The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

• By Mark Haddon

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About Christopher

• Detests yellow and brown
• Four yellow cars is a Black Day
• Likes red
• Three red cars is a Quite Good Day
• Four cars is a Good Day
• Five cars is a Super Good Day
• Nine cars is a Super Super Good Day
• Knows every prime number through 7057
• Knows every country and their capitals
• Likes to be in small places (make him feel safe)

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Inclusion

• Academics in special education room
• self contained classroom is in separate room
  from their peers
• Attempting to attend higher level math curriculum
• Lessons taught by Siobhan (special ed teacher)

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Family Functions

• Affection
• Christopher doesnt like touching so hugs
  replaced by touching hands together
• Christopher has difficulty forgiving others when
  his trust has been broken
• Socialization
• Doesnt understand facial expressions therefore
  pragmatic and conversation skills are effected

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Family Functions

• Recreation
• Mother was embarrassed to take him out in public
  because he would throw tantrums
• Recreation done in home
• movie nights involving science films

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Family Mother

• Didnt accommodate to Christophers needs
• Rearranged furniture in living room
• Force him to eat food not to Christopher's liking
  (food touching on plate, improper colors)
• Didnt respect Christopher's inability to accept
  affection

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Family Father

• Adjusted well to suit Christophers needs
• Main provider of daily care
• Financial supporter of Christopher
• Respected Christophers needs
• Affection, food, colors, etc

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Family Marital Problems

• Coping mechanisms were different for each parent
• Mom fluctuating between denial, depression,
  anger, shame, guilt
• Dad reached acceptance and adjustment and able
  to successfully meet Christopher's needs

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Family Problems

• Faults
• Mom
• unable to adjust which resulted in an affair and
  leaving the family
• Dad
• told Christopher that his mom died
• hid letters that Christophers mom had sent him
• killed Wellington out of frustration
• Led to Christopher losing trust with the family
  and his sense of reality

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Individualized Education Plan (IEP)

• Pragmatic skills
• Working on understanding facial expression
• Appropriate social behavior and peer interactions
• Least restrictive environment
• Self contained room

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Disabilities

• Autism
• Autism means a developmental disability
  significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal
  communication and social interaction

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Characteristics

• Christopher displayed
• Impeding behavior
• Aggression towards others
• Repetitive behavior
• Perseveration/Obsessions (Math/Logic)
• Social Interactions
• Lack of peer relationships
• Failure to share enjoyment or interests with
  others

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Characteristics

• Christopher displayed
• Needs environmental predictability
• Needs routines and structure (schedules)
• Sensory and movement disorders
• Over responsiveness to sensory stimuli (touching)

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Classroom Management

• Self contained classroom
• One on one instruction
• Disciplined
• Use situations as teachable moments
• For example, whenever he was mad he was told to
  take a deep breath and start counting to calm
  down before acting out

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Accommodations Modifications

• Teach organizational strategies
• Schedules/pictures
• Avoid abstract ideas
• Be literal with details
• Be specific in your directions
• Break tasks down into smaller steps
• Avoid open ended questions
• Provide a safe place when upset