Clinical Reflections

With Death Comes Food: Asperger Syndrome and Physical Therapy Practice

Barrett L. Dorko, P.T. My language has no words for hello or goodbye…there is no translation for ‘friendly’ or ‘ mannerly.’ People who live in artificially complicated situations call a life such as mine ‘simple,’ but everything looks simple when you leave out the details, the way a planet looks smooth, from orbit. None of this is simple, though it’s easy enough, when you know how to do it, when you are aware of the details. ~ From Solitude by Ursula K. Le Guin “With death comes food.” Two years ago I heard my brother Kevin say…

Christopher and Daniel

Barrett L. Dorko, P.T. Occasionally we become conscious of something or someone and sense that these will remain with us until we are conscious no longer. I found two novels recently that have had this effect on me, each with a story and character that continues to haunt my thoughts in ways that have altered my perceptions and practice. I’ll talk about them here. When we first meet him, Christopher Boone is 15 years 3 months and 3 days old. We know this because he thinks that providing such information is a good way of beginning a conversation, what his…