The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

925 Words4 Pages
Autism is a common disorder that affects 1 in 110 children. Asperger syndrome is on the high functioning end of the Autism spectrum, but even “high functioning” Autism is challenging to cope with. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon, is a story about Christopher Boone, a boy with Asperger Syndrome. As Chris grows up, he is sure to have a difficult time managing in the real world. Christopher finds it hard to interact with people, and has underdeveloped social skills. He finds people hard to understand because people do a lot of talking without using any words. For example, Siobhan tells Chris that if you close your mouth and breathe through your nose, it can mean many different things from being bored to being angry, and it all depends on how much and how fast the air comes out your nose. She also explained that it makes a difference what shape your mouth is in when you do it, or how you are sitting, or what you just said before. This is hard for him to comprehend. If Chris can’t understand body language or emotions, and can’t take those non-verbal hints he won’t know if someone is angry or happy or relaxed. If he happens to make his boss angry, for example, he won’t realize it and could lose his job if he doesn’t make a change. Also, Chris doesn’t understand the concept of “chatting.” He doesn’t get why people would have conversations about nothing in particular. However, chatting is a way to get to know people and is a part of everyday life. It will be more difficult for Chris to make friends if he doesn’t know how to chat with others. Christopher needs organization. He always has to be on a schedule and do things at the same time every day in order to function. Also, he needs everything to be in the same place. For instance, when Mrs. Shears moved the furniture at his house, he moved it back to exactly the same
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