Written By Najwa Bashir

Whether you are a psychology student looking for movies and shows to understand the diagnostic features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or someone just interested in enhancing your knowledge about this psychiatric disorder, add the following 10 movies and shows on autism to your watch list! Each of these movies and shows showcases autism in its unique way and will surely serve the purpose you are planning to watch them for!

Hollywood Movies

Rain Man (1988)

Rain Man, with Tom Cruise as the autistic child, is an original and famous movie that changed the way movies hugely show autism. This thriller from 1988, directed by Barry Levinson, got great reviews. Tom Cruise plays Charlie Babbitt, and Dustin Hoffman plays Raymond Babbitt, Charlie’s older brother, who is presented as having autism. The movie is about Charlie, a young man who is self-centered and interested in material things. He finds out about his long-lost brother Raymond when their father dies and leaves Raymond a large income. Charlie goes on a road trip with Raymond at first because he wants to save money, but he ends up learning a lot about his brother’s illness and the amazing skills that come with it.

A Brilliant Young Mind (2014)

For people with autism, making new friends can be hard, especially when they are teenagers. This movie is good for the whole family because it shows how a smart young man who has trouble making friends makes friends with a girl when he makes it onto the British team for the International Mathematics Olympiad. The moving story shows that even though it can be hard, making new friends can be done if you have ASD. His family will cheer for both his team and his new friendship.

Fly Away (2011)

The story of Fly Away is about how hard it is for Jeanne to be with her autistic teenage daughter Mandy. Mandy does a lot of bad things that Jeanne has to deal with while she tries to run her own life. Mandy’s behavior gets so bad at one point that her mother has to care for her 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and loses her job as a result. Mandy’s father and Jeanne need to find out if domestic placement is a choice for her. This could give her a safe place to live and more freedom.

Hollywood Shows

Atypical (2017)

This show is about a young man with autism who is 18 years old and wants to find a girlfriend and won’t let the fact that his mother is watchful stop him. His search throws his family into a panic as they try to find their freedom and learn how hard it has been to care for someone with ASD. It’s a show that makes you feel good, breaks your heart, and makes you think.

The Good Doctor (2017)

In The Good Doctor, a young autistic surgeon and genius from a difficult past moves from Wyoming to busy San Jose, California, to work at a famous hospital. His amazing skills and gifts as a surgeon keep him going as he deals with relationships and other problems in a new place. This show is a great medical story that shows the beautiful, unique, and complicated conflicts of life with ASD.

Bollywood Movies

Barfi (2012)

Jhilmil is a young girl with autism who is played by Priyanka Chopra in the movie. Priyanka learned a lot about autistic kids and how they act to get ready for the part. This comedy-drama movie was one of the best-reviewed and most-bought movies of that year. It was also India’s official entry for the 85th Academy Award for “Best Foreign Language Film.” Jhilmil, played by Priyanka Chopra, is autistic and finds love with Barfi, played by Ranbir Kapoor, who is deaf and dumb. Through Jhilmil’s trip, the movie did a great job of showing a small part of the daily lives of autistic people and the different ways they feel. Chopra’s performance as the character was so complex and natural that The Forum for Autism (FFA) asked her to be the face of their campaign.

Yuuvraj (2008)

The role played by Anil Kapoor in the 2008 movie Yuuvraj is said to have autism. In the movie, he plays Gyanesh, a rock star musician. The movie is based on the Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman movie Rain Man. In that movie, Hoffman plays a genius with autism.

The main focus of everything is Gyanesh Yuvvraaj. However, since he is autistic and a genius, he has no idea what money is, so his huge fortune doesn’t affect him at all. He only wants love. Without it, he dies. He has a genius problem by some strange turn of events. He has been very good at all kinds of singing since he was a child. He walks into Deven’s world of music and instantly turns into the hero Deven always wanted to be.

Turkish Shows

Dönence

Gece is at the heart of the story in this drama. She had planned to go to college and spend the summer making music with her boyfriend Emir. But she had to change her plans because her disabled sister Gülce is having a hard time in Istanbul with all the noise and people. Gece finds herself in Foça with her family out of the blue because she doesn’t want to leave her lover and all her dreams in Istanbul. Right away, her whole world changes, then she meets Özgür, a teacher at the sailing club where her brother is a member. After his parents died in a fire, Özgür, a beautiful young man, has given his whole life to his brother Rüzgar, who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Gece learns how to look at life more maturely as she spends more time with Özgür, and Özgür learns from Gece that she shouldn’t put life off.

Mucize Doktor

This drama is about Ali, a young autistic genius who just graduated from medical school and had a hard childhood. He is very smart, but his situation makes it hard for him to talk to other people. He really wants to become a surgeon. Adil is Ali’s uncle and the head doctor at the Anka Private Hospital. When Ali gets a good score in TUS, he wants to hire him as an assistant doctor in the hospital where he is the top physician. The hospital, on the other hand, is very against Adil. Ali has to deal with a lot of problems in this new world. Because of how smart he is, he helps many people, gets through tough times, and saves lives. But because of his situation, he also makes mistakes along the way. On the other hand, he keeps fighting his handicap and tries to figure out how to talk to other people. He learns what it means to be a person and slowly starts to stand on his own. In that hospital, Ali learns more than just how to be a surgeon.

Pakistani Dramas

Pyar ke Sadke

Pyar ke Sadke, which was written by Zanjabeel Asim, screens the main characters, Bilal Abbas and Yumna Zaidi. Both of them have Autism Spectrum Disorder and are dealing with life’s problems in their unique ways. Even though they both think about what they want in life all the time, it is clear that they are willing to fight hard for it. It gets worse for both characters because they have to keep up with the rest of the world and even go ahead of it. After all, that’s what their gender roles and societal rules say they should do. The weight of hopes and disappointments is so great that constant pain is unavoidable. Pyar ke Sadkey shows the sad truths of life in the best way possible. The beautiful plot is made even better by the light humor and real feelings of someone with ASD. As the series goes on, we see more changes and unexpected events. We also get to see Yumna and Bilal find peace in each other because only they can understand the pain that their society causes them.