Ruth C. Sullivan family member with developmental disabilities. She retired from the Autism Services Center on November 1, 2007 at the age of 83. Sullivan assisted in the production of the 1988 movie "Rain Man" by serving as a consultant on autistic behavior, and Dustin Hoffman worked with Sullivan and her son Joseph, who has autism, when practicing for his role. Hoffman thanked her and Joseph in his Oscar speech. Sullivan has the last credit in the movie, and the extended DVD version features an interview with Joe. (Joe Sullivan was not the only inspiration for Hoffman's role; the role was originally written
Hannah Gross the Rain and Let Me Listen" in 2012. Gross was cast in "I Used to Be Darker" (2013) after meeting its director, Matthew Porterfield, at the after show party for the New York City screening of his previous film, "Putty Hill" (2010). Also in 2013, she played the title character in Dustin Guy Defa's short film "Lydia Hoffman Lydia Hoffman". Gross played the lead female character in Charles Poekel's film "Christmas, Again", which had its premiere at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival. She also performed in Nathan Silver's 2014 film "Uncertain Terms," and reunited with him in his 2015