'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' by Mark Haddon

Anne explains her situation as a Carer:

"I am the mother of a young man in his late twenties.  He lives in a house as a tennant with twenty-four hour support.  He also spends a considerable amount of time with me and other family mambers.  He has a mild learning disability and is on the autistic spectrum.  This is further complicated by bipolar disorder."

Review of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'

In reviewing this book I could not help making comparisons with my son and although they are both very different people, the book did cause me to think about the way I dealt with situations in a way that pure information could not do.  

The author has a good understanding of somebody who is intellectually functioning at a very high level but emotionally and socially at a very low level.  The action is largely in the youngsters head.  Although well written, at times it becomes quite tedious and repetitive but this is partly because of the subject of the story.  The plot of the book seems to unfold quite slowly and at times you wonder about the direction it is going.  This keeps the pages turning - I could never imagine what the content of the next chapter would be (they are very short chapters).

This is an easy read although the issues it raises are important, not only for carers to understand, but also professionals - police, teachers, doctors etc.etc.