Mark Haddon wrote an amazing book that went on to become a bestseller and won both the Whit bread Book of the Year and Whit bread Novel awards. It was said that Mark Haddon himself said, "Who on earth would want to read about a disabled fifteen-year-old boy?", when he was making the book. Little did he know that it was precisely the fifteen-year-old handicapped boy who made his book stand out, winning awards and becoming a bestseller. The name of the book is "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and the Boy is Christopher."
Christopher is an autistic-savant. He can name all the countries of the world and their capitals. He has a photographic memory and a talent for mathematics and science. Despite his unusual intelligence, he cannot imagine, understand figures of speech and can relate to jokes. He also does not like places where a lot of people and people touch him. People who are autistic-savant exhibit both characteristics common among people with autism and those with Savant syndrome. Autism is a developmental disorder among the group of autism spectrum disorders. This condition is primarily characterized by impairments in socialization, imagination, and communication. Savant syndrome is characterized by very low general intelligence but exceptionally narrow intelligence, usually in the fields of mathematics, music, the arts, and memorization. In the story, Christopher's parents are separated. Her mother decides to leave Christopher and her father because she can no longer cope with the demands of raising an autistic child. Parents who care for special children, such as those with autism, may have higher stress levels than most parents. This is mainly because their children have special demands, unusual behavior, and different abilities than other children of the same age. These children will have the most difficulty in communicating, thus, may have unusual reactions. An example of this is when an autistic child cries for no apparent reason and starts beating himself. Most likely, something has upset him, but can't tell what it is because he doesn't know how. Some autistic children with sensory integration problems may be either hypersensitive or hyposensitize to touch, pressure, movement, and sound. They will show some behaviors that are sometimes difficult to understand such as avoiding certain types of food and drink, pinching or hitting, repetitive movements and screaming. Some of them may also strongly adhere to certain routines and fear new places or people. Adjusting to the needs of these children and dealing with their behavior is not easy and, therefore, can lead to a lot of stress.
Autism can be very limiting to a child's world. They thrive on security and should avoid whatever they consider to be a threat to their safety. However, a lot of factors, situations and demands of the society make them insecure and being forced to deal with them makes them very worried most of the time. Unknowingly and unconsciously, children with autism have a constant feeling of anxiety for anything new or anything beyond their understanding. Just like in the book, when Christopher had to move out of the area of his familiar city, he became physically ill and scared. Unlike most children, people with autism cannot easily adapt to new environments or situations. The process of learning to understand and accept what is previously unknown to them results in a high level of anxiety. Despite what appears to be a difficult task of adapting and coping with autistic children, much has already been studied and published about proper management. This will not only reduce the anxiety of the children but also the stress of their parents. Some methods such as cognitive behavior modification, behavior modification techniques, and environmental modification techniques have been shown to be effective in changing inappropriate behavior and improving the learning skills of children with autism. Some, those with complex conditions other than autism, may require additional treatment as advised by doctors. Autistic children, who also have manic depression because of their unhappiness from unintentionally engaging in self-protective behaviors, may need more therapy than previously described. In this situation it is highly advisable to consult a psychiatrist and other medicines may be prescribed.
Christopher's story ends with him being able to overcome the challenges that caused him so much anxiety, and his mother deciding to return to take care of him. Like this fictional novel, it can be achieved in real life too in terms of dealing with the tension and anxiety between families that need to deal with this situation. Stress and anxiety in parents and autistic children can be addressed effectively through proper management, medication or treatment.
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