A Brilliant Young Mind (2015)

This is a very good British movie about exactly what is different about those with autism, and in some ways it demonstrates just how important it is for those kids who are “on the spectrum”.  Nathan knows that he is different, and tragically his father, the only person who really got him, dies in a car accident when he is quite young, and his mother (aptly played by Sally Hawkins) is left to cope.  She does an admirable job of getting him the help he needs to fully realize his talents as a mathematician, going so far as to be recognized as one of the very best in England.  It is in that group of kids that he does not stand out as that weird, and he has his first interactions with girls that is positive.  The mantra for raising kids who are a bit different is to help them to feel as normal as possible for as long as possible so that they can gain as much as possible, and this is a really nice film depicting the value of that.  There is a side bar message about trauma and how hard it is to process in childhood that is also well worth thinking about for all of us, not just those who are raising kids who are a bit different.