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The Reason I Jump: one boy's voice from the silence of autism
The No. 1 Sunday Times and internationally bestselling account of life as a child with autism, now an award-winning documentary film.
'It will stretch your vision of what it is to be human' Andrew Solomon, The Times
What is it like to have autism? How can we know what a person - especially a child - with autism is thinking and feeling?
This groundbreaking book, written by Naoki Higashida when he was only thirteen, provides some answers. Severely autistic and non-verbal, Naoki learnt to communicate by using a 'cardboard keyboard' - and what he has to say gives a rare insight into an autistically-wired mind. He explains behaviour he's aware can be baffling such as why he likes to jump and why some people with autism dislike being touched; he describes how he perceives and navigates the world, sharing his thoughts and feelings about time, life, beauty and nature; and he offers an unforgettable short story. Proving that people with autism do not lack imagination, humour or empathy, THE REASON I JUMP made a major impact on its publication in English. Widely praised, it was an immediate No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller as well as a New York Times bestseller and has since been published in over thirty languages.
In 2020, a documentary film based on the book received its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Jerry Rothwell, produced by Jeremy Dear, Stevie Lee and Al Morrow, and funded by Vulcan Productions and the British Film Institute, it won the festival's Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary, then further awards at the Vancouver, Denver and Valladolid International Film Festivals before its global release in 2021.
The book includes eleven original illustrations inspired by Naoki's words, by the artistic duo Kai and Sunny.
'It will stretch your vision of what it is to be human' Andrew Solomon, The Times
What is it like to have autism? How can we know what a person - especially a child - with autism is thinking and feeling?
This groundbreaking book, written by Naoki Higashida when he was only thirteen, provides some answers. Severely autistic and non-verbal, Naoki learnt to communicate by using a 'cardboard keyboard' - and what he has to say gives a rare insight into an autistically-wired mind. He explains behaviour he's aware can be baffling such as why he likes to jump and why some people with autism dislike being touched; he describes how he perceives and navigates the world, sharing his thoughts and feelings about time, life, beauty and nature; and he offers an unforgettable short story. Proving that people with autism do not lack imagination, humour or empathy, THE REASON I JUMP made a major impact on its publication in English. Widely praised, it was an immediate No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller as well as a New York Times bestseller and has since been published in over thirty languages.
In 2020, a documentary film based on the book received its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Jerry Rothwell, produced by Jeremy Dear, Stevie Lee and Al Morrow, and funded by Vulcan Productions and the British Film Institute, it won the festival's Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary, then further awards at the Vancouver, Denver and Valladolid International Film Festivals before its global release in 2021.
The book includes eleven original illustrations inspired by Naoki's words, by the artistic duo Kai and Sunny.
Audible Audio
Published July 8, 2013
About the author
Naoki Higashida
29 books326 followersNaoki Higashida (東田 直樹 Higashida Naoki) is the Japanese author of The Reason I Jump: One Boy's Voice from the Silence of Autism. He was born in 1992 and diagnosed with autism when he was five. He was 13 years old when he wrote the book which was published in English in 2013. Reviews have been mixed, both celebrating the accomplishment of a mentally and emotionally challenged young author and expressing discomfort with the involvement of Higashida's communications facilitator (his mother) and English language translators (Keiko Yoshida and her husband David Mitchell).
Source: Wikipedia.
Source: Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 14, 2026
I started this book thinking I’d read a chapter each evening. Two hour plane journey later, I’d finished it because I was hooked.
The Reason I Jump offers a beautiful insight into the mind of a non-speaking autistic person and does more to build understanding in a couple of hundred pages than many people manage in a lifetime. As an autistic reader, it felt both validating and enlightening. It’s not often a book makes you feel understood while also teaching you something new.
If you’ve ever wondered what autism feels like from the inside rather than being explained from the outside, read this book. Then lend it to everyone you know. Then maybe leave it lying around strategically for people to “accidentally” pick up.
The Reason I Jump offers a beautiful insight into the mind of a non-speaking autistic person and does more to build understanding in a couple of hundred pages than many people manage in a lifetime. As an autistic reader, it felt both validating and enlightening. It’s not often a book makes you feel understood while also teaching you something new.
If you’ve ever wondered what autism feels like from the inside rather than being explained from the outside, read this book. Then lend it to everyone you know. Then maybe leave it lying around strategically for people to “accidentally” pick up.
Displaying 1 of 1 review