Rain Man as inaugurating a common but mistaken media stereotype that people on the autism spectrum typically have savant skills, and references to "Rain Man", in particular Dustin Hoffman's performance, have become a popular shorthand for autism and savantism. Conversely, "Rain Man" has also been seen as "dispelling" a number of other misconceptions about autism, and improving public awareness of the failure of many agencies to accommodate autistic people and make use of the abilities they do have, regardless of whether they have savant skills or not. The film is also known for popularizing the misconception that card counting is illegal in
The Art of Racing in the Rain who is a close friend of Stein's who was dealing with some family turbulence at the time. Stein moved from New York City to Seattle in 2001 and became involved in "high performance driver education," received his racing license with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), and won the points championship in the Northwest region Spec Miata class in 2003. Stein left racing after crashing while racing in the rain. Universal Pictures acquired the rights to the prize-winning novel in July 2009, for Patrick Dempsey to star in. The project has not been able to find a director. After