The Reason I Jump

this book explains autism so well.

It was okay, I thought it would have more narrative, but it was really just a q and a.

Reading “The Reason I Jump” is the best way I've found to improve one's understanding of how a person with Autism thinks and feels. It's an amazing perspective, described well, by 13-year-old Naoki.

This was a quick read for me. I am very familiar with autism having a close family member with the diagnosis. I would simply caution readers that “if you have met 1 person with autism then you have met 1 person with autism”. Too often I meet well meaning individuals who have read a book such as this and then pigeon hole all their knowledge about this vast topic. My family member related with 90% of this book. The other parts his experiences were totally different. It is a great conversation starter and easy read for those interested or working with children on the spectrum. You cannot be a part of the autism community and not be proud and grateful of authors such as this.

I really appreciated getting the perspective of a child with autism. Seeing that perspective and learning the emotional, psychological, and physical motivations of behavior was definitely eye-opening. It is in Q & A format with small stories written by the boy. The only issue I had was that some of the questions were repetitive in content. Otherwise, well worth the read and it takes almost no time to get through.

I think it can really open the mind, erase misconceptions, and let people in on some of what people with autism go through. Naoki is honest with his experiences. He even states when he doesn't struggle with a certain autistic traits but tries to explain them anyway. The only thing, at times I couldn't believe a 13 year old boy with autism wrote this. It was too perfect. I couldn't help wonder how much the translators may have shaped the book. Still worth the read, especially for someone who works in the field or knows someone autistic.

Pros: Q&A format, includes some of his fiction

Cons: will possibly make you cry in public

This is a non-fiction book written by a 13 year old Japanese autistic boy, in which he answers questions he's been asked numerous times about why he does the things he does. It's an amazing look inside autism.

This is a book that may well make you cry, so beware of reading it in public. In David Mitchell's introduction, when talking about some of Higashida's included fiction and the accusation that autistic people have no empathy, he writes:

“Like all storytelling mammals, Naoki is anticipating his audience's emotions and manipulating them. That is empathy. The conclusion is that both emotional poverty and an aversion to company are not symptoms of autism but consequences of autism, its harsh lockdown on self-expression and society's near-pristine ignorance about what's happening inside autistic heads.”

Similarly in his answer to the question “Would you like to be ‘normal'?” Higashida says that when he was younger he wanted to be normal but now,

“I've learned that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is normal - so we can't know for sure what your “normal” is even like. But so long as we can learn to love ourselves, I'm not sure how much it matters whether we're normal or autistic.”

While it's a short read, it's both inspiring and educational. Understanding is the first step towards becoming better people with regards to how we interact with those who are autistic in our midst.

I admit, I wanted to read The Reason I Jump because David Mitchell's name was attached to the book. Once I read Mitchell's very matter-of-fact introduction, however, I was concerned that the rest of the book wouldn't be able to hold my attention. This is a very personal book, an inside look at autism; truthfully, autism has not affected my life that much.

Before I get into what this book did for me, let me say that I did struggle with the voice of Higashida. Supposedly he was thirteen when he wrote this book, and at times he does come across as very juvenile; yet, for much of the book, his is the voice of experience and insight. It felt to me more as an adult trying to speak as a child than as a child—perhaps this is merely the voice of autism. Or this could be an issue of being a translation of a thirteen year old translating his own experiences with autism to non-autistic world. Regardless of the reason, the author is very intelligent and very aware, and that provides insight into the world of the autistic that few have been given a glimpse into.

So, I had no personal connection to this book. I was reading the questions and Higashida's responses as a very detached observer. But I wasn't too deep into the book when I realized that Higashida's feelings were my own. Answer after answer, I found myself nodding in agreement: I do that; I feel that way; I've thought that. How could this be? So here's my personal connection. More than ten years ago I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. My Borderline symptoms are very textbook, yet I've been called “Extremely High Functioning/Highly Self-Aware” by multiple therapists. For the most part, I've been able to understand and put words to my irrational actions, much as Higashida does for autism in The Reason I Jump. But BPD is not on the autistic spectrum. What is on the autistic spectrum however is Sensory Processing Disorder. Some experts believe that BPD is the end result of SPD when not treated—that really they are, for the most part, the same mental disorder. Through my own personal experiences, I have to agree with this connection. So if SPD is merely high-functioning autism, and if SPD and BPD are truly the same, wouldn't BPD also be on the autistic spectrum? An interesting theory at least. And if Higashida's perception is the norm for autistic, if mine is the norm for those with Borderline Personality Disorder, we are in the same boat. Well then, what is the difference between autism and BPD? While the feelings and perceptions are the same, the intensity and reactions seem to be different. Higashida's responses indicate that autistics are crippled by some of these feelings that merely are an annoyance to me; Higashida's responses show the autistic pulling in, the Borderline would be much more likely to lash out. So while it's possible the Borderline and the autistic are in the same boat, the Borderline is more likely to interpret the actions of the autistic as a precursor to abandonment and respond with irrational outward actions, possibly violence, while the autistic would pull deeper into his own world and respond with irrational inward actions. In the end, however, both would feel the same remorse and embarrassment regarding their actions.

Of course, it's only a theory. And I'm on one side of the fence with no real idea what it's like to be on the other. But I do feel there has got to be a significant thread connecting the two—that's my theory, at least.

So that's how I was able to connect with this book. Had I not had that connection, I doubt I would've enjoyed it as much. This book was written to give outsiders an insider's view of autism. If you don't know someone with autism, if you're not personally invested in it, you may not be able to connect with The Reason I Jump at all. It's always possible, however, you'll find that you're not that different from Higashida in the end. Perhaps none of us really are. Maybe, it's not so much about mental illness, but about being human.

Received from the publisher through Goodreads' First Reads program in exchange for review.