How does Haddon provide his readers with insights into people living with autism and the community that supports them?

The fact that Christopher has a form of autism allows Haddon to take away the baggage that language has adopted over the years and to strip it bare once again to a pure form; we have to interact directly with the words that are spoken and not with the implications of these words according to the society we live in. In this way, Christopher's account allows us to see the world in a new and fresh light without taking anything for granted. He says himself 'My name...means carrying Christ...Mother used to say that it meant Christopher was a nice name because it was a story about being kind and helpful, but I do not want my name to mean a story about being kind and helpful. I want my name to mean me.' Christopher's father fans out his fingers and touches Christopher 'and it means that he loves me' .