Source:
DailybreezeLike so many other parents, Erik and Jennie Linthorst have a playroom in their Manhattan Beach home.
It has the usual props - a television and DVD player, toy trucks, musical instruments, stuffed animals, puppets.
But, whereas most playrooms tend to be for fun and relaxation, in the case of the Linthorsts, the room has become a more life-transforming space. It's where their 5-year-old son, Graham, has received much of his therapy.
Around age 15 months, Graham was diagnosed with autism - or at least something like it.
The impact the label - vague as it was - had on his parents, their attempt to clarify whether his condition really was autism, and their determined search for proper treatment, is shown in sometimes frustrating and ultimately heartwarming detail in the documentary "Autistic-Like: Graham's Story." The film will have its West Coast premiere tonight, on National Autism Day, at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.
"Autistic-Like" was co-produced by Erik Linthorst, a screenwriter by trade, and veteran National Public Radio reporter Jody Becker.
Read more:
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_12045678