Diversity is best : A literary analysis of how Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” may promote understanding and awareness towards the social construct of neurodiversity

• Main Author: Hollertz, Julia
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR) 2019
• Subjects: Neurodiversity; English Level 6; Fundamental Values; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Neurotypicality; Social Model of Disability; Accurate Representation; Self-determination; Impairments; Disability; Specific Literatures; Litteraturstudier
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-84472

This essay investigates how the first person narrative of Mark Haddon’s neurodiverse protagonist in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time raises awareness for the complexity of neurodiversity in relation to a neurotypical society. This has been done by applying the critical lens of Disability Studies and Disability Studies in Education to explain how disability is a concept of social and cultural construct. As the Swedish school has failed to provide neurodiverse students with the inclusive environment they need, the importance of fostering students who are accepting towards cognitive disabilities is greater than ever. This essay therefore argues that an inclusion of Haddon’s novel in the EFL classroom could be used to provide the students with understanding for neurodiversity as well as strategies that could help them to navigate in a socially demanding society.