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Peter Gallagher Discusses 'Adam,' An Offbeat Love Story Challenged By Asperger's Syndrome

July 28th, 2009 10:49am EDT Post a comment

Peter Gallagher

"Adam," is the story of an off-beat romance between Beth (Rose Byrne) and Adam (Hugh Dancy) that is challenged by his affliction with Asperger's Syndrome -- an affliction that,

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15 Member Comments

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Tue Jul 28 2009 11:46:42 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@PussyKat: No. It basically means he doesn't have the ability to read human emotions unless they're told to him. Unless someone tells Adam they are sad, he has no way of knowing just by looking at them.
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@NDRLNDR12X4: Thanks! Peter's really great.

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Tue Jul 28 2009 12:31:25 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@PussyKat: Well, I don't think it's quite that. It's a form of Autism. He also can't lie. The concept of lying makes no sense to him. He would never tell some a lie to save their feelings because he doesn't understand that whole concept.
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@TopCat09: Thanks! Yes, exactly. That's the way Adam is in the film.

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Tue Jul 28 2009 13:40:47 By: Stewart172 (

21)
I think Cosmo Kramer had Asperger's. Great job Mike, sounds like an interesting film.

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Tue Jul 28 2009 13:42:04 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@PussyKat: A scene from the trailer illustrates this point. Adam is asked at a party if he wants to watch video of a mother's new born child. He said, "no." Not knowing that saying "no" is kind of rude. Later, someone asks him about telescopes, something he knows quite a bit about, and doesn't realize after ten straight minutes of talking about telescopes, that the person that asked wants out of the conversation.

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Tue Jul 28 2009 13:42:53 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@Stewart172: That's probably true!

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Tue Jul 28 2009 14:25:40 By: rob who had a broken foot (

130)
i wonder how much of this asperger's goes undiagnosed, because i know some folks who show these symptoms.

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Tue Jul 28 2009 14:30:11 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@rob who had a broken foot: I was thinking the same thing.

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Tue Jul 28 2009 14:58:53 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@PussyKat: No one in the film wants anyone to feel sorry for Adam. They mention that there's a good chance Thomas Jefferson had the same disease. People with it can be quite brilliant. I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert, but with the research I did to cover this film, I'm of the mind it's quite real.

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Tue Jul 28 2009 18:15:06 By: sfulghum (

18)
This from WEB MD
"Asperger's syndrome, also called Asperger's disorder, is a type of pervasive development disorder (PDD). PDDs are a group of conditions that involve delays in the development of many basic skills, most notably the ability to socialize with others, to communicate and to use imagination.
Although Asperger's syndrome is similar in some ways to autism -- another, more severe type of PDD -- there are some important differences. Children with Asperger's syndrome typically function better than do those with autism. In addition, children with Asperger's syndrome generally have normal intelligence and near-normal language development, although they may develop problems communicating as they get older."
Wiki is at times less than completely accurate

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Tue Jul 28 2009 18:54:15 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@RampantRos: Thanks for the compliment on the interview. I think what you're saying is valid to a point. Asperger's, though, is in the Autism family -- as sfulghum points out. I've read that some with Asperger's would never *not* wan't to have it. Some feel they function better than those of us without it. It's a pretty fascinating affliction. Though, overall, I must say, I'm pleased with the commenting today.

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Tue Jul 28 2009 23:21:51 By: DeZiLuVz_UhShEfOrGoT (

87)
okay mike i watch degrassi and there is this kid that has aspergers syndrome and this kid he wears the same thing everyday so my ? is is there differnt types of aspergers cuz thats confusing me

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Wed Jul 29 2009 10:23:04 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@PussyKat: I could see that.
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@Dezi: That I don't know. Like I said: all I really know is the (moderate) amount of research I did to cover a film.

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Wed Jul 29 2009 23:38:52 By: nicerack (

9018)
Sounds interesting.

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Fri Jul 31 2009 11:32:07 By: DeZiLuVz_UhShEfOrGoT (

87)
okay imma look up aspergurs on google and then ill get back to u mike

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Fri Jul 31 2009 11:41:17 By: DeZiLuVz_UhShEfOrGoT (

87)
okay i found out that there are 2 different types of aspergers. The first type is where theyre steriotyped and theyre repetitive movements are usually seen as unusual they also have self stimultory behaviors (self regulation like the guy in degrassi). The second type is i guess how this guy in the movie is and there social defect where theyre interaction to other people is diffucult and uncofortable.

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