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
Dustin Hoffman homes and enter the human bloodstream, there will be a new plague the likes of which we have never seen." Critic David Denby credits Hoffman with giving the movie much of its thriller-like quality: Following that, he appeared in the 1996 revenge drama/legal thriller "Sleepers" (1996) with Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Jason Patric, and Kevin Bacon. In the mid-1990s, Hoffman starred in—and was deeply involved in the production of—David Mamet's "American Buffalo" (also 1996), and an early effort of film editor Kate Sanford. In 1997, Hoffman starred opposite John Travolta in the Costa Gavras film "Mad City". Hoffman gained