I'm going back to the Daniel Tammet well for one more entry. On page 163, Daniel says, "Another common saying that puzzled me was when my parents might excuse one of my brothers' grumpy behavior by saying: "He must have got out of the wrong side of bed this morning. " "Why didn't he get out of the right side of the bed?" I asked. That's exactly what Curtis would say. That, or he would start with "Are you making a joke?" His catch-all for phrases foreign to Curt.
      Other phrases that would elicit this response from Curtis include: Go jump in a lake, go fly a kite, don't have a cow, a little bird told me, the refrigerator is running, spill the beans, i'm getting eaten alive, the ball went through his legs (to him that means in one side of the leg and out the other), the sun was in his eyes, etc. Curtis eventually hears some of these things often enough to commit them to memory but most of the time he is going to ask if you're making a joke. And doubt your sanity. I should count the number of "Are you making a jokes'" questions in a day sometime. I believe this inherent misunderstanding of the english language is part of the reason Curtis gets along so well with most of his ESL classmates.
      In addition to idioms, there are many terms and social emotions Curtis struggles to understand. He has a hard time understanding jealousy and asks for many examples to make sense of it when the word comes up. He's also not too great at social cues but it's all a work in progress. In Vermont, he ran up and hugged a new friend and didn't come close to letting go, despite her wide eyed paralyzed stance, until I told him to let go. Curtis just assumes everyone wants him to hug them and a large percentage do. Somehow this all just works out in his favor anyway and makes him more charming. At least to his inner circle it does.
      Incidentally, Daniel Tammet has become somewhat of a hero of mine. There are other successful autistic personalities, like Temple Grandin and Kim Peek, but Tammet is who I hope Curtis can most closely emulate. If for no other reason than he learned to live independently and travel and as much as we love Curtis, it would be awesome if he moved out some day. As much for him as for us. Daniel Tammet figured out the rules the rest of us play by and Curtis seems capable of the same.


Greg, Dad