The Curious Incident....

[JanH]

has won the Whitbread Prize! BBC News

I read this over Christmas, and thought it was a fantastic piece of writing. I wasn't sure how 'authentic' the AS material might be, but I did find it imaginitively liberating to read something written from the perspective of a different way of seeing the world. I tried to read the book again, but the 'epic journey' sequence is so tense, better than any Scorsese film, that I couldn't bear it!

a great read and I found out about 'black holes' which I had never been able to get my head around before.

Hve not read it yet- but wondered if it would be suitable for me to lend to my ds1's teacher so he can read it to the class- 9/10yr olds....i want to 'craftily' get both ds1 and his peers aware of 'this different way of seeing the world' -and that he is not the only one etc...as ds1 is beginning to get called 'dork' etc

MrsF, I think that there is a separate edition which is suitable for children. I think it would be EXCELLENT for reading in class, but the teacher would probably need to edit a few tiny bits.

I read the children's edition and absolutely loved it. Want to send to a friend whose child diplays some aspergers-type behaviours (imho) but am a bit worried she may take it the wrong way, as she's not quite convinced - any advice?
I thought it was a great insight into Aspergers behaviour and would think it an excellent book for teachers to read to improve their understanding of/ empathy to Aspergers children.

The separate edition only has a different cover, its the same book. I think its best effect is to help other people understand the experiences and emotions that parents of children with AS or other learning disabilitiy go through as the kids are always so different. Oblong, I think you'd be brave to give the book to your friend out of the blue, does she have a birthday coming up!? I have given it to people as a present, first because its a good book and second to teach them someting Does she know that you think her son might be AS? How well do you know her? It could be the best thing someone's ever done for her or you might never speak again!

I know there are many fictional books that deal with autism- but can anyone recommend a good one (aspergers) that would be suitable to be read to a whole class of 9/10 yr olds.....or what about material on the web that i could print off- i just wondered if there is anything specifically for this reason rather than simply for anyone to read...i remember stuff surrounding the 'grange hill story' and i printed that off- but it's aimed at secondary level- i need something primary- and for some reason if i leave lying around 'official website stuff' then ds1 reads it- however if it's stuff i've copied and pasted from the web then he won't!!

MrsF - I've not read them myself but the Kathy Hoopman books are meant to be good. I think you can find them by typing "Kathy Hoopman Asperger's Adventures" into Google. The book reviews were written by children of about 8yrs & 9yrs so the age group sounds about right. Sorry I'm so hopeless or I would do a link.

Davros - yes she's a good friend and we've discussed the possibility of her child being somewhere on the spectrum but she's sort of dismissed it lately. Actually i should probably just send it to her and be quite upfront - the reason i want her to read it is because, as you say it's a really good book and i want to say i understand how tough the last few years have been for her even though her son's behaviour is much less difficult than the boy's in book.

Oblong, go for it! THe book's all the rage anyway. Let us know what happens and don't blame me if she gets cross

I loved the book! A great read!