I Am Sam...

I am not new to the world of blogging, but I have decided to expand my postings encompassing another topic: Education. As an educator for 9 years, I have lots to say about my experiences; however, we will save that for another blog. Let us begin with a more recent journey: this past semester of grad school. It has been an amazing few months, as I took the challenge of enrolling in an Intro Autism class. A journey that has opened my eyes to children with autism in ways I never could have imagined. One of my assignments was to watch a movie that depicted the a character who either displayed signs of autism or was completely diagnosed.

With that said, the movie I chose to watch was I Am Sam. A young man who is mentally challenged, played by Sean Penn, is fighting for his rights as a father to win back his daughter, played by Dakota Fanning. She was taken away from her father at the age of 8, as Sam was seen mentally incapable of raise his daughter. In comes a high strung lawyer, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, to help him get his daughter back. I won't begin to touch my critique of the movie itself, but I will briefly discuss Sam's role in the movie and his life as a man living with autism.

It was clear from the beginning that Sam was obsessive about order, as the movie began with him organizing the sugar packets and mug displays at Starbucks. His need for repetition was apparent though out the movie: eating at IHOP and ordering the same meal, reading Green Eggs and Ham multiple times in any given night to his daughter, and his various scheduled evenings with his friends, such as movie night. It was also evident that he struggled with understanding personal space when he would hug people he barely knew. His lack of understanding to social norms, which led him to get arrested, is definitely an occurrence that happens too often to teenagers and adults with autism.

There was also a constant battle through out the movie of how society negatively viewed adults with mental disabilities. Unfortunately, one that doesn't seem to be dissipating any time soon. The question of whether someone living with autism, or anyone who has the mind of a child, may have the ability to raise a child is definitely a heavily debated issue. What do I think? Of course, after watching this movie, which is very "hollywood", one might rush to say that all mentally challenged adults are capable of raising children, as long as they show love. I can not answer this question in a simple yes or no format. In my opinion, each individual needs to be evaluated separately and I wouldn't even give myself the credit of making that decision.  Was the movie a 4 star? Well, I wouldn't go that far but if I am led to think and discuss a topic after any movie, then it must be worth watching.