A lecture on “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,” a freshman Life of the Mind required reading book, will be given by Jane Thierfeld-Brown, director of Student Services at the University of Connecticut School of Law and coordinator of Disability Services at the School of Social Work Monday night from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the University Center auditorium.
The lecture is part of Disability Awareness Month.
“It’s important to realize Asperger’s (syndrome) is becoming more and more prevalent, and autism as well,” Jami Grace, assistant director of Disability Services, said. “There are more individuals that are coming to college that have these diagnoses … everybody is going to come in contact with an individual who has Asperger’s (syndrome) or autism, and the more information you have to work with the more you understand that individual and understand what they’re going through.”
Thierfeld-Brown said she hoped to engage the audience in vigorous dialogue during her lecture.
“I’m really hoping to have a discussion, because everyone would really interpret this book very differently, and I’m looking forward to hearing other people’s interpretations while they gain some awareness about autism and Asperger’s (syndrome).
“I think that understanding that not everyone thinks and acts alike and that that’s OK. I think that some people may act very peculiarly, especially socially, and yet still be the most worthwhile people to get to know. But also those are the people that we give the least chance, because they are so socially awkward,” she said.
Thierfeld-Brown has been working with disabilities services for 26 years and became interested in Asperger’s syndrome when she had a law school student who was diagnosed with it. Surprised by the lack of research on adults with the syndrome, she started researching it herself. She said about three years later her research and her personal life collided when her third child, her son, was diagnosed with autism, driving her research that much more.
Individuals with autism and Asperger’s syndrome, also called “high-functioning” autism, both display impairments in social interactions and repetitive behavior patterns. Grace said the main difference between the two is that language skill is more developed in those with Asperger’s Syndrome. Brown said they also tend to be at the higher end of the spectrum, they are more intelligent and have more abilities than those with autism.
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” follows the life of a boy who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome as he tries to uncover the mysterious death of his neighbor’s dog, a death for which he has been accused. More important than the mystery is how author Mark Haddon reveals the mind of someone affected with autism, using knowledge he gained from his experience teaching students with autism and Asperger’s syndrome.
