For anyone who has had to live with, deal with, care for, or manage a child with autism, the so-called autistic girl in Rose Red is a gross misrepresentation of the disorder.
I know--my child was born in 2000, and everyday is a struggle.
Well she was also telekenisis which would cause a diverse affect on the character not potraying a austistic person. So with her have this special abilities thats why you don't see it like it is.
share[deleted]
"And for God's sake, it's just a Horror Mini-series. Don't take it so seriously."
You are right, of course--it isn't reality--just a movie. But the point I meant was that a lot of people (not necessarily the smart people) see this stuff and think it is an accurate portrayal of autism. The girl in the movie is too calm, too serene. In real autism, the kids need a huge amount of routine in their lives. Any deviation from that can cause huge temper tantrums--fussing, kicking, running in panic, etc.
Are you trying to tell us that every autistic child is exactly the same? If so, you're just wrong. A good friend of mine has an autistic child that doesn't act at all in the way you describe.
Two wrongs don't make a left hand turn.
I didn't think she actually was autistic, I thought that was just a label they stuck on her to try and explain why she was so different. The actual diagnosis of telekinetic child wuld not have been likely to be written in her medical notes. It was just a way of defining her medically and autistic was the closest label they had.
shareExactly. Her psychic abilities limited her communication abilities. Doctors looked at her as autistic. Even though that's not what was really wrong with her, it was the closest the doctors could figure.
Two wrongs don't make a left hand turn.
Actually bluedragonone you're wrong. Not all autistic children are the same. Autism affects each child differently, some are severe like you described and some are mild and high functioning. How do I know this???? I am a mother of a 5 year old Autistic boy and let me say this. My son doesn't do any of the things you described. He is non verbal but I can tell you he is always smiling, laughing and is an all around good kid. He has his social anxiety but it isn't nightmarish like you state. You are generalizing all autistic children and you're totally wrong. Early Intervention will help your kid learn to adjust to others. My son goes to a special needs school where he is doing quite well being around other children. In fact taking him out in public isn't bad because he has learned to adjust to the outside noises and all the people. If you do that your kid would be better off. Take your child out in public. Help them get used to the big world and things will be so much better.
Not all children with autism have regular meltdowns. That is also a misrepresentation. Some children with autism are extremely externally calm and introverted- the panics and pain remain firmly inside. My son has autism and is like this. It is a problem in itself because where he is so quiet people often don't realise he is struggling so badly and therefore he misses out on much needed support. This led to my decision to withdraw him from school. Because no one was aware a child was suffering unless they were throwing tables and crying on the floor he was left in positions of terrible anxiety. He would barely sleep because of the stress and fell further and further behind in his development.
Of course many children with autism are as you describe and my heart goes out to you that you have struggled so much with your child, but I don't think we can say that any one experience is THE true reflection of autism.
I agree. I know this is just a movie, but why the inaccurate portrayal of an autistic person? My 13 year old son is autistic and loves Stephen King movies. I won't buy him this one because of the way this girl is portrayed. He is just beginning to understand his autism and I don't want him confused.
shareI agree. My son (aged five, autistic) is already strangely drawn to horror films and when he's old enough to watch them this is one he will not be seeing. Horror film or not, fiction or not, what a bizarre portrayal of autism.
If you're the President you have to know where you are in the space-time continuum.
Because she isn't actually autistic perhaps?
Two wrongs don't make a left hand turn.
I just saw the similar discussion on the Dreamcatcher imdb board. I will reiterate that Stephen King is demeaning the mentally handicapped by presenting them as people who require superheroes. It's extremely insulting that it keeps picking large retarded black men who can heal people, austic girls with telekinetic powers, and white country bumpkins who can hide from Satan. I think the idea comes from King's religious background. He frequently mentions that because "God" screwed these people up in some way they require "something else". I don't think most differently abled people live such abnormal lives. They don't need super-powers to be considered normal.
shareAs I just said to you on the dreamcatcher board, their apparent retardation is a DIRECT result of their abilities. You're looking at these characters backwards.
Two wrongs don't make a left hand turn.
I don't think that's the point Mr. King was trying to make. One of my best friends has an autistic child and to whomever said this your right they do require routine, don't all children?
Why must close-minded people always open their mouths?share
Autistic children are very different from normal children. For example, they don't deal well with change. But that's beside the point. The girl in Rose Red is not really autistic, it's just the explanation the family was given by doctors. It's like doctors telling parents their child has A.d.d.. It isn't always true, it's just an easy answer.
Bender: I was God once.
God: Yes, I saw. You were doing well until everyone died.
In my opinion, I think the reason Annie was written in to be autistic was to protray a symbolic way of uniqueness. As April had her withered arm which made her unique and different, they did the same for Annie to emphasize a diverse group of people all trying to liven up a "dead cell"
shareBoth of my sisters are autistic. The way I see it is, autism is such a HUUUGE umbrella. No two people are alike. Take my sisters for instance. The stereotype for autistic people is that they don't like to be touched...both of my sisters crave human contact. They LOVE to be held, hugged and tickled. Like no two "normal" people are the same, nor are two autistics.
The point is... Newbie is my drunk baby.
I absolutely disagree with you. I have 4 children, and the youngest 2 are autistic. My Autistic son acts very very similar to Annie does. He will make eye contact, he will allow people to touch him, he does tolerate change, and he will yell when he wants to say something. My Autistic daughter, on the other hand, is the exact opposite, throwing constant tantrums, hating change, etc. Autistic people vary by such degrees.
I also completely disagree with those who say they labeled her autistic instead of telekinetic. Sister said "she is telekinetic AND autistic", and she did show signs of autism.
There is a saying I've heard numerous times... "When you've met one Autistic kid, you've met one Autistic kid." no two are alike, and the spectrum is so broad. Many people would never guess that my son is Autistic, because they expect the typical autism. That doesn't make my son any less Autistic than any other Autistic person. He just shows it differently.
I've noticed a lot of Autism in TV and movies, ever since the older of my two autistic kids were diagnosed. I am actually a little tired of all the portrayals being of severe autism, since there are so many degrees of it.
Since I started this thread Two years and six months ago, I have learned so much more about autism - from my own child, and others.
There truly are many faces on the autism spectrum - hopefully the conversation will continue to grow - the more we learn, the better off we are!
I heard recently that stem cell injections can reduce the severity of autism in some situations. Has anybody else heard this?
"I didn't think she actually was autistic, I thought that was just a label they stuck on her to try and explain why she was so different. The actual diagnosis of telekinetic child wuld not have been likely to be written in her medical notes. It was just a way of defining her medically and autistic was the closest label they had."
I have never thought of this before!
That's very interesting!
-Amanda
"She will remember your heart when men are fairy tales in storybooks written by rabbits"
You're probably long gone by now, but hopefully you'll see this someway. From what little I understand about autism, a common component (part of the definition, even?) is lack of ability to read and respond to social cues, body language, facial expressions, etc., and inappropriate responses in and to various situations.
If this girl was telekinetic, especially if she had any sort of learning disability, speech problem, any other developmental hurdle, and nobody could figure out what was going on with either issue, they probably responded to her completely differently, treated her completely differently.
(Like her father in the opening scenes, yelling about her downstairs essentially deeming her retarded and a lost cause, not even thinking she could possibly understand what he was saying about her.)
So she wouldn't have had much opportunity to engage with kids and adults, learn to communicate, observe people interacting with one another and responding to one another. A catch-22; they think she is, so they treat her that way. But because they treat her that way, she can't learn any other way.
This is probably too late, but I'll point it out anyway in case other parents of children with autism read this thread:
I would be highly skeptical of anyone offering stem cell treatments. There are clinics out there offering sham treatments for all kinds of diseases and plastering fancy sciency sounding labels on them like "stem cells". Stem cells may have lots of (potential) medical applications, but the concept is frequently abused by quacks who would like to divorce you from your money by playing on your emotions. See, for example http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/cracking-down-on-stem-ce ll-tourism/ or http://www.autismsciencefoundation.org/what-is-autism/autism-diagnosis /beware-non-evidence-based-treatments.
Stem Cell Therapy: Stem cell therapy for autism is illegal in the United States, but that hasn’t stopped some from offering this as a treatment for autism in Costa Rica, China, and other countries. There is no evidence that the treatment is safe or effective for autism, and no guarantee that the stem cells used in these countries are even human.
I know a lot of times people with disorders like that can be misdiagnosed.
I just assumed that she acted oddly at times because of her powers (focusing too much on the paranormal aspects and not enough to the reality around her). Since the doctors could find no real reason for her behaviour, they slapped a lable of autism on her because she fit that diagnosis more closely than any thing else.
I agree with those who said that you are trying to generalize your experience and apply it to all autistic children. My brother Patrick is autistic and is very much like Annie. He is non-verbal, but calm and serene most of the time. He seems to live mostly in his head, so he is often smiling to himself about his own private thoughts.
He responds to verbal commands as Annie did and doesn't (usually) freak out about changes to his daily routine. He is very social in the sense that he likes being around people, but does not overtly interact with them. He doesn't mind being touched, but never chooses to initiate contact himself. Annie's habit of stealing sidelong glances at people really reminded me of Patrick - he does this all the time. It's his way of checking out a new person.
Autistic people are not clones - there is as much variation among autistics as there is among neurotypicals. Just because your autistic child doesn't resemble Annie's character, does not mean that there aren't autistic people very much like her.
She may have had autism but it was her telekenesis that made her act that way. She didn't talk to anyone because everyone thought she was weird. Her own parents didn't even want to have anything to do with her because they were scared of what she could do.
Sidika&Samuel(;
Every Autistic person is very different from everyone else.
You can go from complete non-verbal, non mobile to Albert Einstein.
Looking to any media to represent your child or who you know is futile.
That said, have you looked into support groups in your area? Or support groups for caretakers?
I just realized you posted this 6 years ago. I hope you have found the help and support you need.
A cunning plan in progress...