Autism

1
Autism

• Background Notes for The Curious Incident of the
  Dog in the Night-Time

2
What is Autism?

• Characterized by certain patterns of behavior
• social impairments
• communication difficulties
• restricted actions

3
What is Autism?

• As early as infancy, a child with autism may
  display impaired social interaction. He or she
  may be unresponsive to others or focus intently
  on one object for an abnormal amount of time.

4
What is Autism?

• Children with autism may fail to respond to their
  names and avoid eye contact with others.
• Those with autism have difficulty interpreting
  what others think and feel because they have
  difficulty understanding social cues such as tone
  of voice and facial expressions.

5
Narrator of Curious

• The narrator of the book is Christopher Boone, a
  15 year-old boy with an undisclosed disorder.
• Although never stated, Christopher appears to be
  a highly functioning autistic person.
• Christopher also appears to have the qualities of
  a savant.

6
Asperger syndrome

• Christopher may have this form of autism because
  displays many of the characteristics
• He is advanced in areas of language and other
  intellectual abilities
• He is physically clumsy and socially awkward