Autism is a disorder that affects one in every 1000 children born in Australia. Many of these children seem unable to show emotion or express love to other human beings, even to parents or siblings. Most children suffering autism are initially categorised as 'unreachable' and until recently institutionalisation was the favoured cure. It has only been in recent years that alternative therapies have been explored and startling breakthroughs made by the children who respond to those therapies. STRANGER IN THE FAMILY follows several children who are attending Giant Steps, a special school of holistic one-on-one therapy for affected children in Sydney, whose progress to communication has defied their initial diagnosis.