AUTISM: I think differently

April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD, World Autism Awareness Day) established in 2007 by the UN General Assembly, the anniversary draws everyone's attention to the rights of people on the autism spectrum.

My world is small

and I'm the only one there,

I don't speak or I confuse you

with strange chatter,

jumps and strange gestures

with the body and with the hands

and fixated on something

my gaze rests,

you wonder what I think,

I seem senseless to you.

They are high and strong walls

Build around me,

I scare you a little,

I'm not like you.

It's another world mine

and you can't get in

I have a different language

and you don't know how to understand.

If you just want to try,

if you take the spaceship,

you will be able to land at my place

and maybe even understand,

because, on every journey,

a new landscape

it opens your eyes and your heart,

to make you better.

(Germana Bruno)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

10 Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew / Ellen Notbohm – Trento: Erickson, 2015.

Until recently, autism was thought to be an "incurable disease." Today, thanks to advances in research, the belief that those affected must give up a meaningful and productive life is no longer valid. Every day, individuals with autism show us that they are able to overcome, compensate for, and manage in alternative ways many of the most challenging aspects of their condition and live fulfilled and dynamic lives. As a writer and mother of a child with autism, the author puts herself in the shoes and minds of those who suffer from this disorder, imagining that they themselves are telling adults the "10 essential things" to keep in mind: 1. I am a child; 2. My senses don't synchronize; 3. Distinguish between what I don't want to do and what I can't do; 4. I interpret language literally; 5. Pay attention to all the ways I try to communicate; 6. Show me! I have a visual mind; 7. Focus on what I can do, not what I can't do; 8. Help me with social interactions; 9. Identify what triggers my meltdowns; 10. Love me unconditionally.

To Siri with Love: A Mother, an Autistic Son, and the Kindness of Machines / Judith Newman ; translated by Veronica Raimo. – Milan: Bompiani Overlook, 2019.

Gus is fourteen and autistic. He doesn't make eye contact and jumps when he's happy, which is almost always. When he discovers that Siri, Apple's voice assistant, can not only retrieve information about his various obsessions—trains, buses, escalators, the weather—but can also talk about them for hours without ever getting impatient, he makes her his best friend. Judith, Gus's mother, begins to feel deeply grateful for this caring machine with its soothing voice and affable manner, which saves her from yet another discussion about the possibility of tornadoes in Kansas City and helps her son communicate with the rest of the world. To Siri with Love is a funny and honest tale of what it's like to live with an extraordinary boy: a boy who can't throw a ball, button his shirt, or use a knife, who sometimes can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy, but can play Beethoven on the piano movingly, who only needs to go anywhere once to find his way back to the rest of his life, who sometimes thinks machines are friends, and doesn't quite understand what a real friend is. But he feels he has one, and he always wants more.

In the end we will come up with something: what will happen to my autistic son when I am no longer by his side / Gianluca Nicoletti – Milan: Mondadori, 2014.

Tommy has just turned sixteen. He's at the age when all teenagers begin to plan for the future and parents prepare to let them walk on their own. But Tommy is a special teenager: sure, he's brilliant at solving a Rubik's Cube, he can stand up straight after spinning like a top for half an hour in his father's office chair, but his gaze struggles to meet yours and his vocabulary is limited to a handful of words. Because Tommy is autistic, a sweet, solitary boy who will struggle to navigate life's paths without someone's help. Tommy "attends" art school, but he has no ambition for a diploma or a degree. The true goal for those like him is independence in the small, everyday tasks: knowing how to wash and dress themselves, tying their shoelaces, slicing zucchini for a plate of pasta to be cooked under the watchful eye of an adult. And if until a year ago, managing his daily life—already far from simple—was still the parents' only problem, now the time has come for them to face new, distressing questions: what will happen to Tommy tomorrow? Who will care for him when his father and mother no longer have the energy to walk beside him? In this book, Gianluca Nicoletti tells us (and himself) what happens "afterward," when your child, unable to communicate, starts to grow a beard and you, in addition to the difficulties of the present, must deal with his future.

The Imaginary Friend / Matthew Dicks; translated by Marina Astrologo and Stefano Tummolini. – Florence; Milan: Giunti, 2019.

For Max, life is a rather complicated affair: he freaks out if he has to choose between two colors, he can't stand the slightest change in plans, he hates being touched, even by his mother, who would love to hug him more. After all, he's nine years old and autistic. Luckily, there's Budo, his invisible and wonderful imaginary friend who never leaves his side and tells us his story from very close up. Until one day, something terrible happens: Budo sees Max leave the schoolyard and disappear into the car of Mrs. Patterson, the special education teacher. He calls out to him, orders him to stop, and chases after him, but it's all in vain. The car speeds away, and for the first time, Budo is alone. From that moment on, no one has heard from Max. And when the police arrive at the school to question the teachers, Budo is the only one who knows for certain that Mrs. Patterson isn't telling the truth. But no one in the world can hear his words, no one, except his missing friend... Where has Max gone? What can Budo do to solve a mystery bigger than himself and get him back?

An autistic child in the family: answers to the daily problems of parents of autistic children / Luigi Mazzone ; preface by Gianluca Nicoletti. – Milan: Mondadori, 2015.

“It took me a long time to overcome my prejudice against doctors. I probed the perplexity, superficiality, and indifference of those humans in white coats who would glance over, write something down, and then postpone the appointment until the next time, always months later. During that time, Tommy, the autistic boy I have as a father, continued to grow, to fret, to act crazy. But evidently they didn't care.” With these bitter words, Gianluca Nicoletti, journalist and author of two bestsellers on autism, expresses the discomfort and sense of isolation that many parents like him have felt in having to face alone the burden of a difficult diagnosis and, subsequently, an educational and growth journey fraught with difficulties and unknowns. With the desperate need to know and understand, in order to continue to love. Luigi Mazzone, a neuropsychiatrist who has been dealing with autism spectrum disorders for years, responds to these fathers and mothers with a book that is a sort of "practical guide", complete and understandable, to help them in the daily management of the small and large problems (from food selectivity to sleep disorders, from ritual and repetitive behaviors to moments of agitation and aggression) that an autistic child presents, but with an eye on the entire span of his or her life.

Me, My Son's Son: What the Parent of an Autistic Person Will Never Tell / Gianluca Nicoletti. – Milan: Mondadori, 2018.

The verdict is frightening: Asperger's syndrome. In Io, Figlio di mio figlio (I, Son of My Son), Gianluca Nicoletti recounts a terrifying yet liberating journey that led him not only to the awareness of his son Tommy's autism, a twenty-year-old antisocial with an above-average IQ, but also to the realization that he himself was affected by neurodiversity. When a psychiatrist reveals to Nicoletti that he too is autistic, the radio journalist is perplexed, but then begins to reinterpret his entire childhood, his need for alone time, his tics, his idiosyncrasies, and all the problems he experienced in his emotional and romantic relationships, through a different lens. The past doesn't lie, and only now does Nicoletti realize this, faced with his son's illness and his own, which appeared to be less severe but still defined as autism. In "I, Son of My Son," the journalist defends the brains he likes to call rebellious, rehabilitating them in a society that fails to see the creativity and resources of an autistic person, whose abilities are certainly above average. Also the author of the documentary film "Tommy and the Others," the journalist father reveals an important part of himself, declaring himself his son's son because Nicoletti no longer understands whether he is the one who brings happiness and support to his son or whether his position is the exact opposite. The book thus allows the reader to shift their perspective on the subject of autism and see their children as the ultimately positive fruit of who we are.

I think with my heart: my son Nino, Asperger's syndrome, and a new vision of the world / Sabrina Paravicini. – Milan: Rizzoli, 2019.

The darkest despair is that of a mother who receives a diagnosis of severe infantile autism for her child, not yet three years old. Over the years, to the surprise of even neuropsychiatrists, it develops into high-functioning autism: Asperger's syndrome. Let's go back about ten years: Sabrina Paravicini is a successful actress and, from one day to the next, she cancels auditions and commitments to devote all her energy to little Nino. To her, her son, even though he repeats endless nursery rhymes and piles objects unfit to fit on top of each other, has never seemed "strange," but he does appear "strange" to his classmates and the teachers at the preschool, with whom he clearly has difficulty relating. Sabrina—terrified that Nino will never learn to read and write, or have a normal life, fall in love, have a family of his own, or have a child—undertakes a difficult journey with him, involving neuropsychiatric visits, endless waits in waiting rooms, battles with bureaucracy, and the wrong therapies that have to be abandoned. But it also involves important encounters with many people experiencing similar difficulties and with professionals who have been able to help them (always in the public sector!). And so, little by little, the miracle unfolds: Nino, with a mother who instills so much love in him, develops a surprising sensitivity and his own sweet, insightful way of communicating and observing reality. A talent so distinct and unique that it even allows him to create and direct, with his mother, the film "Be Kind," about diversity, seen as something we must treat with kindness and value so that we can all learn to live more harmoniously together. And therefore, to be happier.

I Hear Differently: What a 10-Year-Old Child with Asperger's Syndrome Thinks / Paolo Cornaglia Ferraris. – Trento: Erickson, 2006.

What does a 10-year-old child with Asperger's syndrome think? And what about his parents? What are their worries, anxieties, and experiences? The author collects in these pages the story of a child with Asperger's syndrome, written by himself, and the stories of mothers and fathers of other "special" children like him. The book also features worksheets that can help decipher the behavior of a person with Asperger's syndrome, allowing for interventions that facilitate both their desire to be understood and their ability to communicate.

Macchia, Autobiography of an Autistic Man / Pier Carlo Morello. – Milan: Salani, 2016.

Pier Carlo Morello is severely autistic. He doesn't speak, but he can write, thanks to a course in Facilitated Communication that allowed him, among many other things, to complete his studies with a master's degree in Human and Pedagogical Sciences. The subject of his thesis is himself: because, in his words, "my dream would be to awaken the scientific world from its slumber of prejudice about my mental retardation and autism." This book is Pier Carlo's contribution to that awakening, and it is wonderful—because it inspires awe and wonder. It is written in a language that is all the more complex and imperfect the more vivid and moving the images it evokes; a language that overlaps, kneads, twists, and tears syntax to deliver content of strong emotional impact to the reader. But above all, a language that enchants and infects, that makes one want to study it, to learn it, as if it were a foreign language. Every word is dislocated, detached from conventional usage, filled with meaning to construct a work of high literature, a unique work of art. This book, in which Pier Carlo talks about himself, breaking down the wall that separates him from our world and guiding the reader to discover his, is a challenge for everyone, not just those in the field: who is behind that wall? The first answer is doubt: "Many times I've thought that Pier Carlo doesn't exist; there's only the mysterious shadow that accidentally stumbled into this world. Macchia."

My Sister Is a Buster: A Story of Normal Autism / Margherita and Damiano Tercon. – Milan: Mondadori, 2020.

Damiano is a big, burly boy with few friends because he loves spending his days doing things other kids don't understand, like staring at the whirling sound of the washing machine or playing for hours with his grandmother's pot lids. But his true passion is music, especially classical, as he wants to be an opera singer. He also loves jazz, disco, dance, techno, and more. Except for rock music, which his younger sister Margherita blasts in the next room. Margherita, in reality, doesn't have many more friends than Damiano. Ever since she was a child, everyone considered her a bit too strange, too mature for her age, too plump, too nice, too sad, or too epileptic. To find her place in the world, Margherita tried in vain to live in Rimini, Milan, Paris, and Dublin, study theater and philosophy, work as a waitress, or as a project manager. She hadn't realized that her true place was where she'd spent most of her life: next to her brother Damiano. A diagnosis was enough to make her realize: Asperger's syndrome. Damiano is autistic, but what could have been a condition that would have separated their paths forever instead intertwined them forever. After all, if Damiano truly wanted to become an opera singer, from now on he would need his sister's support more than ever. And from that day on, Margherita immersed herself in Damiano's real and surreal world. A world where fans' birthdays are celebrated on Sundays, cakes are baked to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the light switch in the closet or the electrical outlet in the hallway. A world where fantasy becomes real and where dreams are so tangible they can almost be touched.

Sergio's World: A True Story of Our Times / Mauro Paissan; preface by Stefano Rodotà. – Rome: Fazi, 2008.

At 8:30 PM on June 13, 2003, on Via Lucrino in Rome, Sergio Piscitello, 39, was killed by two gunshots by his seventy-five-year-old father, Salvatore. Three years later, on November 30, 2006, President Giorgio Napolitano pardoned the victim's father. Before those two gunshots, an entire family had been held captive for nearly forty years by a son and his serious disorder, autism, a merciless disorder that dominated every aspect of their domestic and daily life. Deaf and mute, locked in a world of his own, Sergio exploded in frequent and sudden outbursts of rage and violence: kicking and punching his father and mother, throwing objects, and self-harming. These outbursts were triggered by a faulty television, or by some trivial incident that interfered with the boy's relentless routine, or with his sole passion: movies and collecting videotapes. At home and abroad, the Piscitellos must contend with the ravages of a still poorly understood syndrome, the accompanying prejudices, and the disinterest and incompetence of institutions. Nothing remains of their faith in the therapies offered by different medical schools, which wage war on each other at the expense of the patients. In these pages, Mauro Paissan tells the story of a family left to fend for themselves, who have seen their love turn to pain, and their loneliness to tragedy.

The Softness of Edges: A Novel / Keith Stuart; translated by Chiara Brovelli. – Milan: Corbaccio, 2016.

Sam, an eight-year-old boy, has always been different: beautiful, surprising, and autistic. Out of love for himself and his family, his father Alex has always tried to find a way to understand Sam, but the daily, exhausting effort leads to a seemingly irreversible marital crisis. Alex decides to distance himself from his wife and move in with Dan, his happily bachelor and eternally adolescent best friend. From an uncomfortable guest cot, he ponders how to win his wife and son back. While Alex navigates his new single life, navigating long-buried family secrets and the responsibilities of being a part-time father, Sam begins playing Minecraft, revealing an unexpected space where father and son can understand each other. "The Softness of Edges," based on the author's true experience, is a moving, funny, and profound novel about the power of difference and a very, very special son.

The Words I Can't Say / Andrea Antonello; illustrations by Carla Manea. – Milan: Mondadori, 2016.

Andrea Antonello, the autistic boy who stars in "If I Hug You, Don't Be Afraid," explains to children, their parents, and teachers what it means to see the world backwards, to be "special, difficult, and fun," to be "a different work." Andrea's thoughts on emotions and relationships take the form of poems that are both simple and profound, revealing an extraordinary awareness and sensitivity. Andrea's words are accompanied by delicate illustrations and commented on by texts that offer advice on how to address the behavior of an autistic boy like him.

Thinking in Pictures and Other Testimonies of My Life as an Autistic Woman / Temple Grandin; preface by Oliver Sacks; introduction to the Italian edition by Cinzia Raffin. – Gardolo, Trento: Erickson, 2006.

Through this essay-story "from within" autism, the author provides a human document that opens a window into the lives and interiority, both cognitive and emotional, of autistic people. Without painting autism rosy, nor minimizing how it has excluded her from the companionship, pleasures, rewards, and possibilities that for many of us can constitute a large part of what we call "life," the author paints a picture far different from the images commonly evoked by the word "autism."

Why Don't You Speak / Marti Leimbach ; translated by Alessandro Peroni. – Milan: Salani, c. 2006.

A happy marriage, that of Melanie and Stephen, falls apart when faced with a dramatic reality: Daniel, the younger of their two children, is autistic. Stephen chooses to escape his responsibilities and abandons the family. Alone, Melanie, desperately seeking help, meets Andy O'Connor, a therapist with unconventional methods. Is he a charlatan capable only of raising false hopes, as some say, or the right person for Daniel? Melanie simply needs to witness Andy and Daniel's first meeting, watching them play together: "He will make him a boy who puts on his jeans by himself and runs shirtless in the garden with a cricket bat and a ball. He will find friends with whom he will race down the slopes and have battles in the park; he will dream of driving race cars and piloting hot air balloons. He will be normal, or almost. And he will be happy." What Melanie doesn't know yet is that Andy will completely change her life... A moving and ironic story about the strength of maternal love, about the daily struggle that many women know: doing the right thing for their children, but also for themselves.

There's No Flea / Gaia Rayneri. – Turin: Einaudi, 2011.

Pulce and her special world are told to us by her sister Giovanna, with her ironic, candid, intelligent, and rambling voice. Pulce is a cheerful little girl who loves to slip into the embrace of strangers, squeezing them as hard as she can. When one day, like every other day, her mother Anita picks her up from school, Pulce isn't there. "Higher authorities" have decided that they are no longer good parents, and Pulce has been taken to the Giorni Felici community. Anita and Giovanna are allowed to visit her once a week, "under the watchful eye of a teacher." Her father, Gualtiero, however, cannot see his daughter because he is facing a monstrous accusation. Giovanna is only thirteen when this "horrible story" begins. She is a curious girl, with a few nervous tics and a small group of imaginary friends. And thanks to her lively and intelligent imagination, her powerful inventiveness, Giovanna tells us, without rhetoric or pathos, the clash between adulthood and childhood, between illness and normality, between the rigidity of institutions and emotional bonds. Her singular gaze, her shifted point of view, suddenly allows us to see things, making intelligible what even adults struggle to grasp.

What I Never Said: Me, My Autism, and What I Believe / Federico De Rosa. – Cinisello Balsamo: San Paolo, 2014.

Federico was a special child. Born in Rome into a large, happy family, he was handsome and lively, very blond, with curly hair. Then came darkness. Federico began to withdraw into himself due to a serious disorder that left him unable to understand the world, to build relationships with the people around him, to talk to them. Doctors called it "autism," he calls it "prison." As a teenager, however, a glimmer of hope appeared. He began writing on his computer and pushed words, sentences, and then thoughts and feelings out of that darkness. He discovered friendship, love, faith. Even today, Federico says nothing, even if sometimes a word slips out or he mutters to himself, but letter after letter he has managed to write his story in a book that is impressive for its depth and clarity. Today, he is a special boy. He continues to live in Rome with a large, happy family, his hair has turned brown, and he has plenty of plans for the future.

Tell me about the sea inside you: living with an autistic child / Paola Nicoletti. – Bologna: Pendragon, 2017.

Love for the sea is typical of autism: water calms, soothes, envelops, and muffles the noises of the world. The sea is what I see inside my son when I chase him and peer into his dark eyes, like black buttons, when I search for his soul, his thoughts, when I ask questions that are lost in the depths of an ocean so dark it obscures the teeming life beneath, a life in which his every thought is a silver fish, his every pain a red coral, and his love is clear, pure water.

If I Hug You, Don't Be Afraid: The Journey of Franco and Andrea / Fulvio Ervas. – Milan: Marcos y Marcos, 2012.

A doctor's verdict has turned the world upside down. Andrea's illness is a hurricane, seven typhoons. Autism has taken him prisoner, and Franco has become a knight who fights for his son. A knight who never gives up and continues to dream. For years they have traveled, pursuing therapies: traditional, experimental, spiritual. Now they set off on a different journey, without a compass and without a destination. Together, father and son, united in the suspended time of the road. They cross America on a motorcycle, getting lost in the forests of Guatemala. For three months, normality is abolished, and no one knows who is different. For three months, it is Andrea who teaches his father to surrender to life. Andrea who caresses crocodiles, embraces waitresses and shamans. And he scatters scraps of paper along the way, a tender Tom Thumb preparing for the return journey while his father wishes he could stay on the road forever.

Smiling faces are welcome / Franco and Andrea Antonello. – Milan: Feltrinelli, 2013.

Franco and Andrea Antonello were the protagonists of a story that seems like a fairytale: the novel that chronicled their road trip, "If I Hug You, Don't Be Afraid," was a huge success. In this new book, Franco and Andrea tell the true story of their lives, beginning with Franco's life before Andrea: where he was born, what his family was like, the paths he took, and the choices he made before becoming the overjoyed father of a beautiful child. And continuing with what happened after Andrea, that beautiful child, began to slip away from them, increasingly trapped in a mysterious vortex that only years later would be understood to be autism. And while Franco reaps one success after another in his professional life, in the fight against that terrible enemy there seems to be no hope: doctors and charlatans, African healers and Brazilian magicians, no one seems able to do anything. But that isn't the end for Franco and Andrea: it's just the beginning. Together, they will discover that there's no need to give up on dreams and life, and that difficulties, even the most daunting, can be faced, trying to respond to Andrea's request for cheerful people around them, people who look on the bright side of life: "Smiling faces are welcome." Today, Franco has created a foundation, I Bambini delle Fate, which works to promote projects to assist autistic children and their families. And Andrea has just graduated from high school.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time / Mark Haddon ; translated by Paola Novarese. – Milan: A. Mondadori, 2006.

Christopher Boone is fifteen and suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. His relationship with the world is problematic: he hates being touched, detests yellow and brown, gets angry if furniture is moved, can't read people's facial expressions, never smiles... On the other hand, he loves mathematics, astronomy, and detective novels, and intends to write one. Yes, because ever since he discovered the body of Wellington, his neighbor's dog, he has been unable to find peace. And by throwing himself into the "case" with the same passion as his hero Sherlock Holmes, he ends up uncovering a deeper mystery, one that will change his life and force him to delve into the chaotic and noisy world of others. With a new preface by the author.

One night I dreamed you were talking: that's how I learned to be a father to my autistic son / Gianluca Nicoletti. – Milan: Oscar Mondadori, 2014.

These pages tell the everyday, banal, true story of Tommy, a charming, curly-haired autistic teenager. And of his extraordinary relationship with his father, Gianluca Nicoletti. Of a child who at three years old was so good and quiet—perhaps even too much so—and of his father who, when a neuropsychiatrist pronounced, "Your son is more attracted to objects than people," didn't find it at all strange. (After all, it had been the same for him: he had started speaking very late and now earned his living by talking; so, sooner or later, Tommy would start making himself heard too.) Later, with the arrival of adolescence, things in the family suddenly changed: the taciturn child became a hairy giant, strong, sometimes aggressive, often uncontrollable, and Gianluca, called into question by his disheartened wife, discovered—unwillingly—a happily indispensable parent.

The Aran Suitcase / Andrea Antonello; edited by Fulvio Ervas; with a testimony by Giulio Golia and two messages from Franco Antonello. – Milan: Marcos y Marcos, 2020.

Andrea Antonello is beautiful. His body has the slenderness and elegance of an athlete in a Greek statue. And like Michelangelo before his Moses, we too, watching him move and smile, want to scream: "Why don't you speak?" The words he utters are disjointed. What about his thoughts? What does Andrea feel? How does he process his experiences beneath those dark curls? When he was three, the autism diagnosis sounded like a final verdict. At eight, the turning point: a psychologist realized Andrea could read. From that prodigious support began a constant dialogue, which has lasted for almost twenty years, at a computer keyboard. And while at first his writing was guided by an adult, now Andrea writes without any assistance, completely independently. This exceptional testimony, the fruit of a passionate process of selection, opens a window onto uncharted territory: the self-awareness and worldview of an autistic child.

Out of Nirvana: Life with an Autistic Daughter / Clara Claiborne Park ; foreword by Oliver Sacks. – Rome: Astrolabio, 2001.

Clara Claiborne Park has a daughter, Jessy, who has autism. "Out of Nirvana" is Jessy's coming-of-age story, written by her mother. It's the coming-of-age of a woman who has achieved independence, who paints, sells her paintings, and works in a university office, yet remains autistic. What does this mean? It means that, despite the enormous compromises Jessy has made with the social dimension of life, her true world remains different from the rest of us, a world into which this book aims to shed a glimmer of light so that, through a direct experience like the one described, we can understand a little more concretely what autism really is.

Voice of Salt: A Journey into the World of Autism / Luisa Sordillo. – Guidonia: Iacobelli, 2019.

A book about autism, and specifically, through stories of love and friendship, about the side effect it produces when it shatters a family: loneliness. A seemingly innocuous question, posed one ordinary morning by a nine-year-old boy, Adriano, triggers a whirlwind of thoughts and reflections in his mother, who thus tumbles through her memories. The story transports the reader from the carefree nature of adolescence to the encounter with great love and the birth of her children, from the anxiety of suspicion to the pain of certainty: her son's autism. And it is a revolution within the family and beyond, a clash with a world not yet sufficiently informed and ready to embrace it. A withdrawal that pushes her into a corner of loneliness, amid tears and anger. Even her husband is unable to cope with the situation and, cowardly, walks away. Meetings with an eclectic painter and her first love give her mother, Aurelia, the tools to break through prejudice and misinformation, and above all, push her to profound reflection and new awareness. She is able to love her son for who he is, not for what she would have liked him to be. One axiom, hard-won, stands above all: autism and the autistic person are two different entities, and while the former is hated, the latter can be loved.

Filmografia

What's Eating Gilbert Grape / directed by Lasse Hallström. – Milan: Mondo Home Entertainment, 2008.

Endora, Iowa, 1993. Since his father committed suicide, Gilbert Grape has been the sole caregiver for his entire family: two younger sisters, his autistic brother Arnie, who is almost eighteen, and an obese mother unable to provide for the family. His job at the small local grocery store, threatened by the opening of a supermarket, a clandestine relationship with a married woman, and a loving sense of protection for his brother, who loves to get into trouble, are all challenged by the arrival of the beautiful Becky. Although Gilbert is driven by a strong sense of responsibility and a great love for his family, meeting the young Becky will make Gilbert realize that he isn't living his life to the fullest. Always dedicated to caring for others and being a father and mother to his siblings, Becky is a breath of fresh air for Gilbert. Thanks to her, the boy will understand that the time has come to put himself first, but this causes quite a bit of trouble.

Crazy in Love / directed by Petter Naess; written by Ron Bass; music by Deborah Lurie. – Milan: Mondo Home Entertainment, 2007.

Donald is a tender-hearted taxi driver with a passion for birds and an exceptional ability with numbers. Like many people with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, he craves routine and normality. When the beautiful Isabel begins attending his support group, his life and his heart are turned upside down.

Forrest Gump / directed by Robert Zemeckis ; screenplay by Eric Roth ; music by Alan Silvestri ; based on the novel by Winston Groom. – Milan: Paramount Home Entertainment, c2003.

A good and generous boy, thanks to his candor and his innate simplicity he participated in the most representative historical events of the last forty years of American history.

Life, animated / directed and produced by Roger Ross Williams. – Italy: Mustang Entertainment : CG Entertainment, 2017.

The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Aladdin: Disney classics have shaped our childhoods, but for some, they've had a profound impact. Owen, who began showing symptoms of autism at age three, found in Disney films a way to break through the barrier that separated him from the world, developing an alternative way of expressing himself through the voices of his heroes.

My Name is Khan / a film by Karan Johar – Milan: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2011.

Khan, a Muslim raised in India, possesses extraordinary strength of spirit. Despite suffering from a particular form of autism, he manages to have a brilliant career that leads him to emigrate to America. There, he falls in love with Mandira, a beautiful Hindu woman. Everything seems like a dream until the attacks of September 11th. From that day on, love between the two becomes impossible, but Khan refuses to give up and embarks on an extraordinary journey across the country to find his love.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close / directed by Stephen Daldry .- Italy: Warner Bros. Entertainment, 2012.

Oskar Schell He is an eleven-year-old boy who lives in New York with his father. Thomas and to mom LindaThe boy is very shy and introverted, but extraordinary and talented: he is an amateur inventor, astrophysicist, drummer, and pacifist.
His father, with whom he loves to spend time playing fun games and puzzles, loses his life in the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, but before dying, he offers Oskar one last mystery to solve: he must discover whether there ever was a sixth ward in New York. Some time has passed since the "worst day," but Oskar can't find peace and increasingly misses his father's words.
One day, the boy finds a vase in his beloved parent's closet and accidentally drops it, only to discover a hidden envelope containing a mysterious key with the word "Black" written on it. He decides to find out what opens that key. He finds 472 people named Black in the phone book, and makes an appointment with all of them to see if they've ever met Thomas. Meeting all these people to test their locks will become for Oskar a way to cultivate the dream that that key will unlock a final message from his father. Oskar will embark on an incredible journey, a frenetic and secret search that will lead him through five New York boroughs on an itinerary full of encounters and discoveries.

Flea is not there / a film by Giuseppe Bonito .- Campi Bisenzio : Cecchi Gori entertainment, ©2015.

Giovanna, thirteen, is a shy girl like many others, her family dealing with the "peculiarity" of her younger sister, Pulce, known to others as Margherita, eight, a tango and tamarind lover, and autistic. One day, her mother picks her up from school, but Pulce isn't there. She's been suddenly taken to a group home: a terrible suspicion weighs on her father.

Quanto basta / a film by Francesco Falaschi. - Rome: Rai cinema; 01 Distribution, 2018.

Arturo, a talented chef, was jailed for fighting and is now serving his time in community service by teaching a cooking class at a center for autistic children where Anna works. Guido has Asperger's syndrome and a great passion for cooking. Their unlikely friendship will help Arturo change his life.

Rain man / directed by Barry Levinson. – Sl : MGM Home Entertainment, c2004.

Cut off from his father's inheritance, car dealer Charlie Babbitt discovers he has a brother, Raymond, who is autistic and the sole beneficiary of his father's estate. Hoping to become his guardian, Charlie takes Raymond away from the clinic on a journey that will change their lives. With his phobia of highways and his obsession with his favorite TV show, Raymond initially tests Charlie's patience, but eventually manages to uproot his brother from his self-centered world. Soon, what began as a simple journey across the United States turns into something more: a meeting between two completely different people.

The Specials: Out of the ordinary / Directed by Oliver Nakache, Eric Toledano. – Milan: Eagle Pictures, 2021.

Bruno and Malik, two friends and colleagues, are both involved in two different nonprofit organizations dedicated to the education of children and adolescents with autism. Most often, Bruno and Malik care for young people from difficult neighborhoods in Paris whose parents have struggled to raise and manage them. Bruno and Malik form an extraordinary partnership, which allows them to better address the daily challenges of their profession.

Everything I Want / a film by Ben Lewin based on the play by Michael Golamco –Milan: Eagle Pictures, 2018.

Wendy suffers from autism and, since her mother's death, has been hospitalized in a specialized facility where, thanks to her therapist Scottie, she manages to keep everything under control and devote herself to her greatest passion: Star Trek. When Paramount announces a contest for new screenwriters based on her favorite series, she puts her heart and soul into writing over 400 pages of script, but she can't deliver it on time. Her only option for delivering her work within the stipulated deadline is to travel to Los Angeles in person and deliver the script by hand. Thus, she embarks on a journey full of unexpected events.

All My Crazy Love / a film by Gabriele Salvatores; freely adapted from the novel “If I Hug You, Don't Be Afraid” by Fulvio Ervas. – Milan: Eagle Pictures, 2020.

All my crazy love, is set in Trieste, where he lives Vincent, a sixteen-year-old locked in a universe of his own, suffering from a form of autism and a personality disorder since birth. Because of his situation, these last sixteen years have not been easy for anyone, neither for the boy himself nor for his mother. Elena, who had to deal day after day with the problems caused by her son's disorders. Over time, her partner came to help the woman, Mario who immediately treated the young man as his own son, adopting him. What is created in the family is a sort of equilibrium, albeit a very precarious one, in which the two adults manage to manage Vincent, with ups and downs.
One evening, this delicate situation breaks in. will, The biological father of the young, penniless singer, who abandoned Elena the moment he learned she was pregnant. About to leave for a tour of the Balkans, the man wants to meet the son he's never seen, but has no idea what he'll find himself in. Vincent, however, sees his father and his van as an escape attempt and, hiding in the vehicle, sets off with Willi, unbeknownst to him. This opportunity allows the two to get to know each other better and deepen the blood bond they've ignored for sixteen long years. On this journey through the Balkans and their feelings, Willi and Vincent will have the opportunity to talk and share, as will Elena and Mario, who set out in search of their son.

All the books and DVDs listed (and much more on the subject) are available in our libraries. 

SITOGRAPHY

• Autism – Online Resources

• Autism and autism spectrum disorders

• What is autism?

• Telethon Foundation – Autism

• Autism Spectrum Disorders

• ISS – Autism

• Specialeautismo.it

• Autismperche.it

VIDEOGRAPHY