The Reason I Jump Being completely unable to express everyday feelings or thoughts is a very hard concept for the average person to grasp. We are constantly communicating verbally and physically throughout the day. For someone with autism, however, this is not the case. The Reason I Jump, written by Naoki Higashida, a then 13-year-old Japanese boy with autism, and translated by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell, parents of an autistic child, gives a first-hand look into the mind of an autistic person. Through a question and answer format, Higashida more or less interviews himself using questions he is frequently asked or imagines people would like to know. With responses to questions like "Why are you always running off somewhere?", "What's the worst thing about having autism?", and "Why do you do things you shouldn't even when you've been told a million times not to?", Naoki Higashida opens a window into the minds of people who usually keep to themselves and are non-communative. This book is a must-read for any person with a child, friend, or family member with autism. While other autism help books explain the disorder from an outside perspective looking in, The Reason I Jump is in a category all to itself. Very few books about autism and care of autistic people can go into this level of detail about the struggles and joys that an autistic child sees in daily life. Starting with the very first page, Higashida's writing creates vivid imagery of what it is like to be completely unable to communicate his feelings and thoughts to his loved ones and the world around him. At some points, he makes the reader's heart break for people like himself, such as when he describes how it feels to be put aside or looked over just because he doesn't act just like everyone else. His desire for people to simply be patient and understanding with him is clearly prevalent throughout the book. Just when it seems that everything about Naoki Higashida's life is a downside, however, he brings up something he enjoys about his different way of seeing the world, and makes the reader wish that he or she could see this way just for a day. Anyone who lives with, works with, or takes care of someone with autism would greatly benefit from reading The Reason I Jump. Even someone with no connection to autism could enjoy this book. A quick and easy read with artistic images interspersed throughout, Higashida's book is capable of changing the reader's way of thought and making him or her see the world in a whole new way.
Being completely unable to express everyday feelings or thoughts is a very hard concept for the average person to grasp. We are constantly communicating verbally and physically throughout the day. For someone with autism, however, this is not the case. The Reason I Jump, written by Naoki Higashida, a then 13-year-old Japanese boy with autism, and translated by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell, parents of an autistic child, gives a first-hand look into the mind of an autistic person. Through a question and answer format, Higashida more or less interviews himself using questions he is frequently asked or imagines people would like to know. With responses to questions like "Why are you always running off somewhere?", "What's the worst thing about having autism?", and "Why do you do things you shouldn't even when you've been told a million times not to?", Naoki Higashida opens a window into the minds of people who usually keep to themselves and are non-communative.
This book is a must-read for any person with a child, friend, or family member with autism. While other autism help books explain the disorder from an outside perspective looking in, The Reason I Jump is in a category all to itself. Very few books about autism and care of autistic people can go into this level of detail about the struggles and joys that an autistic child sees in daily life. Starting with the very first page, Higashida's writing creates vivid imagery of what it is like to be completely unable to communicate his feelings and thoughts to his loved ones and the world around him. At some points, he makes the reader's heart break for people like himself, such as when he describes how it feels to be put aside or looked over just because he doesn't act just like everyone else. His desire for people to simply be patient and understanding with him is clearly prevalent throughout the book. Just when it seems that everything about Naoki Higashida's life is a downside, however, he brings up something he enjoys about his different way of seeing the world, and makes the reader wish that he or she could see this way just for a day.
Anyone who lives with, works with, or takes care of someone with autism would greatly benefit from reading The Reason I Jump. Even someone with no connection to autism could enjoy this book. A quick and easy read with artistic images interspersed throughout, Higashida's book is capable of changing the reader's way of thought and making him or her see the world in a whole new way.