“If Charlie could communicate more than his basic needs, I think he would tell us that autism is not a super power for him, because I see his pain with my own eyes when he is unable to explain himself.” That is how American journalist Eileen
Lamb once described her 8-year-old autist son. Their reality is far from the picture of autists we often see in films such as Rain Man and even in many documentaries.
In the world of film, autists often have extraordinary gifts – they can count cards, make complex calculations in a split second or remember every detail of their day. But 90% of autists do not have such extreme mental gifts. Some 25-50% find it difficult even to say more than a few words, as was the case with Eileen’s son,
