A consideration of Savant Syndrome encountered by 10% of the autistic population in the movie Rain Man.

1. a study in
Savant Syndrome
By Debra Caruthers

2. The Movie
Rain Man was the highest grossing film in 1988 and winner of four Academy Awards including "Best
Picture." The film called attention to a particular rarity found within the autistic community,
that of "Savant Syndrome." The plot focuses on the forcibly estranged relationship of two brothers.
Charlie Babbitt, played by Tom Cruise, is the much younger brother who, as the movie opens, doesn't even
consciously know that he has a brother. The older sibling is Raymond Babbitt, played by Dustin Hoffman.
Raymond is the autistic savant character who has been living happily enough in a respectable institution.

3. Charlie does have a childhood memory of a person named the "Rain Man." Charlie has always believed that
the "Rain Man" was just his imaginary friend. In the middle of the film, Charlie discovers that the
special friend he used to call "Rain Man" was actually his older brother "Raymond." Upon the
death of their mother back when Charlie was a baby, Raymond was sent away to live in an institution when
his father perceived that Raymond's disabilities posed a threat to the family's security. Charlie was too young
to remember this but Raymond remembers seeing Charlie wave good-bye to him.

4. The adult Charlie and his father suffered a
falling out decades ago over what Charlie
perceived as an authoritarian grip exercised
by Mr. Babbitt and his stubborn refusal to
allow Charlie to drive the father's prized
classic Buick on one night of high school
celebration. Charlie winds up moving to the
west coast and never speaks to his father
again.
The plot of the movie takes off when
Charlie, still unaware of his brother’s
existence, learns that his father has died.
Furthermore, Charlie has been
essentially disinherited by his father,
being given basically just this classic car.
On the other hand, his autistic,
institutionalized brother has just
inherited $3,000,000.

5. The story progresses as a journey of discovery.
Charlie is about to receive a one-week crash course
in what it’s like to live with an autistic brother.

6. The Psychology
Raymond’s primary caregiver explains Savant
Syndrome to Charlie. “They have certain
deficiencies and certain abilities. He's autistic,
actually, high-functioning. It's a disability
that impairs the sensory input and how
it's processed. Raymond has a problem
communicating and learning,” he explains.
“There are dangers
everywhere for Raymond,
routines and rituals. Any
break from his routine is
terrifying for him. He
doesn't understand the
concept of money.”

7. Charlie kidnaps Raymond from the institution with intent to hold Raymond for
ransom. It’s terribly unfair to Charlie that a man who has no grasp of the
concept of money should be in possession of $3 million. Half belongs to him.

8. One of Raymond’s ritual behaviors is that he must have a few toothpicks to
accompany his meal. As a waitress scrambles to open a fresh box,
Raymond demonstrates a by-product of his syndrome: flash counting.

9. “82 … 82 … 82. 246. There’s 246
toothpicks.”
The waitress spilled all but four
toothpicks from a carton count of 250.
Raymond took one look at the mess
of toothpicks on the floor and instantly
and accurately assessed the total:
246.

10. MEDICAL
CORROBORATION
This paper published at NIH.gov
backs up the film’s premise. Dr.
Darold Treffert says “The
condition is rare but one in 10
autistic persons show some savant
skills. The special skills are
always accompanied by
prodigious memory. Whatever
the special abilities, a remarkable
memory of a unique and uniform
type welds the condition together.
Terms such as automatic,
mechanical, concrete and habit-
like have been applied to this
extraordinary memory.”

11. Raymond studies the pattern of
how the clothes in a dryer tumble.
A particular red sock always falls
the same way.

12. Connections
By accident, Charlie and Raymond achieve
an emotional breakthrough by recalling a
mutual childhood trauma involving scalding
bath water. This scene alludes to
Psychodynamic Theory that is discussed
in our textbook on page 245. Charlie figures
out “Rain Man” is Raymond.

13. Finally, cash-strapped Charlie figures out at least one way
to put Raymond’s computer-like counting skills to work ….

14. “Rain Man, let’s play some cards.”

15. The film ends on a bittersweet note. In spite of the breakthrough that Charlie
and Raymond achieve, Charlie realizes it’s best for Raymond to return to the
institution and promises to come visit often. No more Vegas trips!

16. REFERENCES
1. "The savant syndrome: an
extraordinary condition. A synopsis:
past, present, future," by Darold A.
Treffert. (Published May 27, 2009 at
NIH.gov)
2. "The Everything Psychology Book,"
by Kendra Cherry. Second edition,
2010.
3. "Rain Main," article about the 1988
film, Wikipedia.
4. All images from the movie "Rain Man"
(1988) are copyright Metro-Goldwyn-
Mayer Studios, Inc.