Orange Squash

Boy was I thrilled that I did not do my Wednesday homework during Tuesday and instead was sucked into Swindon by a narrator who has autism. Also, I wouldn't want to live with that father either. Also also, what is orange squash?

To geek out for a moment, it is just so cool how Christopher was just a perfect match for the symptoms and behavioral traits of children with autism listed in the reading link.

Christopher makes a lovely point in the novel that we all need something special to help us function in the world. His dad needs packets of sugar for his coffee. I need a ring on my left thumb or else I feel unbalanced. Christopher explains succinctly why he screams out of frustration and anger. As children, persons with out disabilities did just that; but they learned how to suppress that urge to loudly express frustration. Christopher also has techniques that help him calm himself. He counts to 50 and doubles 2. This is a very common practice among individuals when it comes to anger: counting numbers. Christopher uses the exact techniques in a longer span of time.



I was really interested in the distinction between a simile and a metaphor. Christopher thinks a simile is okay because it compares images but a metaphor is a lie because one is not telling the truth about the thing they are making into a metaphor. For instance, he would probably not understand "lend me a hand" in reference to help because he would think that one asks  for an actual hand instead of comprehending the metonymic nature of the phrase.Therefore that phrase is a lie because one asks for help, not a hand.

Shirisha (sorry about the spelling if it's wrong!) talked about metaphor comprehension and if I remember correctly, Christopher would have an impairment on the left side of his brain. I read an article (http://www.semel.ucla.edu/autism/news/10/nov/03/ucla-study-reveals-how-autism-risk-gene-rewires-brain) that said UCLA found that children with autism have an "unusual symmetry" in the brain with regards to language when children without autism have a strong left-side connection. So perhaps this symmetry refers to a lack of connection to the left side when there should be almost an "over" development to that part of the brain.

I did find one inconsistency in the book with regards to what Christopher says about himself. He says he cannot have pictures in his head that didn't really happen, like other people can. So in effect, Christopher cannot imagine multiple worlds for him to inhabit, which ties into his inability to lie or comprehend lies. (78) But then a page later he says, "I like imagining that I am there [Mount Everest], in a spherical metal submersible..." (80) Christopher can imagine multiple realities! Does he not realize that was he imagines is the same process as others?  I find this the most logical conclusion because he has no Theory of Mind skill, he has to he taught Theory of Mind like one is taught how to solve for the hypotenuse of a triangle. "I know that they're working out what I am thinking, but I can't tell what they're thinking." (22) It's so interesting that this is a huge hindrance for Christopher's success of social interactions. After reading, I felt incredibly grateful that I have developed this skill and how important this ability is in order to function. In thinking that, Christopher is able to function, it takes him longer to complete social interactions and he has to use conscious thought to do so.

I did, however, doubt Christopher's ability to overcome his fears/behaviors and get to London. But I think what is hard to express in the novel form is the passage of time. The narrator slips  in occasionally a measurement of time but to the reader spatially, it seems like a very short time. And in that fault of written books we lose the grandiosity and courageous act of Christopher. It took him a really long time. Like I think upwards of 12 hours to take what should be about a 4 hour trip. So in my disbelief, I began to argue the miracle that Christopher performed. I think the book is a testament to Persons with disabilities. They are more than a section of humans than cannot function in "our" normal society.