Neurodevelopmental disorders are “from cinema”… and there are many scripts to write

Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, although most commonly present in childhood, can be lifelong conditions. One of the main challenges in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders is that these entities become visible. For that purpose, media is playing a relevant role in order to achieve such a challenge, and cinema is one of the essentials.

Cine y Pediatría project aims to improve the humanization of our clinical practice through the prescription of films. In this article we propose 22 films whose protagonists are children or adolescents with neurodevelopment disorders, essential to experience the emotions and reflections that their heroes and families give us back.

These are the prescribed movies regarding autism spectrum disorder: Mater amatísima, Rain Man, Ocean Heaven, Miracle Run, Mozart and the Whale, Ben-X, Martian Child, Mary and Max, María y yo, My name is Khan, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Closer, La sonrisa verdadera and Hors normes. And these are the prescribed movies regarding other neurodevelopmental disorders: The Miracle Worker, Forrest Gump, Taare Zameen Par, Front of the class, Gabrielle, Cromosoma 5, Marie Heurtin, Línea de meta and Dora or The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents.

The narrative observation of these main plot films will allow us to approach this exciting world, but above all the extraordinary people and families behind the cold name of each medical entity. And although we have “prescribed” 22 “cinema” stories, surely in neurodevelopmental disorders there are many scripts to write.