"The Kiriana Conundrum" by Carlin Flora

Summary:
Carlin Flora’s article, “The Kiriana Conundrum,” focuses on Kiriana Cowansage—a graduate student who was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at the age of 19. This disorder was difficult to live with as a young girl, for she possessed a certain “maleness” (Flora 96). This means that she systemizes more than she empathizes. Like most that have Asperger’s, she has trouble interacting socially with others. Because she was not born with the ability to interpret social cues, she observes others until she learns the social “rules” and is able to imitate them. Though she may seem like a girl trapped inside a boy’s body, Asperger’s has not limited her. Kiriana was able become to an ace science student, an amazing artist, and a forceful writer.

Response:
After reading “The Kiriana Conundrum” by Carlin Flora, I realized I had—yet again—chosen a commendable source. The thing I liked most about this article is the fact that it tells a story of a girl—instead of a boy—with Asperger’s Syndrome. I was excited when I found this source because girls are rarely diagnosed with Asperger’s. In fact, Asperger’s is apparently “much more common in boys than girls” (Flora 96). Because of this, Kiriana can be seen as a girl trapped in a boy’s body. Throughout the article, I continually found myself comparing Kiriana to John Elder Robinson—author of the memoir Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s. One of the times I found myself doing this is when Flora is discussing how Kiriana had to learn social rules, so she would be able to avoid awkward conversations and situations (Flora 97). In his memoir, John tells how—as a child—he did not know how to social interact with others. For example, during recess one day, John walked over to a girl named Chuckie and patted her on the head. John figured she would like this, for his dog had liked it; but instead, Chuckie responded by slapping him (Robinson 9). John also describes how he had to learn how to appropriately respond to a comment like “Look at my Tonka truck.” Prior to learning social cues, John’s response would have been something around the lines of “I want some cookies.” Because he was so used to living inside his own world, he would respond with whatever was on his mind (Robinson 20). All in all, I really liked this article. It helped expand my knowledge of Asperger’s Syndrome, for up until this point, I had only read sources discussing males that suffer from the disorder.

Flora, Carlin. “The Kiriana Conundrum.” Psychology Today. Nov/Dec 2006: 96-100.

Robinson, John Elder. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s. New York, NY:
Crown Publishers, 2007.