The international autism expert who created an Oscar-winning role for Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man is to join a Scottish charity.

California-based Dr Bernard Rimland was the brains behind Hoffman's stunning performance alongside Tom Cruise in the blockbuster movie, which won four Oscars.

Rimland is director of the Autism Research Institute in California and an acknowledged world authority on the condition. He is said to have based Hoffman's character Raymond Babbitt on his 46-year-old autistic son.

For months before and during filming, Rimland worked one-to-one with Hoffman, coaching him in how to play the part and adopt convincing mannerisms.

He has now agreed to join a medical and scientific team for the Scottish pressure group Action Against Autism, which has relaunched as a registered charity.

'My son is autistic and I have worked in the field for over 35 years,' said Rimland. 'Because of my expertise, I was invited to join the Rain Man team and work with Dustin Hoffman.

'Dustin was marvellous in the movie and showed for the first time on the big screen the problems people with the condition, and their families, suffer. His performance and the success of the film also did a great deal to make the general public much more aware of the condition.'

Rimland's Autism Research Institute in San Diego has the largest data bank on autistic children in the world, with the detailed case histories of 25,000 sufferers from more than 60 countries.

'Through this, I have been greatly impressed by the work done by the pressure group Action Against Autism,' he said. 'Now they are a registered charity in Scotland, I am delighted to join their medical advisory board and help them keep up their great work.'

Rimland is a staunch opponent of the controversial triple vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), and has given evidence to the US House of Representatives on the urgent need for research into the link between the vaccine and autism.

His decision to join the Scottish charity follows anger across the UK at the government's refusal to make single vaccines available to parents . The government -- and most of the UK's leading medical bodies, including the British Medical Association -- insist that the MMR vaccine is safe.

'When my son was born, autism was extremely rare -- now it is extremely common,' said Rimland. 'Some experts will tell you that the increase reflects only greater awareness. That is nonsense. There is a real increase in autism and the numbers are huge and growing. The epidemic is serious and worldwide.

'Let me dispel the myth promoted by those who deny the autism-vaccine connection. They claim the vaccine is safe, but doctors are indoctrinated to disbelieve claims of harm and are not trained to recognise, nor required to report, any adverse reactions.'

He added: 'In 1964, I began to hear from parents in America who told me their children were normal until they were given the triple vaccine. In 1965 I began system atically collecting data on the symptoms and possible causes of autism.

'During the past few years our institute has been flooded with an upsurge in pleas for help from parents throughout the world. These pleas have come from wherever the World Health Organisation vaccine guidelines on triple vaccines are followed.'

Rimland will be joined on Action Against Autism's new advisory board by 12 other international scientists and doctors.

Yesterday Bill Welsh, the charity's chairman, said: 'We are absolutely delighted that we are being joined by a man of such international prestige.

'By appointing Rimland and the other leading scientists and medical experts we are mobilising the best brains in the world to help us fight a situation which is now disgraceful for thousands of autistic children. My seven-year-old grandson Luke is autistic and I formed the pressure group four years ago because he, and children like him, were being thrown on the scrapheap by the authorities.

'Now the new charity will bring together the world's leading authorities on autism to fight for research, treatment and, eventually, recovery for all children with autism'.

The involvement of Dr Rimland in the Scottish charity was last night welcomed by the parents of autistic children. Anne Grant from Denny, Stirlingshire, said people still ask her: 'Is it like in Rain Man?' when she tries to describe the condition her daughter, Ashleigh, suffers from.

'Everyone has heard of Rain Man,' she said. 'Anyone who doesn't know much about autism asks me that same question. That film alerted a lot of people to autism and what the condition is like.'

Grant is convinced that Ashleigh's autism was caused by the MMR triple vaccine and she is angry that there has not been adequate research into what causes the condition, or into possible treatments.

She said she welcomed the fact that Action Against Autism was concentrating on research.

'There is hardly any research being carried out, and definitely not enough money going into researching the causes,' said Grant.

Earlier this year the government-funded Medical Research Council (MRC) refused to pay for a Scottish study into the possible connections between autism, bowel disorders and the triple vaccine.

The MRC said it was not satisfied with the scientific quality of a proposal put forward by Edinburgh University, Edinburgh Sick Children's Hospital and the Moredun Research Institute, Midlothian.

Government-commissioned research into the safety of the MMR vaccine was thrown into doubt when it emerged that the scientist leading the invest igation was employed by the drug company that makes the vaccine.

Dr Phil Minor, who works for the government's national Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC), was being paid to advise legal firms acting for GlaxoSmithKline on the safety of vaccines.

 

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