Class Discussion Number 1

In class we discussed a lot about Autism. None of us really knew what it was. We all had ideas and knew little tid bits but over all we were uneducated on the topic of Autism. According to Wikipedia Autism is:
"Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. It is one of three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two being Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome are not met."

Autism is so interesting to me because it can happen genetically but can also be acquired through various ways.

We also discussed how Christopher says he cannot lie even though he does. We noticed a trend of him lying when he was told to not do something even though he wanted to-so he was going to do it anyways. He also lied saying that it was okay because they were only white lies. So, it seemed as though Christopher did tell the full truth to his version of the story.

We also discussed his emotions for his mother. He seemed to usually only think about people in his everyday life but he still talked about her even after death. We noticed how horribly she treated him. She would say things like, "Your going to drive me to an early grave" and such to try to emphasize how difficult he was. She also cheated on Christopher's father. Though it didn't have much of an effect on Christopher it impacted his family and his relationship with his neighbor-the one who slept with his mother.

This book is confusing to me because it seems rude to write from the mind of an autistic boy when the author is not himself-even though writing a story is about changing characters and and making the audience believe him-but on the other hand he was seen as an expert on autism after the book was written.