Monthly Archives: July 2008

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A Review

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

I couldn’t wait to reread this book to write the review. That’s how much I love it.

Author Mark Haddon has created, in my view, a realistic fictional autistic teen with an amazing way of describing the life and people that surround him. But what I love most about the book is how much the main character, 15-year-old Christopher, reminds me of my son Nigel (aside from the fact that Christopher is incredibly good at math, and Nigel is at the opposite end of that spectrum). I love experiencing Christopher’s usually detached observation, his mannerisms that are so close to home for me. I could identify with the intense love coupled with the equally intense frustration that his father feels raising him alone. When I read Christopher’s thought processes (portrayed so well by Haddon), I recognize what Nigel has been able to convey to me about his own.

I love reading about Christopher’s determination to do things himself, which reminds me so much of my son. Christopher’s love of animals is touching and also familiar, as are his attempts to understand the complexities of emotions and his need to always give the exact minute when telling time. He tries hard to manage his sensory issues and asks people for help when he needs it. He is persistent about the things that are important to him, like taking a high-level math test, and being a detective.

I won’t say anything about the plot of the book because it is so captivating; the only way to appreciate it is to read it and experience it yourself. And besides, it is a mystery. I wouldn’t want to spoil it. Christopher points out at the beginning, “This is a murder mystery novel,” and in trying to solve it, he discovers another one that changes everything. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is tender, moving, and beautifully written. It’s also a quick read, which is good in a way, because you’ll want to read it again and again.

The Organic Difference

I mentioned in a recent post how eating organic food has made a big difference in our family’s health, and I wanted to go into more detail about that. In the past two years, I have had only one mild illness, over in two days, and the boys have each had only two mild illnesses. I used to have spring allergies so bad that I would need to be on Claritin-D for two months straight. Not since I started eating organic food.  My nose still gets a little itchy and I sneeze a bit, but at least I can breathe at night.  I have not experienced any major congestion in two years.

The great thing about organic food is that you don’t have to buy everything organic to notice the benefits. All you have to do to get started is to look at what you consume every day and choose one of those items and buy it organic. For me, I almost always have cold cereal and milk for breakfast. So do my sons. We started drinking organic milk and noticed the difference right away. For one thing, it tastes so much better than non-organic, somehow fresher and more flavorful. I switched my cereal to an organic brand, and Nigel’s also. (Aidan is addicted to his Crispix. He’s an even pickier eater than Nigel.)

Next I looked at what else we eat a lot of in our house: fruit. Both boys eat apples every day, so I started buying organic apples. Yes, they are more expensive, but our health is worth it. And neither of the boys got sick at all until almost a year later, when the next school year started. A nasty flu was going around, but they were only down for two days. And I didn’t get sick at all.

I started buying more organic fruit, yogurt, eggs, and tried some organic meat. Words can’t accurately describe how much better it all tastes. I’m not saying that I’ll never go back to non-organic. On the contrary – I would say that at this point the percentage of my diet that is organic is probably only half, or less than half. I’m not the type of guest at a potluck who passes up a great-looking dish because it’s non-organic. And on the rare occasions I eat out, I don’t ask if anything’s organic. Eating organic isn’t like being a vegetarian or vegan – it’s not all or nothing, unless you want it to be. Another great thing about organic food is that it cuts out all the chemicals – the artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives present in most non-organic food that can be so detrimental to the functioning of an autistic person, as I mentioned in my previous post.

Try switching to organic even for just one or two items that you eat on a regular basis. It’s definitely worth the effort.  

Focus

Last week a friend of mine found a lost dog, a little Yorkie, running around in a street in our town, and she picked him up so he wouldn’t get hit. There was no owner information on his tag, so she called the animal shelter, but no one had reported him yet.  She then proceeded to go door-to-door in that neighborhood trying to find the owner and finally did. The Yorkie, Sam, belonged to two older ladies, sisters living together. They were ecstatic to have him back and invited my friend in for tea.

The younger-looking sister was tall and thin and began telling my friend all sorts of wonderful stories about Sam, going off on tangents about their family members, places they’d traveled, and other dogs they’d owned. The older-looking sister, who was shorter and appeared to have osteoporosis, would periodically roll her eyes and say with urgency, “Focus, Martha, focus!”

I laughed as my friend told the story, envisioning the exchange. It reminded me of all the times, especially in the past few months of homeschooling, when I had to redirect Nigel by telling him to focus on what we were doing. I often have to remind myself to focus with all the different projects and distractions I have going on. Focusing is how we achieve our goals in the face of daily life. It’s also how to keep things short and sweet when a stranger returns a lost pet. “Focus, Martha, focus!” I had to write that on a Post-it note and stick it on my monitor. It’s the best advice I’ve heard all week.