Mark Haddon wrote an amazing book that became a bestseller and won both the White bread Book of the Year and With 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, and the Boy is Christopher."
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. 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.
Christopher's parents get separated in the story. 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. 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 already unknown to them results in high levels of anxiety.
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