Indianapolis International Film Festival 2009

AUTISTIC-LIKE: GRAHAM'S STORY is a startling report from the edge of the epidemic. When their son was 17 months old, Erik and Jennie Linthorst suspected something was not quite right. Experts and therapists told them their son was autistic. Sort of. Maybe. Some called him autistic-like. Others said he was not autistic at all. With his parents still seeking a clear diagnosis, Graham was launched into a program of behavioral therapy. Speech therapy. Occupational therapy. Soon after the therapy began, Erik and Jennie noticed something else: the treatment he was getting didn't seem to be on target. Erik took on the conundrum confronting many parents of kids who are "mildly disordered." Handed a fuzzy diagnosis, what should the treatment be? AUTISTIC-LIKE: GRAHAM'S STORY is an intimate family portrait showing one dad's determined quest to find the right therapies, the right doctors, and even the right words to describe his son. As he searched, Erik began wondering how other families in the same situation fare. What did it really mean, 'autistic-like'? And how should or could these parents help their kids? What he discovered was that dozens of families, in just his area, were struggling with the same issue. Erik began to suspect that many of the children being diagnosed with autism might like Graham -- not really autistic. But then if it's not autism, what is it that ails these kids? Erik finds a possible answer. It's an answer that throws into question the current autism statistics. AUTISTIC LIKE: GRAHAM'S STORY illuminates the medical, social and public health issues faced by families whose autistic-like children have no clear diagnosis, and are offered no specific treatment. The CDC says one in every 150 children born has autism. Maybe not.