Part one

1. Describe three examples of Christopher’s difficulties in social situations. What do these

events inform the reader about potential experiences of living with autism.

 In chapter 11, when the policeman touched Christopher, Christopher hit the
policeman because he doesn’t like people touch him.
 In chapter 3, Christopher asked Siobhan to draw people’s facial expressions and
write down next to them to understand what they mean. He kept the piece of paper
in his pocket and took it out when he didn’t understand what someone was
expressing through body language.
 When he speaks with other people, his sentences are short and somewhat lacks
emotion.

These events show that living with autism is hard because they have trouble chatting with
others and always live in their own world. He can’t understand the feelings of others and
therefore their actions, and the reasons for the way that other people act. The fact that he
has trouble understanding other people, makes it easy for those who don’t understand
autism or don’t know that Christopher has autism, to misunderstand him.

2. Give two examples from the book that demonstrate Christopher’s extremely high
intelligence. Provide a quote for each.
 In chapter 103, Christopher solves 864*251 quickly. “And I thought about this and I
said “216864”” (p.g. XX). For a 15-year-old boy, the question is hard for him but he
can solve it, showing Christopher’s extremely high intelligence
 In chapter 151, He can easily count the numbers of frogs in the school pond. “And
some years there are lots of frogs in the pond, and some years there are very few.
And if you drew a graph of how many frogs there were in the pond it would look like
this”.(p.g.XX). And he uses a formula to find the population of animals.

3. Now describe what these two examples say about how Christopher solves problems?

In the first example, He solves the maths question by simplifying the question and breaking
it down into smaller parts. He then works through each small question logically until he
reaches the answer.

In the second example, he solves the problem again with maths, using graphs and formulae.
Using maths to solve problems is very logical. There is no grey area between right and
wrong, the answer will either be right or wrong. I think this is easier for Christopher to
understand.

4. Describe one scenario in which someone struggles to understand Christopher because of his
Autism. Did the handle their confusion in a helpful or harmful way? Why or why not?

In chapter 11 when the policeman asked Christopher many questions, he couldn’t answer
them correctly, and the policeman touched him, he hit the policeman. I think the policeman
realized that Christopher is a little bit different from others, but he didn’t understand how
Christopher was different, so he still asked him questions in a ‘normal’ way. By touching him,
 the policeman handled his confusion in a harmful way because being touched is one of the
things that Christopher dislikes the most.

5. Provide one example of a helpful interaction with Christopher’s father, and one example of
an unhelpful interaction. Then explain what role you think Christopher’s Autism played in
those examples.

In chapter 127, when Christopher’s father found the book that was written by Christopher,
he found out that Christopher had talked with Mrs Alexander about Mr Shears, that made
Christopher’s father very angry leading him to impulsively grab Christopher very hard, and
then Christopher hit him.

At the police station when Christopher’s father came to pick him up, he used their special
way of saying ‘I love you’ by touching hands instead of giving him a hug. Since Christopher
does not like to be touched, by doing this instead of hugging him, Christopher’s dad stays
within Christopher’s boundaries.

Part two

6. Provide one quote that demonstrates Christopher’s feelings towards his mother when he
thinks she is dead. Are his emotions appropriate?

In chapter 53, “I said,’ what kind of heart attack?’ because I was surprised. Mother was only
38 years old and heart attacks usually happen to older people.” When he was told that
mother died of heart attack, he is not like common people who would be sad, but rather he
thinks about why his mother died of heart attack since she is still young.

7. Christopher believes that certain colours of cars can dictate whether he has a good or a bad
day. Why is it that he uses this formula for his life?

He likes things to be in a nice order. And one way of things being in a nice order is to have a
formula for things since they use numbers. Christopher argues that the reason he uses this
formula even though it might not be rational is because that is what normal people do. He
gave the example of a person deciding whether or not he would have a good day based on
the weather.

8. List two characters that show support towards Christopher in the book, aside from his
parents. What is it about their interactions with him that show understanding?

Mrs Alexander and Siobhan both show support and understanding towards Christopher.
Because they both respect Christopher and can put themselves into his shoes. Siobhan is a
therapist, so she is probably very knowledgeable about autism and how to support those
who have it. She often explains to Christopher why people act the way that they do.

It is unclear in the book whether Mrs Alexander is aware of Christopher’s autism, but
because her actions are very considerate towards him, it seems likely that she has somewhat
of an understanding about why Christopher acts the way that he does. She does not force
 Christopher to do things that he is uncomfortable with. Instead, she tries to change things in
a way that suits him. For example, when she invites Christopher into her home for tea,
Christopher is uncomfortable. Instead, she offers to bring the tea outside to Christopher.

9. Why does Christopher decide that he wants to write a murder mystery novel? Provide at
least two reasons.

The first reason is because he likes to read murder mystery novels and he want to write
about something that he likes (probably because Siobhan suggested that he write something
he would want to read himself).

The second reason is because Christopher enjoys puzzles. With murder mystery novels,
Christopher likes to try and work out who the murderer is before the end of the book.

10. What are Christopher’s hopes for the future? Why do you think those dreams are important
to him?

He wants to to get A grades in A-level Further Math and A-level Physics, so that he
can attend university in another town, where he will live in a flat with a garden and a
proper toilet with Sandy, his books, and his computer and become an astronaut.
Since Christopher has autism, he wants to do something he likes. And he thinks that
becoming an astronaut means he doesn’t need to talk to others face to face.

Part three

11. Provide one quote that demonstrates Christopher’s feelings towards his mother after he
realizes she’s alive. How do you think he copes with this new version of reality?

In chapter 157, he feels giddy and his stomach hurts. He finds it difficult to accept this new
version of reality, he says that his brain feels overwhelmed and that he couldn’t think of an
explanation for what had happened. I think he has lost trust in his father and that why he
plans to go to his mother.

12. Christopher’s mother alludes to why she thought it was better to be out of Cristopher’s life.
Elaborate on some of these reasons in your own words.

Christopher’s mother thinks she would be better out of Christopher’s life because she thinks
that she loses her temper easily and she always has argument with Christopher, which
upsets Christopher. She can’t stand the to live with some who has autism and she thinks it’s
better to let Christopher’s father take care of Christopher. She sees how well Christopher
gets along with his father when it’s just the two of them, so she sees herself as almost an
outsider in this family.

13. Christopher wishes he were an astronaut in outer space. Why does he have this wish? What
could the spacecraft provide that would calm Christopher’s difficulties with people?

In chapter 83, He thinks that to be an astronaut, you have to be intelligent and he is

intelligent. He wants to be independent. And he can stay in the airing cupboard on his own,
 and there are no yellow and brown things in a spacecraft. The aircraft is also away from
other people, he thinks that he wouldn’t have to interact with others in outer space.

14. What do you think the main message of the book is? Do you think the message is important?
Why, or why not?

Honesty and trust. It is important because the whole book is about honesty and trust, not
only between Christopher and his parents, but his father and mother, Mrs shear and his
father, and so on. But in the book the only one who is truly honest is Christopher The whole
book is about Christopher wanting to find out who killed wellington. Christopher has autism
so he is always honest, and he wants everyone be honest to him. His father, who was
trusted by Christopher, lies to Christopher by telling him that his mother is dead and that he
doesn’t know who killed wellington. Which makes Christopher afraid.

15. There are several characters that appear to mock or to be condescending towards
Christopher. Provide two examples of this in the book. Why do you think these people said
what did?

Part four

16. Why do you think the train station in London would have been overwhelming for
Christopher? Can you describe a time when you felt ‘information overload’?

The train station in London is very confusing and noisy, which causes him to feel sick. Not
only are there a lot of people, but also a lot of signs. Everything is moving very quickly.

When I first entered the school in Australia, I felt information overload because the school
life in Australia is so different from that in China. I have to find the classroom for each class
and buy the uniform in the shop myself. in China, we only have one classroom and the
teacher will give the uniform to me. Because English is my second language, I don’t know
how to talk to the teachers and classmates, I feel like I don’t have common ground with
them which made me I feel sad and irritable and therefore I missed China very much.

17. By the end of the book Christopher feels that he can do anything he outs his mind to and
plots out how his future will unfold. Do you think he is being realistic?

I don’t think so, because he still has autism. Even though he can go to London himself to look
for his mother, this doesn’t mean he won’t have difficulties doing normal activities that
require human interaction. I think that there are still differences between Christopher and
those who don’t have autism.

18. What potential pressures are put on families who have someone in their family with autism?
Describe your thoughts in detail, with reference to events from the book.

Families that have a person with autism probably find it very hard because the person with
autism is different from others. They have trouble talking with others and expressing
themselves. They need others to spend a lot of time looking after them, so they will have
less time for work and for themselves. A person with autism likely finds it difficult to
understand why you might tell them to do things, especially if those things are not logical.
Not only is it difficult for the autistic person’s family to interact with them, it is probably
even more difficult to those around them. For example, when Christopher’s mom took
Christopher to the shopping mall to town during Christmas, Christopher had a breakdown in
public. I feel like that would have been very difficult for both Christopher and his mother. His
mother would have felt embarrassed yet also worried about Christopher.
Day by day, those who are the family of a person with autism may feel depressed, because
of the ‘information overload’ when it comes to certain rules and boundaries a person with
autism has.