Aspergers Syndrome

Aspergers is considered high functioning and is at the far right of the spectrum. It is grouped under the umbrella term pervasive developmental disorder or PPD along with other disorders relating to communication, socialization, and interests/activities deficits. The term Asperger’s syndrome was coined by Lorna Wing in a paper published in 1981before then people with Aspergers syndrome were considered socially awkward or unsociable. Boys are typically affected more by aspergers syndrome. People with Aspergers typically are more interested in objects, like trains, than they are in people.

Christopher Boone compares his mind to a film as Temple Grandin compares hers to a VCR tape. In the book A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Christopher Boone talk’s bout his memory like this “My memory is like a film. That is why I am really good at remembering things…And when people ask me to remember something I can simply press Rewind and Fast Forward and Pause like on a video recorder…” He then goes on to talk about being able to tell you exactly what someone was wearing and different days in his life time.

In Thinking in Pictures, Temple Grandin talks about changing written and spoken language into movies in her head. “I translate both written and spoken words into full-color movies, complete with sound, which run like a VCR tape in my head. When somebody speaks to me, his words are instantly translated into pictures.”

Christopher Boone has a rule system for when it is and is not ok to tell lies he calls the lies he is allowed to tell white lies. He was taught about lies by his mother who said that if you tell lies you are not a good person. “And I said, “I have been out.” This is called a white lie. A white lie is not a lie at all. It is when you tell the truth but you do not tell all of the truth.”

Temple Grandin has created a rule