Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I am interested in people's opinions of the book "A curious incident of a dog in the night time" which I have just finished reading.
I found it very powerful but I wonder would many people with Aspergers?/ Autism relate to the character in this book?
I ask from the perspective of someone who is still trying to figure out if the Aspergers diagnosis fits for me. To me while he makes sense to me and I can relate to parts of it, it feels far more pronounced than I am. Wondered on the opinion of other people who are on the spectrum, have you read it? Can you relate? Any other points?
Yes I read this article a while back and I it summed it up for me too. I half listened to the 'dog' story abridged on the radio, I found it really dull and one-dimensional. And, as usual, it proffered a male-and-maths stereotype. Many autistics are female and polymath.
You might find this article interesting regarding autism cliches and stereotypes in popular culture. 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' and 'The Rosie Project' come in for particular scrutiny. I think the author of the article sums up my own views on these books very well...
The Autistic View of the World is not the Neurotypical cliche
Just saying that in your diagnoses - if you go for one?
Theyll ask you to make up a story about a few dodgy watercolour pictures of fly frogs. If you can make up the story - they’ll likely say your not autistic
Sci-fi
yes - that’s not really fiction though. Unless of course it’s just pure fantasy. Start Trek for example is - the inventor of the mobile device. Stanly Cubrick - he first came up with the microwave cooker idea. Sci-fi is innovation if real ideas.
Actual fantasy though?
I preffer real life - my real life is way more exciting than any fantasy dreamed up by an NT
Fair enough, makes sense, personally I love fiction, sci-fi/ fantasy all that. Which I have counted against my own. But to me stories can do whatever they want have crazy rules of magic as long as it then sticks to its own rules, if it doesn't it will destroy any enjoyment for me
I can’t relate any any fiction whatsoever, ever. Never have. I can’t read fiction at all. Made up story? Yuk
That’s was part of my diagnoses too. They ask you to mae up a fake story by looking at pictures. It’s sinply hideous.
I’ve never ever read a story - not once in 46 years.
I read it a while ago, and I quite enjoyed it! I can relate to some parts but not everything. I quite like and can relate to the fact that he has some deep insights into how the world works and can describe the objectively; I can relate to some of his behavioural problems (e.g., meltdowns); I can relate to his difficulties in understanding the complex world; and I can relate to his obsessions and wanting to complete something (e.g., solving the mystery) once he has put his heart into it. I don't have as much struggles as he does, e.g., he needed to go to a special school; I don't need my food to be a particular colour; I don't often wet myself; and while I like maths, I cannot calculate big numbers in my head as easily as he can; and I don't have so much trouble catching a train (I liked the book a lot, but towards the end I was getting a bit frustrated that it took forever for him to get into a train).