Movie viewing. Where autism presents itself like almost no other circumstance.
It's not an exaggeration to say that Curtis has seen a movie 20 times without really knowing what a movie is about, or the basic point of the film. He knows the characters, he knows the scenes, but every seen may as well be its own individual movie.

For instance, he's seen "Ramona and Beezus" a number of times. His questions are of this variety:

"Is Selena Gomez really sick right there?" (when she is sick in the movie)

"Is she really mad?"

"Is that really her sister in real life?"

"Are they really fighting?"

Then there's the other variety of question.

"Why was that bag under the tire?"

"Why did he say he that?"

You may not even be watching the movie, but he wants you to explain what just happened and if you can't, it's grounds for a meltdown.

"What's a raw egg?"
"How can they do that with computers?"
"Is she really just jumping?"
"What are special effects?"
"Is she on that mountain, really?"
"Is it really night time?"
"How is that dog talking?"
"Is there really a big bridge there?"
"Have you ever been there?"

There are constant questions during a movie. This is generally always true with Curtis.  Has to be 75 questions if its one. I should count sometime. It would be maddening more often if we didn't love him so much,

Those are some of the cons.

Pros include his ability to disregard "inappropriate" material. As an example, I actually to him to "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" when he was just 7. It's rated PG-13. He really wanted to see it and it was a rare instance where I wanted to see the same movie he did. Plus, I really don't care what the MPAA deems appropriate and what age, especially where autism is concerned. He's as likely to dwell on the one time someone says "shit" in a PG movie as he is to care about anything in a PG-13.

A woman said "Oh, he's too young loud enough for me to hear it when we walked by. I didn't really care. I was sure he would not be impacted by anything he saw in the film and he wasn't. No monkey nightmares. Just a whole lot of questions. You can imagine the questions. He was too confused to care that a monkey bit off someone's finger.Movies like Shrek, Napoleon Dynamite, Mr. Popper's Penguins, and others that he's seen a number of times still come with questions about the most basic plot lines. He just knows when he likes a movie even if he's isn't getting the overall picture.

Movies are case by case. Question upon question is inevitable.

Curtis' autism has made for some interesting movie theater experiences. He saw Puss In Boots this weekend, being a big Shrek fan, and Laura said everything went pretty well. That hasn't always been the case.
Curt's first movie was Michael Jackson "Is This It". Big MJ fan at the time and I thought all the music that mesmerized him in a car or on TV would also do the same in a theater. At the time, he had an obsession with pay phones and wanted to leave the theater for the lobby every 15 minutes. We left about halfway through the movie.
Since then he's gotten more used to the movie theater but there are still hang-ups. The combination of loud noise and being in the dark are two instant turnoffs for Curtis. Other autistic children as well I'm sure. He also doesn't get why you can't talk in your normal voice in a theater while the movie is playing even when you explain it to him repeatedly. He always wants to leave a theater a few times and can be nervous about getting back in the same seats after a break.
One thing I've seen written about, though not locally, are sensory friendly films. Families affected by autism can attend screenings of movies where the sound is turned down and the lights are turned up, among other accommodations, and where its okay to talk in a normal voice during the movie. The kids can also practice the appropriate way to act in a theater without all the pressure. In addition to movie theaters, Broadway got into the act over the summer with a sensory friendly theater performance of Lion King which proved to be a big success. It sold out and reportedly could have again. The show used a similar lights up, sound down approach to make kids with Autism and similar disabilities feel more comfortable. Also removed for the show were:

-reduction of jarring sound
-strobe lights in the audience
-staffed break areas in the lobby
-downloadable social stories about the theater and production.

It's great to see movies and plays getting the autism treatment

Greg, Dad