Essay Example on Jacob Hunt: A Journey of Self-Discovery

The book was initially published in 2nd march 2010 by Atria Publishing Group. The book, categorized as a Novel, Mystery, and Psychological Fiction, is about an eighteen-year-old boy called Jacob Hunt, who lives with his mother Emma and his brother Theo in the outcast of a small New England town. Jacob has Asperger's Syndrome (high-functioning autism) Jacob lives by an organized daily routine which he feels comfortable when all his activities go as planned. It makes him feel hopeless at reading social signals that guide human reactions to certain things. His inability to recognize social clues makes him not to understand why his fellow students are not interested in listening to his opinions in forensic analysis. He is not in a position to express himself well in front of other people, and he is highly sensitive to surprises and color orange. He is a bright boy in many ways; for instance, he focuses on a specific subject called forensic analysis. He also has a police scanner (a well-meaning but a wrong birthday gift from his mother) in his room that gives his detailed information missed by the police when looking at clues in a crime scene. On many occasions, he is confused when his efforts to help the local police are not appreciated when he shows up at a crime scene even though he is usually right.

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Jacob has only one friend Jess Ogilvy, a student at the local college. The scenes in the book opens with the death of Jess, who was Jacob's tutor. Being that an individual with Asperger's Syndrome is usually engaged in an in structured, single-minded activities, he shows up at Jess's place for tutoring, but he finds her dead. He tries to clean up his brother's mess according to the house rules set by her mother. In this scenario, Jacob succeeds by making the murder look like a kidnapping incident and the killings done by Jess's boyfriend, Mark Maguire. He is accused of murder by the local police because of how he behaves when interrogated concerning the killing. The misjudgement is because of the characteristics that Jacob possesses like his inability to maintain eye contact with an individual when conversing. He also has stimulatory twitches when accompanied by a stranger. Jacob also exhibits flat facial expression when reacting to a specific question making him look guilty. Later on, the police found out it was Theo who caused the death of Jess when he sneaked and startled her, making her hit her head in the sink accidentally, and she dies.

Shuster (2018), defined Asperger's Syndrome (AS) is a neurological disorder found among a group of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Its symptoms include; having difficulty with social interaction because they find it difficult to read facial expressions, difficulty in understanding others feeling and inability to recognize their body language of others. They usually engage in repetitive behavior, focusing on a narrow topic they love. Standing firm on what they think hence making it difficult for another person to change the subject of a conversation. They are developing all-consuming interests by focusing on rules and routines that they have structured on their own (Shuster, 2018). In many cases, individuals with Asper's Syndrome have high intelligence, although those with high- functioning autism usually don't develop delayed language skills, and they have developed cognitive skills.

According to Homans, (2017) for the society to understand, love and appreciate victims of Asper's Syndrome, there is a need for them to have adequate knowledge of sociological theory. Max Weber developed the theory dividing it into structural and social action theory. The structural theory talks about how society as a whole fits together by developing a relationship among the people. Social action theory talks about the human culture by providing a particular view of the reality from an instance, people living with Asper's Syndrome. Symbolic interactionists advocate for the social action theory since they try to explain how human beings behave in society, investigating how people interpret the actions of others. For example, how police officers interpret the actions of Asper's Syndrome victim and coming into the conclusion that they are guilty as charged. The job of the sociologist is to understand, define and apprehend the subjective reality within the society(Willey, 2014).

Alterations in the brain of an infant cause Asper's Syndrome even though there are no outlined causes of these changes. Other causes are genetic factors and exposure to environmental pollutants such as chemicals. In 2015, statistics estimated that Asperger's affected 37.2 million people worldwide (Kassebaum, Kyu, Zoeckler, Olsen, Thomas, Pinho, and Hay, 2017). Autism spectrum disorder affects males more often than females. The numbers of boys who develop Asper's Syndrome are many compared to that of girls because girls develop AS at a later age. According to DeFilippis and Wagner (2016), the recommended treatment for children with AS include medication, social skills training, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and cognitive-behavioural therapy.

Tonnsen and Hahn (2016), argued that Asper's Syndrome is a social issue since it affects the life of the individual with the medical condition and the people around him or her. Understanding the quality of life concerns for this particular individual needs every family member to indulge them by bending their lives around the child with AS needs. Being that the patient's perceptions based in structured, single-minded activities, the parents should adjust their daily routines to match those with children with AS so that they can understand whatever action they are doing and why they do such an activity repeatedly. A child with AS has difficulty when it comes to social issues because of their inability to understand other peoples` feelings and or parents to know how to deal with this problem. Health experts advise parents to encourage their children to focus and work hard on their topic of interest.

Browning and Caulfield (2011), argued that AS victims' inability to look at the police in the eye during questioning is the main reason why police and other law enforcement officials mistreat this type of people. After all, they experience difficulty when it comes to social interactions since they find it difficult to trust strangers with their opinions on the crime investigated. It makes the police think that they are guilty since they misunderstand the symptoms of the victims of AS such as fear and anxiety about strangers.

Rosqvist (2012), talked about how the victims experience a desire to fit in society. In many cases, they give their opinions about a particular subject they are interested in and hence making them find it difficult to understand why people are not interested in listening to their vast knowledge in a specific topic. He discusses the concept of forensic science, although they seem not interested. An example is Jacob Hunt in Jodi Picoult's novel. Jacob gives opinions so that he may feel welcomed in the schooling environment, and people do not view his views as a means to fit in society. The victims also experience limited safe spaces as a result of fear of misunderstanding. In the end, they try to follow their routine by having a desire for sameness, restricted interest, and distinctive strengths such as loving only one subject and working hard to pass the issue. This feeling makes them develop individual strengths as AS patients such as Remarkable focus and persistence to a particular activity, aptitude for recognizing patterns, paying attention to detail or instruction. For example, Jacob tries to turn the murder done by his brother Theo to look like kidnap and also the crime committed by Jess's boyfriend and not his brother because of the house rule set by his mother, Emma.

According to Jackson, Skirrow, and Hare (2012), the idealized how victims develop a different sense of attitude that contradicts common sense. Such as the inability to read peoples` feelings and to make it difficult for another person to change the topic of discussion when the matter discussed seems to be so exciting to them. They expect the person they are conversing with to repeat the same issue over and over again, making it difficult for them to have friends. They are not ware whether the person they are talking with is bored or not. Nason (2014) suggested how on many occasions AS victims develop challenges such as difficulty with the give and take of conversation, the problem with nonverbal conversation skills (distance, loudness, tone, etc.), and uncoordinated movements, or clumsiness. Individuals affected by Asperger's Syndrome develop different logics such as Hypersensitivities (to lights, sounds, tastes, color, etc.)making them to be so sensitive and to avoid scaring them the people around them must be cautious when they are around the victim( Nason, 2014).

References

Browning, A., & Caulfield, L. (2011). The prevalence and treatment of people with Asperger's Syndrome in the criminal justice system. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 11(2), 165-180.

DeFilippis, M., & Wagner, K. D. (2016). Treatment of autism spectrum disorder in children and adolescents. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 46(2), 18. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5044466/

Homans, G. C. (2017). Contemporary theory in sociology. In Sociological Methods (pp. 51-69). Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315129945/chapters/10.4324/9781315129945-6

Jackson, P., Skirrow, P., & Hare, D. J. (2012). Asperger through the looking glass: an exploratory study of self-understanding in people with Asperger's Syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(5), 697-706.

Kassebaum, N., Kyu, H. H., Zoeckler, L., Olsen, H. E., Thomas, K., Pinho, C. ... & Hay, S. I. (2017). Child and adolescent health from 1990 to 2015: findings from the global burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors 2015 study. JAMA pediatrics, 171(6), 573-592. Retrieved from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2613463

Nason, B. (2014). The Autism Discussion Page on the core challenges of autism: A toolbox for helping children with autism feel safe, accepted, and competent. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Rosqvist, H. B. (2012). Practice, practice: notions of adaptation and normality among adults with Asperger syndrome. Disability Studies Quarterly, 32(2).

Shuster, S. (2018). Camus's L'etranger and the first description of a man with Asperger's Syndrome. Psychology research and behavior management, 11, 117.

Tonnsen, B. L., & Hahn, E. R. (2016). Middle school students' attitudes toward a peer with autism spectrum disorder: Effects of social acceptance and physical inclusion. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 31(4), 262-274. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1088357614559213

Willey, L. H. (2014). Pretending to be Normal: Living with Asperger's Syndrome (Autism Spectrum Disorder) Expanded Edition. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.