Three documentaries put faces on autism

On-screen, autism is usually portrayed as part of an incredible and often uplifting tale. Audiences embraced "Rain Man," with Dustin Hoffman as an autistic math whiz, and "Spider-Man" producer Laura Ziskin has optioned the life story of Jason McElwain, the autistic Rochester, N.Y., teenager who scored 20 points in the last four minutes of his high school basketball team's final home game.

By Sam Adams

March 25, 2008