Curious Incident?

[conuly]

Remember that book? That lovely piece of fiction? Written by somebody who is not autistic?

Yeah, that.

It isn't a good reference material. For anybody. Because the person writing the book lacked any sort of personal experience with autism. And it's fiction. FICTION.

There are scads of autistic authors out there. Some of them are quite well-known. (And, to head off this argument, if you want to know how autistic people think, you really would want to read works by more than one autistic person, because not all autistics think the same way.)

Now, go forth and educate yourself.

Thank you.

Comments

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

But it was cute. (Umm, will this prove an unpopular opinion here, you say?) If you think it's bad, you should not read Speed of Dark. That beats everything at badness, hands down. And it won the Nebula! Sheesh *rolleyes* Crudely put, the book is a single long rant about how bad it is to have bad social skills. The protagonist is also reputedly obsessed with his job, but he never talks about it. I waited and waited to read long-winded passages about his supposedly interesting job, but nope!

My life would be pretty sad if I spent all the time agonizing over OMG my bad social skillz!, and besides, I'm too busy with my obsessions to spend that amount of time over OMG people!. I'm not saying it never occurs to me, but it is not the ultimate focus of my life or anything, and I think it's the same with most people. Getting focused on our shortcomings would be kind of... inadaptive for us humans as a species (autistic or not).

And the book also develops a really, really nasty curebie theme over time.

[ex-chaos-by-699.livejournal.com]

Oh god, that book gave me sheer rage with it's fucking curebie agenda.

[conuly]

I didn't dislike Curious Incident, I just didn't find it all that great.

[threeoranges.livejournal.com]

I got put off that book when I read a review which said that the chief character's reaction to a certain event went along the lines of "Mother died today. I had a cup of tea and got back to work."

Dude, that's RAIN MAN stuff. That ain't typical autistic, not at all!

[rantinan.livejournal.com]

fourtunately, everyone i know has worked it out.. mention that book to rantin and you'll find out WHY i picked rantin as an alias.

[ex-chaos-by-699.livejournal.com]

I haven't read that book yet, but I've gotten very mixed reviews of it, even from the autistic community. Some autistics do seem to really like it and think it describes them well, others not so much. It seems like he might have accurately described a subtype of autism at least, but since it is fiction and written by a non-expert, it obviously shouldn't be taken as gospel.

I have read both professional literature and books written by autistics themselves though, and I'd agree that if you want to understand autism, it's best to read something by an actual autistic person. And I'll also agree that it's good to read different authors, since autistic people differ as much from each other as non-autistic people do.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I found it a fun book. Although I listened to it in an audiobook format and really liked the way it was read. Unless you're legally blind or print disabled, you probably cannot get it read that way.

After I finished it, I was really curious how well people thought it actually represented autism, and couldn't find much in the way of answers. But I hope it's a bad fit, because the main character isn't at all likable. Well, he is, at first. But as it progresses, he becomes less and less likable. And I don't want to think of people I know on the spectrum as being like him. Fortunately, I don't.

I think it was intended to create a greater acceptance and sympathy for the autistic. To help NTs realize that their behaviors aren't bad, just different. But it completely fails by making the main character completely and utterly self-absorbed and selfish.

[zannechaos.livejournal.com]

Unless you're legally blind or print disabled, you probably cannot get it read that way.

Just out of curiosity, I'm wondering what you meant. Is the audiobook format only available by special order to those who are blind/print-disabled? Do you have to go through a doctor to get a prescrition in order to get it?

Or are you saying that someone has to be blind/print-disabled in order to enjoy and appreciate audiobooks?

Because I know a good number of people with perfectly decent vision, who read print books by the dozens, and love audiobooks and oftentimes listen to them while walking or on long commutes.

I can't, for obvious reasons, being deaf, but still... I've been sitting here trying to figure out what exactly you meant there.

[leora.livejournal.com]

The version I listened to came from the US Library of Congress collection of audiobooks for the legally blind and print disabled. They make their own audiobooks, with their own readers, that violate copyright given the legal exception for such things, but that can only be used by the blind and print disabled. You need signed paperwork to get into the program and borrow the audiobooks.

I have no idea how similar or different any other audiobook version of the book may be. Perhaps sometimes it is the same, but it could be done by someone completely different, and my guess is it is. So, you can't listen to the version I heard unless you're in the program (and can hear).

[(Anonymous)]

Would you be referring to The Curious Incident With The Dog And The Long Title I Can't Remember? I wanted to kill that kid within pages of starting, seriously, I could barely finish it for imagining laughing at his corpse and covering him in all those colours he was so set against. No offense to anyone who actually is autistic, but that kid really really got to me, pushed exactly the buttons he needed to in order to get me that angry at someone who wasn't even real. Anywho, rant over, sorry if I offended anyone.

- Kemp

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

But it was cute. (Umm, will this prove an unpopular opinion here, you say?) If you think it's bad, you should not read Speed of Dark. That beats everything at badness, hands down. And it won the Nebula! Sheesh *rolleyes* Crudely put, the book is a single long rant about how bad it is to have bad social skills. The protagonist is also reputedly obsessed with his job, but he never talks about it. I waited and waited to read long-winded passages about his supposedly interesting job, but nope!

My life would be pretty sad if I spent all the time agonizing over OMG my bad social skillz!, and besides, I'm too busy with my obsessions to spend that amount of time over OMG people!. I'm not saying it never occurs to me, but it is not the ultimate focus of my life or anything, and I think it's the same with most people. Getting focused on our shortcomings would be kind of... inadaptive for us humans as a species (autistic or not).

And the book also develops a really, really nasty curebie theme over time.

[ex-chaos-by-699.livejournal.com]

Oh god, that book gave me sheer rage with it's fucking curebie agenda.

[conuly]

I didn't dislike Curious Incident, I just didn't find it all that great.

[threeoranges.livejournal.com]

I got put off that book when I read a review which said that the chief character's reaction to a certain event went along the lines of "Mother died today. I had a cup of tea and got back to work."

Dude, that's RAIN MAN stuff. That ain't typical autistic, not at all!

[rantinan.livejournal.com]

fourtunately, everyone i know has worked it out.. mention that book to rantin and you'll find out WHY i picked rantin as an alias.

[ex-chaos-by-699.livejournal.com]

I haven't read that book yet, but I've gotten very mixed reviews of it, even from the autistic community. Some autistics do seem to really like it and think it describes them well, others not so much. It seems like he might have accurately described a subtype of autism at least, but since it is fiction and written by a non-expert, it obviously shouldn't be taken as gospel.

I have read both professional literature and books written by autistics themselves though, and I'd agree that if you want to understand autism, it's best to read something by an actual autistic person. And I'll also agree that it's good to read different authors, since autistic people differ as much from each other as non-autistic people do.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I found it a fun book. Although I listened to it in an audiobook format and really liked the way it was read. Unless you're legally blind or print disabled, you probably cannot get it read that way.

After I finished it, I was really curious how well people thought it actually represented autism, and couldn't find much in the way of answers. But I hope it's a bad fit, because the main character isn't at all likable. Well, he is, at first. But as it progresses, he becomes less and less likable. And I don't want to think of people I know on the spectrum as being like him. Fortunately, I don't.

I think it was intended to create a greater acceptance and sympathy for the autistic. To help NTs realize that their behaviors aren't bad, just different. But it completely fails by making the main character completely and utterly self-absorbed and selfish.

[zannechaos.livejournal.com]

Unless you're legally blind or print disabled, you probably cannot get it read that way.

Just out of curiosity, I'm wondering what you meant. Is the audiobook format only available by special order to those who are blind/print-disabled? Do you have to go through a doctor to get a prescrition in order to get it?

Or are you saying that someone has to be blind/print-disabled in order to enjoy and appreciate audiobooks?

Because I know a good number of people with perfectly decent vision, who read print books by the dozens, and love audiobooks and oftentimes listen to them while walking or on long commutes.

I can't, for obvious reasons, being deaf, but still... I've been sitting here trying to figure out what exactly you meant there.

[leora.livejournal.com]

The version I listened to came from the US Library of Congress collection of audiobooks for the legally blind and print disabled. They make their own audiobooks, with their own readers, that violate copyright given the legal exception for such things, but that can only be used by the blind and print disabled. You need signed paperwork to get into the program and borrow the audiobooks.

I have no idea how similar or different any other audiobook version of the book may be. Perhaps sometimes it is the same, but it could be done by someone completely different, and my guess is it is. So, you can't listen to the version I heard unless you're in the program (and can hear).

[(Anonymous)]

Would you be referring to The Curious Incident With The Dog And The Long Title I Can't Remember? I wanted to kill that kid within pages of starting, seriously, I could barely finish it for imagining laughing at his corpse and covering him in all those colours he was so set against. No offense to anyone who actually is autistic, but that kid really really got to me, pushed exactly the buttons he needed to in order to get me that angry at someone who wasn't even real. Anywho, rant over, sorry if I offended anyone.

- Kemp