Because the number of children being diagnosed with autism is increasing, it is essential to understand how different and complex the mind-set of an autistic person can be.Through the character of Christopher, Haddon is able to show that people with autism have a reason for acting the way they do and that many autistic people have unique talents or abilities.Christopher takes the reader very carefully through his thought process, which needs to be concrete.Because of this concrete thought process, Christopher excels at math and has the ambition to become a scientist. He is also less likely to be affected by emotional events. He explains that facial expressions and metaphors confused him until his teacher, Siobhan, explained what they meant.Christopher does not like being touched or confused, and when he feels frustrated or lost, he will curl into a fetal position and rock back and forth, moaning.Haddon is able to create sympathy for Christopher and to make these behaviors, which may seem outwardly abnormal, understandable to a person who may know nothing about autism. This, in turn, may help the reader become more tolerant or accepting if encountering those behaviors in a real person.

In addition to promoting tolerance of people with special needs, the novel underscores that no child should be written off as unable to achieve.Many students with special needs are not offered the same opportunities for advancement or education as a “normal” student might be.In an effort to combat that stereotype, Haddon has Christopher tell of Siobhan’s encouragement of his book-writing attempt.She explains different ideas and abstract concepts to him in concrete ways so that he can understand them.For instance, she draws different faces (happy, sad, angry) and explains the different emotions behind them to Christopher so that he can interpret the facial expressions he sees on people around him.Christopher is also allowed to sit for his A-level mathematics examination and receives an A grade, which encourages him to study for higher level tests and become a scientist.Students with special needs can succeed just as well as anyother student: they just may need a bit more help doing so.

Although it tends to be presented more in the subplot, the effect of parents’ choices on their children is also explored in the novel.Having a child with special needs can strain any family, and with Christopher’s mother’s affair, the marriage was strained to a breaking point. Ed makes the mistake of telling Christopher his mother died rather than telling him the truth, and it is this lie that contributes to Christopher not wanting to live with his father any longer by the end of the novel.Christopher’s mother, even though she left Christopher’s father, still wants to do what is best for her son, as she insists that Christopher stay with her and Roger.Both Ed and Judy struggle with being a good parent to Christopher—both have times when they break down and admit that they do not know what to do or yell at Christopher to stop doing something that seems perfectly natural to him.His father even hits him at one point because he is so angry and frustrated with Christopher.The choices that Christopher’s parents made (having an affairs, getting a divorce, lying to Christopher) profoundly affected him even though his parents thought he could not understand what was happening.

Changes that so profoundly alter one's perspective can, however, bring about benefits. Although Christopher hated the idea that his father had lied to him and killed Wellington, this spurred Christopher to explore the world outside of his comfort zone.Christopher never would have tried to travel to London to find his mother and eventually end up living with her had it not been for the hurt, confusion, and anger his father caused. By the end of the novel, Christopher is determined to become a scientist, and he has begun his own journey of self-discovery.