GALVESTON — Phyllis Jendrusch likes to find instances in which a perfect balance between hard science and the humanities exists when coming up with new topics for her university students to explore.
Rarely, Jendrusch said, had she found something that fit the bill so well as “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”
The book is the fictional account of a 15-year-old autistic math whiz as he tries to unravel the mystery behind the death of a neighbor’s dog.
The associate director of student services at the University of Texas Medical Branch mentors graduate students under the School of Allied Health Science’s IDEAL curriculum, a supplement to their clinical programs.
During the next two months, 10 students pursing master’s degrees will study the novel by Mark Haddon, the selected book for the 2006 Galveston County Reads project.
They must read the book, attend community forums scheduled at Rosenberg Library and UTMB, read two medical journal articles on autism and write a paper to complete the course. The goal is to promote critical thinking among medical and science students.
“The book really personifies the disease so well,” Jendrusch said. “From the students’ perspective, most of what they read (about autism) is hard-science oriented and clinical interpretations of the disease process. So the book puts a face on the disease for them as they get into that clinical exposure.”
The book takes a revelatory trip into the mind of the main character, Christopher, who is capable of solving complex math problems in an instant, but becomes confused in basic social situations.
Jendrusch, who is also on the Galveston County Reads committee, said she expects the book will give the students a better basic understanding of the condition and the capabilities of those affected by it. And she is excited to be able to use the book in a way that will help the community.
“I checked with some autism experts, and they say the voice of (the main character) Christopher is dead-on in terms of showing what a person with autism is like,” she said. “And from a literary point of view, the opening passage hooked me immediately. I really wanted to know more about this person.”
Jendrusch also noted that the word “autism” did not appear in the book.
“We live in a society where everything has to be labeled in boxes, so it’s very interesting that the condition isn’t labeled, just enlivened and personified,” she said.
Loree Primeau, a UTMB occupational therapy faculty member with expertise in autism, is assisting Jendrusch with the project.
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Opening Passage
“The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog. The points of the fork must have gone all the way through the dog and into the ground because the fork had not fallen over. I decided that the dog was probably killed with the fork because I could not see any other wounds in the dog, and I do not think you would stick a garden fork into a dog after it had died for some other reason, like cancer, for example, or a road accident. But I could not be certain about this.”
— The opening passage of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”
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Several community discussions about “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon will take place Tuesday, “Galveston County Reads Day.”
Facilitators will lead the discussions at various locations around the county. Each session will last about one or two hours and admission is free. For more information, contact Karen Stanley at kstanley(at)rosenberg-library.org or call (409) 763-8854, Ext. 119.
Galveston
• 6 p.m.: Gideon Math and Reading Center, 6511 Stewart Road.
