t he curious incident of the dog in the night-time

1. the curious incident of the dog in the night-time By Shaina Clark

2. The Author: Mark Haddon Mark Haddon was born in Northampton in 1962. He graduated from Oxford University in 1981 and then later studied English Literature at Edinburgh University. He did a variety of jobs such as: working with adults and children that have mental and physical disabilities, an illustrator, a cartoonist, and writing children’s books. In 2003 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was published and has been very successful.  It is the first book to have been published simultaneously in two prints - one for children and one for adults. It has won a string of prestigious awards, including the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year. He has also wrote a popular second book, A Spot of Brother.

3. Christopher John Francis Boone “My name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057. I like red, but not yellow or brown and I just got the results of my maths A level test and I got an A. I thought this might happen, because today was a Super Good Day because I saw 5 red cars in a row. I am going to do A level further maths next year and get an A grade and then go to A level Physics and get an A grade. I just finished writing the book about how I solved the murder mystery of Wellington. It was my lying father, and I am doing an experiment to see if he is really a criminal. I hope he is not because then he might murder my dog Sandy and get thrown in jail when mom and I press charges.”

4. Summary of the book: Christopher Boone is a boy with Asperger’s Syndrome, an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. He is writing a murder mystery novel about Wellington, his next door neighbor, Mrs. Shears’, dog. Wellington was murdered and Christopher likes Sherlock Holmes, so he decides to play detective to figure out who killed Wellington. He lives in Swindon, England with his father, Ed Boone. He believes his mother to be dead because his father told him she died of a heart-attack. He goes to a special school and his teacher’s name is Siobhan. Christopher goes on many adventures throughout the book in order to solve this mystery.

5. Behaviors of Christopher: 2)He does not like people 3)He does not like to be touched 5)If touched, he will hit people or pull his swiss army knife on them 7)He does not like yellow or brown. 11)If something upsets him he will cover his ears, close his eyes, scream and groan. 13)He can not tell a lie. 17)He does not like metaphors and believes they are basically a lie. 19)He does not like crowded places. 23)He does not like a lot of noise. 29)He does not like strangers. 31)He can not read people and their faces. 37)He does not understand emotions. 41)If something upsets him he refuses to eat or drink. 43)He does not have friends. 47)He likes to walk around late at night. 53)He Smashes things when angry. 59)His food can not touch or he refuses to eat it. 61)He does not like to smile. 67)He says things that people think is rude. 71)When angry he will not talk to people for a long time. 73)He does not like change. 79)Refuses to use some things when someone else touches it, such as a toothbrush. 83)Does not like to be laughed at.

6. In the book, treatment for Christopher’s behavior: 2)He goes to a special school. 3)He is allowed to study further into the subjects he enjoys, such as math. 5)Keep things he likes available, such as books, puzzles, and Blue Planet videos. 7)Christopher talks to a psychologist at his school. Accommodations for Christopher’s behavior: 2)People who know him do not touch him. His parents show they love him by putting up their hand and spreading out their fingers. 3)Make sure his food does not touch when feeding him. 5)Not giving him anything with yellow or brown colors. Putting food color on his food. 7)Do not take him shopping or to a crowded area. 11)Coming up with games to convince him to drink something. 13)Buying him a dog to earn his trust.

7. Example of treatment in the book (pg. 26): “Because it was a Good Day I decided that I would try and find out who killed Wellington because a Good Day is a day for projects and planning things. When I said this to Siobhan she said ‘Well, we’re meant to be writing stories today, so why don’t you write about finding Wellington and going to the police station.’ And this is when I started writing this.” Example of negative treatment (pg. 82): “Mother had hit me sometimes because she was a very hot-tempered person, which means she got angry more quickly than other people and she shouted more often.”

8. Treatments I would use: 2) Clear instructions to Christopher and be direct. 3) Prompting to perform specific behaviors. 5) A reward system for performing these behaviors. 7) A gradual increase of complexity of reinforced behaviors. 11) Take him to a special education school and camps. 13) Reinforce what he is good at, such as math. 17) Help him set goals and work hard to achieve them, such as his goal to be an astronaut or a scientist. 19) Try to work on helping him understand body language. 23) Try to work on how to appropriately interact with other people. 29) Counseling to help him learn to trust his parents again.

9. Activity http://www.hale.ndo.co.uk/scotopic/index.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPDTEuotHe0