Is it possible to have a relationship with a pet? Likewise, is it possible to have a relationship with an autistic person? I do not intend the comparison to demean the autistic; I am jest trying to get something. I have close relationships with both of my dog and my cat in China, and they are important in my life. But I never know what the pets are thinking. That is precisely the situation that Charlie Babbitt faced his brother Raymond in Rain Man.

In Rain Man, Charlie is a foreign fast car agent. He received the news that his father had died on the same weekend he was planning to getaway with his girlfriend Susanna because of his broken business. However, Charlie felt compelled to attend the funeral at last. He and his father had been estranged for many years, completely living out of contact with each...