Thursday, January 13, 2011

Looking through eyes that are not your own

It's been a little while since I have read a really good book. One that makes me wish that I could just skip school and not come home to play video games, but just to read. In House Rules, by Jodi Piculut (Author of the renowned novel My Sisters Keeper), a child with Asbergers (which I can't spell for my life) is put on trial for murder. I have not figured out who did it yet. After reading for a while, I went downstairs to have dinner, and all of the sudden, I was looking at food as if I was autistic.

It's a weird feeling to have, looking through different eyes. The expression is tossed around often, but to actually have a moment where I could understand what these kids are going through was, well, odd. It's like when you dream about your life, but you play the role of someone else.

Trust me, this little experience has not made me think of myself as some sort of sympathetic person, I do feel for those with autism, but really it just made me think about what life would be like black and white. When you have Asbergers, Every question you are asked is very literal, so you answer it likewise. Say I asked a child with Asbergers if he had the time, he would most likely stare at me and say "How could I possibly have control of the time?"

Though a world of literal questions and answers may seem simple, it would probably be very complicated to follow exactly, which is what we would have to do. Who knows, I couldn't handle that world. But obviously some people are forced to.

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