The Reason I Jump

It is fascinating to read about how the autistic mind works. First hand accounts, fictionalized or not, offer glimpses into the inner thoughts and struggles of those on the autism spectrum. Having read Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, I was intrigued when I heard about The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida.


Here are a couple of Higasuida's quotes from the book that resonated with me, having worked with students with autism.

"Playing with familiar items is comforting because we already know what to do with them."

"We are misunderstood and we'd give anything if only we could be understood properly."

Higashida explains that his motivation for continuing the difficult work of learning to communicate in writing on a computer keyboard was a result of his realization that, "to live my life as a human being, nothing is more important than being able to express myself. . ." I tell my students all the time that this is why they need to learn to become effective communicators, to express themselves verbally and in writing. What they have to say is important!

There are so many mysteries about the syndrome itself and the causes of autism, hopefully books such as Higashida's, chronicling his own personal experiences, will offer insight that might bring comfort to those whose lives have been touched by autism. 

The following information is from Goodreads.com

Naoki 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.