Donna Williams is another author you might check out.  She's written a lot about her experiences with "high functioning autism."

 

Marilyn Irwin



	-----Original Message----- 

	From: EASI's Library Accessibility Discussion List on behalf of Linda Walling 

	Sent: Wed 7/20/2005 8:32 AM 

	To: [log in to unmask] 

	Cc: 

	Subject: Fw: Re: USC and the Curious Incident

	

	

	    Well, it should help to have the sister speak -- and the Director of our library school has invited me to join the discussion group he is assigned to lead. He wanted some backup. I plan to mostly listen, but I'll take a couple of Temple Grandin's books along to show them.  Linda

	 

	----- Original Message ----- 

	From: Susan Gilbert Beck <mailto:[log in to unmask]>  

	To: [log in to unmask] 

	Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 9:26 PM

	Subject: Re: USC and the Curious Incident



	I second the suggestion! I hope that the discussion leaders for classes will be knowledgeable--especially since the word autism is never mentioned.  Susan

	

	Linda Walling wrote:

	



		    I thought you'd be interested in knowing that the wonderful book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is the book all freshmen at USC will read and discuss this fall. The following is an article from The State newspaper about the book. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend that you do so!  Linda

		Posted on Tue, Jul. 19, 2005



		USC hopes autism novel inspires freshmen



		By CLAUDIA SMITH BRINSON



		Columnist



		Across South Carolina, and here and there and elsewhere, about 3,600 18-year-olds should be carrying around a little red book.



		The readers are USC's incoming freshmen. The book with the bright red cover is Mark Haddon's "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time."



		For the first time, all freshmen are participating in USC's First-Year Reading Experience. Before, participation was limited to several hundred students in the S.C. Honors College or University 101, the school's college introduction course.



		During summer orientation, each freshman is being handed a copy of Haddon's international best-seller. At 8:30 a.m. Aug. 15, all will gather in the Carolina Coliseum to talk about the adventures of Christopher John Francis Boone.



		But first, they will hear from Mary Meghan Martin, 20, a second-semester junior from Bothell, Wash., who is majoring in biology. Mary Martin's younger sister and two cousins are autistic, as is the narrator of Haddon's novel.



		Mary Martin's participation marks another first. Eleven years - and books - into the program, this is the first time a student will be the featured speaker at the student welcoming. Martin will share the stage with associate provost Karl Heider and English professor Ed Madden.



		When Dan Berman, USC's director of University 101, heard of Mary Martin's deep and personal connection to the subject matter of "The Curious Incident," he took the leap. "I know it will be inspiring for other students," he says.



		Mary Martin is still working on her speech. Right now, she has three versions. But in any version, she's a fierce advocate for her sister, Kristen Martin, and "The Curious Incident."



		She sees an opportunity to dispel stereotypes: "Most books or movies about autism show extreme cases, like in 'Rain Man.' ''



		She sees an opportunity to better describe autism, a neurological disorder affecting 1.5 million American children and adults. Autism is described as a spectrum disorder because it affects individuals in a variety of ways, at a variety of levels, from severe mental disability to extreme intellectual or artistic gifts.



		Most people with autism do experience difficulties communicating, socializing and dealing with change. Christopher explains, "... when I am in a new place, because I see everything, it is like when a computer is doing too many things at the same time and the central processor unit is blocked up and there isn't any space left to think about other things."



		In Mary Martin's family, one cousin is classically autistic. Another, like the narrator of "The Curious Incident," has Asperger syndrome, sometimes described as high-functioning autism. Kristin Martin's diagnosis is PDD-NOS, which stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified.



		Kristin Martin, 18, also has Turner syndrome, which delays puberty and inhibits growth. She is deaf and mentally disabled.



		"My first memories are of her in the hospital," Mary Martin says. "We didn't expect her to live past her first birthday, so every year is a shock and amazing and wonderful.



		"Of course there were times I didn't understand what was going on and wanted her to be normal. But I've learned a lot from her. She has always been a blessing, except for a few years in elementary school, when I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, I have a sister who is handicapped.' ''



		Kristin Martin has shaped not only her big sister's past but her future. Mary Martin names handicapped children her passion and hopes to earn both a medical degree and a Ph.D. to combine research and teaching in that area.



		Mary Martin already has practice, attending medical appointments, adding her point of view at meetings about her sister's public-school education.



		"My family, the way we get things to work is we're all involved," she explains. Her father is a senior systems administrator with a pharmaceutical company who goes to work before dawn so he can be home in the afternoon. Her mother works at home for Hewlett-Packard.



		Among their most important offerings is "regulating life so there's a constant balance," Mary Martin says. "I am absolutely awed by my parents and how much they do."



		Much is needed, she notes. "Like any little sister, my little sister hugs you, laughs and plays - but on her terms. If you introduce her to a new situation or a new person, and she wasn't prepared, she will go into a temper tantrum."



		Mary Martin particularly likes how "The Curious Incident" depicts the stress families endure. She offers as a personal example a Christmas Day spent in the emergency room. The Martins had visited relatives; Kristen Martin, unable to handle the variety, threw daily tantrums, needing medical assistance to stop.



		This is the sort of thing, Mary Martin notes, that estranges relatives, ends marriages, results in violent responses. "The Curious Incident" tackles just such problems in a tender and surprising way.



		"The best thing about the book is it's fictional," Mary Martin says. "If it were nonfiction, you wouldn't get the whole story" because real people wouldn't tell how tough it actually gets.



		Berman notes "The Curious Incident" is difficult to put down. "It's deceptively simple but really loaded with powerful issues."



		He says expanding the First-Year Reading Experience should challenge students to do "something academic during the summer."



		He reflects on the book's quality, as well as the persistently upbeat Mary Martin, and adds, "The only thing I'm worried about is: How do we follow this up?"



		For more information about the First-Year Reading Experience and a reader's discussion guide, go to www.sc.edu/univ101.



		(c) 2005 The State and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.



		http://www.thestate.com 



		 



		 



		 

		Linda L. Walling

		Columbia, SC 

		803/779-4127

		http://www.libsci.sc.edu/facst/lw.htm

		 

		"Our choices are always made in the 

		context of the stories we tell." --Alan Jones