WATCH MOVIES & TV SERIES
This list is meant to be a reference, and should not be considered
an endorsement or recommendation of the Autism Society of Greater Akron.
MOVIES - RATED G
Fly Away (2011) - TV-G
The story of Jeanne and her autistic teenage daughter, Mandy. Jeanne has cared for Mandy since the day she was born, growing closer every day to a child who is charmingly offbeat one moment and nearly impossible to manage the next.
MOVIES - RATED PG
A Boy Called Po (2016) - PG
After his wife dies of cancer, an overworked engineer struggles to care for his son with autism. His son in response to bullying regresses into a fantasy world escape.
Inside Out (2015) - PG
After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness - conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.
Jack of Red Hearts (2015) - PG
A teenage con artist tricks a desperate mother into hiring her as a live-in companion for her autistic daughter.
Life, Animated (2016) - PG
From Academy Award winning director Roger Ross Williams comes the story of Owen Suskind, a young man who couldn't speak as a child until he discovered a unique way to communicate by immersing himself in the world of Disney animated films.
Radio (2003) - PG
The story of a high school coach and the developmentally challenged man who he took under his wing.
The Boy Who Could Fly (1986) - PG
A teenage girl befriends an autistic boy who sits on his roof, perched as if ready to fly.
A Mile in His Shoes (2011) – TV-PG
Mickey Tussler, an autistic pitcher, joins a minor-league baseball team and has a profound effect on the team and manager Arthur "Murph" Murphy over the course of a season.
Louis Theroux: Extreme Autism (2012) - TV-PG
British filmmaker Louis Theroux explores the ways in which autistic children perceive the world about them, along with the sometimes-heartbreaking impact on family life. He visits the pioneering DLC Warren school in New Jersey to find out how specialized intervention can help.
Temple Grandin (2010) - TV-PG
An autistic woman becomes an unlikely hero to America's cattle industry--and to autistic people everywhere--in this fact-based story.
MOVIES - RATED PG-13
A Brilliant Young Mind (2014) - PG-13
A socially awkward teenage maths prodigy finds new confidence and new friendships when he lands a spot on the British squad at the International Mathematics Olympiad.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) - PG-13
A nine-year-old amateur inventor, Francophile, and pacifist searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Molly – (1999) - PG-13
A bachelor becomes the unwilling guardian of his autistic, intellectually disabled sister; then an experimental treatment works a dramatic change in her brain and his attitude.
Mozart and The Whale (2005) - PG-13
A love story between two savants with Asperger's syndrome, a kind of autism, whose conditions sabotage their budding relationship.
Please Stand By (2017) - PG-13
A young autistic woman runs away from her caregiver in an attempt to submit her 500-page manuscript to a "Star Trek" writing competition at Paramount Pictures.
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993) - PG-13
A young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.
The Reason I Jump (2020) - PG-13
Based on the book by Naoki Higashida, this immersive film explores the experiences of non-speaking autistic people around the world.
Wizard Mode (2016) - PG-13
A candid personal perspective on autism through the life of one of the world's greatest pinball players. Robert Gagno's real challenge lies outside the game on his journey to shed his youth and gain independence.
MOVIES - RATED Unrated
Best Kept Secret (2013) - Unrated
In "Best Kept Secret," a Newark, NJ teacher struggles to prepare her students with autism to survive in the brutal world that awaits them once they graduate.
Kids With Cameras (2009) - Unrated
An hour-long documentary that chronicles the challenges of seven people with Asperger's.
Loving Lampposts Living Autistic (2010) - Unrated
LIVING AUTISTIC takes a look at two movements: the "recovery movement," which views autism as an epidemic brought on by environmental toxins and the "neurodiversity movement," which argues that autism should be accepted and that autistic people should be supported.
The Story of Luke (2012) - Unrated
Sheltered by his grandparents, Luke, a young man with autism, is thrust into a world that doesn't expect anything from him. But Luke is on a quest for a job and true love. And he isn't taking no for an answer.
The United States of Autism (2013) - Unrated
Follow one man's 11,000 mile, 40 day journey across the American landscape to visit twenty families and individuals affected by autism while searching for answers for his own son.
TV-SERIES
Pablo (2017) - G
An autistic boy called Pablo draws animal friends to help him get through the challenges of daily life.
Parenthood (2010) - TV-PG
The lives and tragedies of the Braverman family tree including Max who is diagnosed with Asperger's.
Autism: The Musical (2007) - TV-14
A dynamic and intimate look at several families whose autistic children create and perform a live musical in L.A.
Everything’s Gonna be Okay (2020) - TV-14
After their father's untimely death, Nicholas and his two half-sisters are left to cope with not only a devastating loss, but also the realization that Nicholas is the one who must rise to the occasion and hold it all together.
Love on the Spectrum (2019) - TV-14
A documentary series following young adults on the autism spectrum as they explore the unpredictable world of love, dating and relationships.
The Good Doctor (2017) -TV-14
Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and Savant syndrome, is recruited into the surgical unit of a prestigious hospital.
Atypical (2017-2021) - TV-MA
Sam, an 18-year-old on the autism spectrum, decides it's time to find a girlfriend, which sets Sam's mom on her own life-changing path as her son seeks more independence.
The A Word (2016) - TV-MA
The Hughes family work and love and fight like every other family. Then, their youngest son is diagnosed with autism and they don't feel like every other family anymore.