Christopher Boone Autism

Christopher Boone the main character of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, seems to be suffering from Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger’s Syndrome is considered to be a high functioning autism, this means that when compared to classic autism, these people are better able to communicate more efficiently and are capable of higher thinking. Higher thinking may include things such as figuring out puzzles or riddles. Although, it is never directly stated in the book whether or not Christopher has autism, there are many signs that he lives with this disability. Asperger’s Syndrome can be identified in a person if they refrain from being social or if they have trouble understanding emotions or nonverbal cues. There are many more indicators of Asperger’s, and Christopher is described to show a numerous amount of the same traits, when shown the evidence one can see how clear it is that he deals with this form of autism. Christopher has many anti-social tendencies and odd mannerisms which can be traced back to Aspergers, this can be seen when Christopher repeats that he does not like it when things are yellow or brown but he loves red. This particular habit can be noted throughout the book but specifically when Christopher is listing the things that get him in trouble. Haddon writes, “These are some of my Behavioral Problems . . . Not liking yellow things or brown things and refusing to touch yellow things or brown things” (Haddon, 46). Further proof of this is when Christopher reveals that he looks at the colors of passing cars to determine whether it would be a good day or a horrible one. One might be led to believe that this repetition and fascination with colors stems from a common trait found in many people with Aspergers. In addition to Christophers obsession with the colors red, yellow, and brown, he also has great difficulty understanding what other people are feeling and has no understanding of what complex facial expression mean. Christopher has such a hard time with this that his teacher, Siobhan, draws flash cards for him to study and use for reference. The text says, “I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and write down next to them exactly what they meant. I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when I didn't understand what someone was saying” (Haddon, …show more content…
The few previously mentioned are only a fraction of Asperger’s indicators. For instance, many people with this form of autism repeat the same phrases or avoid eye contact, even speaking all together for extended periods of time. We know for a fact that Christopher has also done this, in the book Haddon wrote, “Once I didn’t talk to anyone for 5 weeks” (Haddon, 46). This obviously shows that Christopher deals with Aspergers and not just social anxiety. Christopher could help treat his Aspergers with a behavioral therapist, there are group options but in Christopher’s case this might not be the best route to take. Christopher gets very uncomfortable and becomes distressed in group settings. One on one behavioral therapy seems like the best option for Christopher, it would help him to deal with many of the challenges he deals with on a day to day basis and it would help him to communicate and understand others easier in the