p>‘synthesis’ of your contributions
Autism is a disorder characterized by developmental delay. It is generally described as a ‘spectrum’. This term means that there are different kinds of autism and not one single set of behaviours amongst people diagnosed with autism. It generally includes some of the following characteristics:
o extreme discomfort with the unfamiliar
o monotone or echolalic (repeating words spoken by others as in echoing) speech patterns, or
sometimes incoherent speech or remaining mostly mute.
o Difficulty understanding social cues
o Unusual preoccupations
o Obsessive compulsive repetitive behaviours
o Hypersensitivity to sounds
o Lack of empathy and difficulty responding to affection and touching
o Unwillingness to make eye contact with others
Autism does not mean shyness, social awkwardness or eccentricity. People diagnosed with autism rarely exhibit all of the above characteristics and behaviours. Approximately 1 in 400 children are diagnosed with this disorder, generally before the age of three, and three out of four of those diagnosed are males. The reasons for this are unclear. Treatments are evolving and generally involve specialized early intervention and management. Some autistic people are endowed with exceptional skills in particular areas such as manipulating numbers and mathematics or have artistic abilities or special gifts in particular areas such as working with animals. Asperger’s syndrome (AS) is the term often used to characterize high functioning people diagnosed with autism. However, it is important to recognise that there is some debate about whether Asperger’s should be described as ‘high functioning autism’ because it has distinct characteristics. The sites listed here provide information about autism and are clearly indexed with many useful links:
http://www.autismvictoria.org.au
http://www.autismhelp.info/htm/spectrum/faq.htm
In addition, the second listed website provides a number of Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about autism.
Representations of autism in film and literature
Writers and filmmakers have represented autism through a range of characters in films and books. Such popular portrayals both inform and define public views about disabilities like autism, but how far do they really represent the complex realities of living with autism for families and individuals? Some students may be familiar with Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, set for study on many English courses, or perhaps have seen Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1988), a film starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise as brothers. Each is a story about an individual with Asperger’s syndrome, a type of autism, represented in a way that makes the central character a kind of heroic eccentric. The autistic character is shown as ‘otherworldly’, living in his own private and unknowable world. Other films dealing with autism include Mercury Rising (Harold Becker, 1998), Mask (Peter Bogdanovich, 1985) and Molly (John Duigan, 1998). The Black Balloon is different as it looks steadily at a family living each day with an autistic teenager. Charlie is neither a high-functioning Asperger’s sufferer who initiates his own activities and challenges like Christopher Boone in Haddon’s novel, nor a ‘savant’ like Raymond Babbit in Rain Man, with a phenomenal memory for counting cards. The Black Balloon is not so much a ‘warts and all’ story as a ‘warts, tears and smiles’ film that deals compassionately with how a family lives with the challenges of bringing up two sons, one of whom has a disability.
Tutorial Activity and Discussion
Before you watch The Black Balloon, you will be assigned to focus your attention on one of the five main characters: Thomas, Charlie, Maggie, Simon or Jackie. Your task is to put yourself in their shoes, as far as this is possible. This will make it easier to talk and write about the film after you have watched it. Read through the questions below (1. The Family Dynamic) relating to your chosen character before watching the film.
1. The family dynamic
Simon, Maggie, Charlie and Thomas are a close-knit family unit, soon to be added to by the child Maggie is carrying. However, as in all families, there are tensions, some of them a result of Thomas’s conflicted feelings about living with Charlie and the difficulties this creates.
a. Being Thomas
Put yourself in Thomas’ position and describe some of the incidents shown in the film that he finds particularly difficult.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
o How are the difficulties about moving to a new neighbourhood and a new school shown?
o Explain how some of the really gross things Charlie does affect Thomas, e.g. running into Jackie’s
house, poo smearing, supermarket tantrum, masturbating in front of Jackie at the birthday tea,
trying to eat Jackie’s tampon, spitting at people.
o Who are the people who help Thomas to understand that Charlie is always going to behave in
ways that are not regarded as ‘normal’ because of his disability?
o Everyone’s family can be embarrassing sometimes. What do Thomas’ parents do and say that he
finds embarrassing?
o Describe three scenes in the film that show Thomas sharing his life with Charlie.
b. Being Charlie
It is difficult for anyone to know what it is like being disabled when they’re not, but it’s important to at
least try to develop an empathetic understanding of how life is for Charlie.
o Explain when Charlie seems to be calm and happy, part of both his own and his family’s world.
o What activities give him pleasure and a sense of achievement?
o What situations does Charlie find especially difficult to respond to without becoming distressed?
o How do we know how Charlie is feeling?
o Given Charlie’s limited capacity to communicate through speech, what are his
main ways of communicating his feelings?
o What are some of Charlie’s achievements in the film?
o How is he shown to have feelings of sorrow and affection for his family?
o After the poo incident, Maggie says to Thomas, ‘Your brother will never be able to do the things
you can do. He’ll never have a job or a family; he’ll live with us for the rest of his life’. What does
this tell us and Thomas about the reality of being Charlie?
c. Being Maggie
Maggie is in the final stages of pregnancy and has developed pre-eclampsia, a condition that can
develop in late pregnancy, characterized by high blood pressure and other symptoms.
It can put both the safety of the mother and baby at risk and requires rest and care.
o How would you describe Maggie’s personality?
o How is her love for her sons expressed in the film?
o How would you describe her marriage to Simon?
o What particular demands might caring for an 18-year old disabled son place on her time and
energy?
o Is she able to successfully juggle the demands of her family with her own needs for time and rest?
o What slightly unusual significance does ‘bath time’ have in this family?
d. Being Simon
o What qualities in Simon might be seen as a bit eccentric but also quite endearing?
o What skills does he demonstrate as a father and minder when Maggie is hospitalized?
o Do you think he places too much responsibility and expectations on Thomas in caring for Charlie?
o In what ways does Simon embarrass Thomas?
o When Thomas asks his father if he ever wished Charlie was normal, Simon says, ‘your mother
thinks we got Charlie because we’re capable … strong enough to deal with it. All I know is he’s my
own’. What does this answer tell us about Simon’s approach to life?
o How does he react to the Department of Community Services visiting the house?
o What aspects of his personality reflect his army work?
e. Being Jackie
While many students would no doubt like to have Gemma Ward, the beautiful girl who plays Jackie in
the film, as a girlfriend living round the corner and teaching them to swim, she is first of all a friend to
Thomas and Charlie Mollison.
o What is it in Jackie’s friendship with Thomas that helps him to accept his brother?
o How does she encourage Thomas to include Charlie in their life and daily activities?
o In what ways does her attraction to Thomas make his life at school less difficult, particularly in
relation to the other students?
o ‘Easy for you to say, he’s not your brother’, says Thomas to Jackie. How does she respond?
o What does she like about the Mollison family?
o What does her birthday present to Thomas show us about her feelings for him?
o How does the scene where the three of them are in army bushland during the storm both advance
the romance and intensify the friendship between the three main characters?
o What does her response to the Afloat concert show us about her increasing closeness with the
Mollisons?
2. Outsiders – peer pressures, neighbours
There are a number of other people in this film, some of whom spy, jeer, stare, are annoyed by, and sometimes interact with, Charlie and his family.
a. Which of the non-family members in the film demonstrate decent concern and care for Charlie and Thomas?
b. Describe some of the ignorant teasing, mimicking and jeering of Charlie and his schoolmates that we see in the film? What does this suggest about peer pressure? Consider the discussion about peer pressure in the Guerin and Guerin chapter.
c. How do the Mollisons’ neighbours react to them, and particularly to Charlie and his unusual behaviour? Put yourself in the position of the next door neighbour, who contacts community services, and try and understand what it is like for her to live with the banging and shouting coming from the Mollison house. You may have experienced noisy neighbours yourself and know how annoying they can be!
d. How do people outside the immediate family help in his care?
e. Did you find the behaviour displayed by Thomas’ classmates to be an accurate reflection of how disability and difference is treated?
f. How can people become better educated about responding to and accepting the often unpredictable behaviour of autistic people and those with other forms of intellectual disability?
g. Why do you think many families are reluctant to place their disabled children in the care of others, even for short periods of time?
h. Many disabled students now attend mainstream schools. Should (and could) students with special needs like Charlie be integrated into schools?
3. Time, place and title
o While The Black Balloon is a film about a timeless and universal subject. When and where is it set?
o What clues are there in the film that might indicate the time and place when the story takes place?
Make a list of some of the things in the film that might identify whether it is set in the 1980s, 1990s or 2000s. (Don’t assume people don’t still drive 1969 Valiant cars.) Consider the music, the television, Nintendo® Games, bikes and how people dress, as well as the social attitudes shown in the film.
o Discuss what you think the title of the film might refer to. A black balloon does appear when the film titles are on screen early in the film. What does a black balloon suggest to you?
The main assignment for HLTH2105 revolves around a character from the movie The Black Balloon. In Week 4, we will watch the DVD The Black Balloon during tutorials. Just before watching the DVD, you will draw from a hat a character’s name from the DVD. You will then watch the DVD and think about how life is for your particular character using some questions provided in the Study Guide for The Black Balloon that is available on FLO. You should review these before coming to class in week 4 and these will be discussed in Week 5. You will then draw a different name for the character you will focus on for your essay. You are permitted to trade your character with someone else, but it is important for you to reflect on why you would prefer some characters over the others, or why you do not want to write about certain characters. But you are required to explore a different character to the one you discuss in class.
There will be a specific Discussion Board set up in FLO to discuss the DVD and the assignment.
Required:
• Your essay needs to include discussion of topics as they relate to health psychology as well as clearly linking the discussion back to specific points in the DVD relating to your character.
• Your essay should include at least one psychological or concept that relates to understanding your character (e.g., stress and coping theories, health behaviour change, Hendry and Kloep’s theory, social determinants of health, theories of loss, etc.)
• Your essay must include implications for practice for you as a health professional. Revisit the questions from the tutorial activity relating to your character. These may help you to think about what to write about your character. Also, below is a list of questions and key ideas that can guide the discussion in your essay. You should choose between 3-5 of these items to help you with your discussion:
• What examples of the health care system are presented in the DVD and what do they indicate about how the health care system functions? (consider health care priorities, policy and practice)
• Discuss of the social model of health and illness and its relevance
• Describe psychological and social influences that contribute to how people stay healthy, become ill and respond to illness in the DVD
• Consider any issues relating to treatment adherence and identify factors that enhance or inhibit adherence to treatment.
• Consider psychological or social issues related to food or nutrition
• How does loss affect your character? What theory of loss is most relevant to the
character you are discussing?
• What examples of coping are demonstrated in the DVD? Ensure you link your discussion to theory from academic sources.
• What relationships/ social networks are demonstrated in the DVD? Link your discussion of the importance and diversity of relationships and social networks to academic sources.
• What cultural aspects can you identify in the DVD that influence your character?
• Identify the approximate age of your character and how age might influence how your character behaves, thinks and feels. Link this to academic sources.
• Discuss the gender dynamics that influence your character.
• Consider social and economic status and the relevance for understanding your character.
• Identify positive coping strategies or elements of resilience that relate to your character.
o Ensure that your essay conforms to the Social Health Sciences House Style
as described above.
o The word count starts at the title and ends before the reference list. The word count includes everything in-between. Remember that there are no penalties for word counts + or – 10%. When writing your essay, consider whether your essay meets the criteria rather than excessively focusing on the word count.
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