"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" and Its Portrayal of Asperger's Syndrome

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," a novel by Mark Haddon, is a first-person story narrated by a boy with Asperger's Syndrome. Christopher John Francis Boone is 15 years old, knows all the countries of the world and their capital cities, every prime number up to 7057, and hates the colors yellow and brown.

The book itself is organized quite the way an Aspie with Christopher's compulsions would do it. The chapters are labeled with prime numbers. When words cannot do, there are simple illustrations, especially when Christopher is talking about various emotions. The story line is a bit scattered, but it does the job.

But is Mark Haddon's character in "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" an accurate depiction of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome?

Based on my experiences with my 8-year-old son, Sam, I can honestly say it is and it isn't. While in my opinion Christopher definitely has Asperger's Syndrome, in an interview with Mark Haddon by Powell's Books, Haddon simply refers to Christopher as having autism. In the past, Haddon worked with special needs children and loosely based his character on his experiences with those children, some of whom had autism.

Christopher has many obsessions and even more compulsions and anxieties. For instance, if Christopher sees four red cars in a row, it's a Good Day. If he sees three red cars in a row, it's a Quite Good Day, and five red cars makes it a Super Good Day. However, if Christopher sees four yellow cars in a row, it's a Black Day, which is a day when he doesn't speak to anyone and doesn't eat his lunch.

My son Sam is younger than Christopher, but he really isn't that neurotic. Sam never used to like green food, but over time I've persuaded him to include green in his diet. But if I hadn't worked with Sam about green foods, perhaps he would have continued to be dismissive of all foods green in color. But Sam is open to trying new things, whereas Christopher is very rigid in his likes and dislikes.

Christopher is extremely bright, which is typical of most children with Asperger's Syndrome. He also takes comfort and feels safe when things are in a "nice order", which is also common with Aspies. He has sensory issues and doesn't like being touched, another usual trait for autism-spectrum disorders.

Overall, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is an accurate, yet exaggerated portrayal of Asperger's Syndrome. But isn't that what good fiction does?