Asperger's Disease

Today I would like to talk about being an autist. In every chapter there are things Chris is talking about that seem strange. These things affect Chris' character and his bahaviour. Reading about such things you might think Christopher is a freak, but the truth is more serious - Christopehr suffers from Asperger's Disease, closely related to autism. Chris describes his characteristics when talking about himself, he even explains his behaviour to make it more understandable for the reader. So he doesn`t like when someone touches him or embrases, therefore he has a special greating motion, like he describes it here: "He (father) held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes Father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people, so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me."
Chris finds people confusing. He doesn't understand the expressions of their faces, he needs clear words. He doesn't understand metaphors, neither jokes. Chirs hates lies and he can't understand when people talk about things that aren't and can't be real. In general, this boy needs an exactly structured life with clear orders and instructions. He is afraid of new and unfamiliar things, so he only feels sure in accustomed surroundings. Another quirk of Chris is his regulation about whether a day might be a good or a bad day; a good day will be when he sees 4 red cars in a row, a bad day is defined by 4 yellow cars in a row. In general Christopher doesn't like the yellow colour, neither the brown one.

Well, almost in every chapter you can read about what Chris likes and what he doesn't. It would take too much time to list all of the characteristics of Chris. But I found it important to name some of them in order to present you the world of Chris - a world of an autistic boy. To conclude today's posting I would like to mention a very interesting thing recently happened to me, i.e. exactly during that time when I was reading the book and realised what does it mean to be an autist. One day I worked at school as a substitute for a teacher and I taught a class where I got to know an autistic boy for the first time in my life. It was very hard, but as I had read in the novel how do autistic people behave, I knew how to act on my part. And I was really thankful having read about Christopher. This novel is a really instructive! I like it!