Monday, March 22, 2010

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime was written by Mark Haddon, a British novelist and poet. He wrote the story from the perspective of a fifteen year old boy with Asperger Syndrome, which is part of the autism spectrum. He worked with autistic people as a young adult, which partially explains how he was able to write such a descriptive, authentic and believable character. Additionally, he seemed to have an insider's view on the day-to-day lives and struggles of those on the autism spectrum.

In the story, the main character, Christopher, is trying to solve the mystery of who killed a neighborhood dog. Christopher lives with his father in Swindon, a town in southwest England. In the course of his inquiries, he finds out some previously unknown information about his family, namely that his father had lied to him about his mother's death the year before. His mother wasn't dead, but had left them. When Christopher found out that his mom was alive and living in London with a former neighbor, he felt as if he could no longer trust his father not to lie to him and sets out in search of his mother, on his own. The author did a great job describing Christopher's train of thought, his anxieties, his heightened senses, his extreme intelligence in some areas and his lack of skills in other areas. I think anyone would find this book to be fascinating. It will make you think twice before you see someone on the bus, train or at the store and think of them as "strange".

One quick note- I know Scholastic book fairs carry this book (we just had ours at school), but I would not recommend it for anyone under the age of 15 or so. It was written as a book for adults and young adults. It has some course language and skirts some adult topics.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Dentist's Office


A week or so before Maya's appointment to do some dental work last month, she drew this picture. She is still somewhat limited in her expressive communication skills, but getting better every day. She had been saying she wanted to go to the dentist's around this time, which we were happy with since she isn't always able to describe what is bothering her. When she started talking about it we already had the appointment day and time set for some time because she got the exam before anything was really bothering her and the dentist recommended general anesthesia and quite frankly, we couldn't see doing it any other way. The anesthesiologist only comes out once a month so we had to schedule it more than a month ahead of time. (Just as a side note, you know it is going to be pricey when the pediatric dentist tells you, "Yeah, he's really good. There are only about five guys in the valley that do it, so he comes out once a month and we try to schedule all the appointments then.") So about a week before the visit, she drew this picture and told us it was her at the dentist's office. Notice that she circled one of the teeth . It turned out when the dentist got in there, one of her teeth was infected and he was quite sure that was the one she circled in her picture. Poor thing-at the time she drew it we couldn't make the appointment happen any sooner.

She was good about getting the little shot that put her out. It was very strange to see her eyes glass over when the medication kicked in. The dentist said he thinks she grinds her teeth, maybe in her sleep, and that may have contributed to some of the damage. Anyway, after all was said and done, he had to do everything he thought he would have to do. He even cleaned, sealed her molars and took x-rays while she was out.

After he was done, she was out of it for quite awhile. She sort of came to in the car on the way home and then cried off and on for about an hour saying, "The dentist! I need the dentist!" She had been under the whole time, so she didn't think the dentist had fixed her teeth and she was mad. Once she came around a little more, I was able to show her the teeth he fixed and explain it to her better. She was pretty much back to normal by the afternoon, except that her teeth were a little sore for about 24 hours or so. It was quite an ordeal but we are glad to have her in better shape now.