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What's new at Alternative Choices? Our Blogspot: We are pleased to announce that Alternative Choices is blogging! Check us out at: http://alternativechoicespa.blogspot.com/ We will post information and musings about topics related to psychotherapy, families with special needs, autism spectrum disorders, relationships, mental health issues, psychology in the media, and various other relevant topics. We encourage your comments, feedback, and suggestions. The information provided on our blog is for educational purposes only and should NOT be used as a substitute for professional therapy. Autism Spectrum evaluations: Our comprehensive diagnostic evaluations are appropriate for children beginning at age 2 as well as for teens, and adults of any age. The process involves assessment instruments, record reviews, specific testing, parental interviews, and sometimes observation in the school or home. Call Dr. Naseef or Dr. Ariel directly to arrange an evaluation or for more information. Click here for details. "Adam" Movie Review (by Kate Altman) After having spent an entire day researching Asperger's Syndrome or AS (as I often do, as it is the subject of my dissertation study) last week, my husband and I went to see "Adam". Hugh Dancy plays Adam, an intelligent, astronomy-obsessed, 29 year-old man with AS living in New York City whose father (with whom he lived in a meticulous apartment) has just died. The now-alone (and we presume, lonely, though being neurotypical, we may be wrong) Adam eats the same cereal for breakfast and the same mac and cheese for dinner every day. In between, he works as an engineer for a toy manufacturer. His world is further complicated when, soon after his father's death, he meets a comely new neighbor, Beth, who finds him cute, if quirky. Romance, as it often does in the movies, blossoms. What is it like to date a person with autism? The movie tackles this question head-on and reveals the experience in the details: Adam, sitting on his front stoop watches cluelessly as Beth struggles to carry her heavy load of groceries up the steps to their building, and ignores her hints that she could use a hand; Beth gazes seductively at Adam as they lie on his bed together and Adam deadpans, "Would you like sex now?"; Adam discovers that Beth has lied to him (what most of us would consider a white lie) and he has a knickknack throwing, arm-flailing, meltdown. When it comes to autism, Dancy gives a convincing thoughtful, dynamic performance. Being a natural skeptic, I would start to consider this portrayal stereotypical at times (like when he was especially clueless about a social situation or went off on a particularly long and inappropriate monologue about one of his special interest topics), but when I imagined one of my autistic patients in the same situation, I would realize that he was dead-on. While Dancy's performance was usually relatively subtle, the script, often, was not. At times, the movie took on an educational-video feel. Early in the movie, Adam discloses his Asperger's Syndrome to Beth and goes on to explain, in clinical detail, the symptoms of the disorder and even defines terms like "mindblindness". His speech is accurate and impressive, just unnatural as supposed organic dialogue between two new lovers. Soon after this scene, Beth a schoolteacher, asks her school's principal about AS. Again, the principal's response sounds like something out of Autism for Dummies rather than natural dialogue between two coworkers. Though I found these scenes a bit hard to take as a moviegoer (and my husband wholeheartedly agreed), I appreciated them as a therapist who strongly supports public understanding and acceptance of individuals with autism. Adam has AS and with that comes many challenges and a lot of mystery, but he is also honest, straightforward and utterly unique. The film does a lovely, if at times flawed, job of introducing the world to another dimension of autism and the hurdles and benefits of loving someone on the autism spectrum.
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