Asperger Syndrome

" ... History suggests that many individuals whom we would today diagnose as autistic, contributed profoundly to our art, our math, our science, and our literature. "

--Morton Gernsbacher, parent of an autistic child.

Asperger Syndrome is a form of autism. Autism, in all of its forms, is what is called a wide-ranging developmental disorder. It's not a mental condition... it is a neurological difference. It’s more accurate to simply say that each individual is affected differently.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is a fiction novel based on the life of a young boy named Christopher Boone. Christopher has Asperger Syndrome. Throughout the book, the author goes through the key characteristics of Aspergers

meanwhile Christopher undertakes a major murder mystery to unveil the murder of Mrs Shear’s dog, Wellington. Haddon empathises a person with Asperger Syndrome clearly and it gives you an idea of what is it like to have Aspergers.

The first related material I chose is a chapter from the non-fiction novel Asperger Syndrome and Adolescence by Teresa Bolick. Bolick is a child phycologist and has produced this book as a type of guidebook for people with Asperger Syndrome and their parents. This book presents

strategies for helping adolescents with Asperger Syndrome achieve happiness and success by maximising the positives of having Asperger Syndrome and minimising the negatives.

The other piece of related material I chose is a YouTube video. Twenty-five year old Emily chose to video herself explaining what Asperger Syndrome is and what her experience is like as an individual with Asperger and broadcast it on YouTube. Emily explains what she struggles with and what she looks at as a positive of Asperger Syndrome.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a fiction novel written in first person. The book is entirely of what and how the main character, Christopher, sees, thinks, feels and acts throughout his quest to solve the mystery of who killed Mrs Shears’ dog, Wellington.

Along the way, Christopher entertains the audience with witty and charming remarks of his thoughts on regular, everyday occurrences. Christopher likes order and consistency, which is why he loves Maths. He’s also developed his own sort of superstitions. For example, the number of red cars he sees in a row determines how good the day is. He doesn’t like strangers or liars, infact, he cannot lie. He explains why this is, in great detail; there is a lie and there are white lies. Christopher doesn’t understand jokes or people. He can’t extinguish a person who is happy from a person who is angry. This is evident when his father gets angry at him for hitting a police officer, Christopher doesn’t realise he is in big trouble until his father raises his voice. A direct quote from the book is “I find people confusing. This is for two main reasons…” He goes on to explain that he notices people do a lot of talking without using any words. Like when a person raises their eyebrow it can mean �I think what you just said was very stupid.’ The second reason he states is that people often talk using metaphors. He thinks a metaphor is a lie because you are describing something by using a word for something that it isn’t.

These two reasons that Christopher explains are key characteristics of someone who has Asperger’s - difficulty with social relationships and difficulty with communication.

My first piece of related material, the novel Asperger Syndrome and Adolescence is a guidebook that helps preteens and teens with Asperger’s, get ready for the real world. In the one chapter that I used for my research, included are stories from adolescents with Asperger’s Syndrome and also parents who need or have advice.

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