Essay the black balloon

"The Black Balloon" portrays the Mollisons, a middle-class Australian family struggling to keep life normal and going in a new neighborhood while having to care for their autistic adult son, Charlie.
Society marks what is usual and what is not. In the Mollison`s case, they were assumed different primarily because of the inclusion of Charlie in their family. This is typical for most people; that is, to assume understanding of everything they witness - whether their prejudice lies on being good or bad, it doesn`t really matter. Oftentimes, their sympathy goes to the family and almost never in particular for Charlie since it is likely that they have just gone with considering him simply as that autistic man. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that Charlie`s situation cannot be interpreted nor understood with only a glance from afar.
Throughout this essay, Charlie`s character will be explored in the context of health psychology`s control theory, in which a general approach is taken to understand self-regulating systems CITATION Roy99 \l 1033 (Baumeister, 1999); this then would particularly refer Charlie himself, his psychological state, and his lifestyle. Furthermore, boundaries commonly set with stereotypes and false impressions of autism are refuted along the way in order for the audience to gain a more accurate insight on the matter at hand CITATION Par08 \l 1033 (Parr, 2008).
So who is Charlie anyway? Charlie Mollison is characterized as having autism and at the same time, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). His unusual behavior and crazy antics often makes him a laughingstock among youngsters and sometimes an annoyance to some neighbors. More so is that he manages to gather attention even in the midst of a crowd, with their weird stares and hushed whispers.
There is a long list of misconceptions often believed by people to be true of autism. More often than not, they regard this as a disease rather than as a condition. In a social context, people are alienated by autistic people, referring to them as "different" but with a subtle hint of condescension. It is true that in a sense autistic people are different; however, they are only so insofar as they lead different lives in comparison to what has been considered by most people as typical. Hence, this label is only a socially constructed notion - an imaginative figment created by people who don`t really understand autism.
In clinical definition, Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder, which means its emergence and development is affected by biological bases and environmental factors CITATION Ami02 \l 1033 (Ami Klin, 2002). Failure to socially interact is the most recognized characteristic of autism; besides this, other noted symptoms involves having affected language and behavioral aspects CITATION Par08 \l 1033 (Parr, 2008).
Happe (1994) summarizes and clarifies the meaning of autism in his textbook, Autism: an introduction to psychological theory. He states that indeed autism is a biologically-based disorder which does not only happen through and with childhood but also throughout an affected person`s lifetime. In addition, autism is not characterized by special skills all the time; and it extends to all IQ levels, too, though it is already common for it to be accompanied by general learning difficulties. And he also disregards the common misconception that autism is a condition comparable to a shell in that a "normal" child is only waiting to get out of; in point of fact, autism is a serious condition that generally affects the person`s ability for communication, socialization, and imagination.
The extent of an autistic person`s social skills is largely undermined CITATION Nat10 \l 1033 (National Institute of Mental Health, 2010). For instance, they oftentimes have difficulty in recognizing his/her name when called, or at times simply appear to not hear anything at all. It is also difficult for them to maintain eye contact at any point of a conversation and they are generally oblivious of others` feelings. In some cases, too, they dislike having to make physical contact with another person. And they usually prefer to be with only themselves - this aspect commonly translates to others as that autistics are almost always caught up in his/her own world.
Charlie`s case holds a similar pattern though not exactly. It has been apparent that he is incapable of maintaining eye contact and that he pretends to not hear others at times, as well as being unable to immediately interpret other people`s feelings. Though he more often than not spends time grunting and playing in his so-called "own world", Charlie has shown that he rather enjoys company, especially of his family and Jackie. And actually, he seems to enjoy holding and cuddling by those he is comfortable with; like, say, when he plays with Jackie.
In terms of language and communication, autistic people can speak a few words and sentences at an early age but loses this ability later in life. Meanwhile, there are others who skip this symptom and maintain their capacity for speech to some extent. And often, they speak with an abnormal tone or rhythm. Also, they tend to repeat words or phrases verbatim, though they don`t really know how to use them. Even when communicating with someone, autistic people are still unable to keep eye contact. They are unable to start a conversation and keep one going, too. CITATION Nat10 \l 1033 (National Institute of Mental Health, 2010)
In the movie, Charlie`s brother, Thomas, mentions that Charlie still had the ability for speech when he was younger, saying simple words and short phrases such as "mum", "dad", "Charlie want food", etc. However, for unknown reasons, he has stopped as he reached adolescence; and it`s been that way since apparently. Since then he`s been taught to use sign language as a means of communication. At one point, Thomas tried teaching Charlie to say the word "monkey" in exchange for candy (again, positive reinforcement) but he only managed to get a "kuh" out of him.
Meanwhile, in the behavioral aspect, autistic people are documented as constantly acting in routines and regularity CITATION Par08 \l 1033 (Parr, 2008). For instance, they tend to have rituals for nearly everything they do. They also perform the same movements again and again (e.g. rocking, spinning, or hand-flapping). If these routines have been for any reason intervened or suddenly changed, the autistic person is inclined to get angry and therefore, resort to tantrums. Additionally, they have the tendency to relentless move around or do something - and never just sit around. Some objects or certain parts of it can get them excited, too; an example for such objects would be a toy car. In other case, autistic persons display hypersensitivity to light, sound, and touch and also sometimes ignorant of pain.
Concerning that, Charlie has indeed shown to act in similar ways throughout the movie. For instance, as with the exhibition of repetitive movements; in fact, Charlie kept rocking and hand-flapping almost all the time. And at the part where he threw a tantrum in the supermarket, it can be explained that this behavior was only triggered because there was a change in their routine - apparently, one of the items returned had been one that has always been bought for him. It`s also noticeable that before that specific incident, he was fixing the items they got on the counter in an organized manner, indicating that Charlie has a fascination for making certain arrangements of things. Hypersensitivity, on the other hand, was not quite apparent in his behavior.
Because he is unable to clearly communicate verbally, Charlie uses sign language to express what he wants to say. However, Charlie`s feelings are mostly evident from his actions alone - he throws a fit when he`s angry; he claps his hands or plainly laughs in his way when he`s happy; and so on.
In truth, Charlie is different - as have been previously mentioned. He is unable to accomplish things that most people can. Bogdashina (2001) has made an effort to clarify this depiction:
"…‘different` does not mean ‘abnormal` or ‘defective`, and ‘normalcy` is a very relative term, as the ‘norm` is often applied to the performance of majority, and it is more justifiable to term it ‘typical`. To avoid having to use the term ‘normal`, autistic people at Autism Network International (ANI, founded by Jim Sinclair and Donna Williams in 1992) have introduced a new term - ‘Neurologically Typical` (NT) to describe non-autistic people."
In any case, Maggie, his mother, had pointed this one out after the poo incident when Thomas had frantically poured out that he thought of his brother as a freak; she tell 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".
Autism didn`t necessarily stop Charlie`s life; however, it did make it more difficult for him to mature and develop as a "normal" person would. He knows how to do certain things on his own and he is still capable of learning new knowledge ...