee that is inheriting $3 million dollars on behalf of an unnamed beneficiary. In search of this trustee, Charlie comes to find that the money is going to a mental institution. When visiting the mental institution, Charlie finds out that he has an older brother and that his brother, Raymond, is “special”. The behaviors displayed by Raymond are aligned with the three symptoms under the DSM-IV criteria, which were previously stated. Charlie takes the extreme measure of kidnapping Raymond from the mental institution in hopes of a monetary exchange for the amount of $1.5 million dollars. Charlie quickly realizes that his brother has a severe disability and when taken out of his daily routine results in erratic behavior. Quicker
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