the reason i jump
OK, i promised that I will write a review of this book. It took me about 5 hours to complete the book in its entirety. Somehow, several points had me stop and ponder. It was almost as if I could relate to what Naoki is saying.
His statement in the preface sums it all:
'Once you know the other person's inner self, both of you can be that much closer'
This book has offered me an intimate insight into the lives and thoughts of people suffering from autism. Correction - are they suffering? To me, it seems like we are the ones suffering from normalcy. Our actions and mannerisms towards people with autism are in fact the very reason why we can make them feel so worthless.
Contrary to what most people think, people with autism are actually aware of their surroundings. However, having limited to no control over their actions means that they will always be judged based on our perception of what's normal and what's abnormal.
A compelling and incredible read, I feel humbled by Naoki's first hand account of why people with autism behave in a special way. It made me appreciate the essence of life, how lucky we are and the very fact that I can be here at my desk gathering my thoughts in a collective manner to post this review.
All through my life, the source of my perception of people with autism had come from pretension and whatever I had chanced upon online. If we think that we understand, we probably don't, not until we have had the chance to at least read the book and examine the little details. There were several keywords which I had scribbled and highlighted. Like a tape-loop, they kept replaying in my head.
In no particular order, I can somehow relate to the 16 points below:
1) i am aware (that my predicament or condition does bother other people)
2) do not let me be the source of your stress, because it will make me feel worse
3) there is a gap (between what I am thinking and what I am saying)
4) i CANNOT express my feeling, but i feel the SAME as everyone else
5) i feel the impulse to run off to anything remotely interesting
6) i feel desperately lonely, especially after hearing someone say that I prefer to be on my own
7) seeing something beautiful makes me smile from the inside
8) i have difficulty connecting mental thoughts to bodily actions
9) my memories are all over the place, and never in a straight line
10) to do anything, i need to think, then visualize before finally encouraging myself to do it
11) i feel miserable when you give up on me. Please exercise some patience
12) sometimes i feel like i want to have wings and fly away
13) i like repetition. Unchanging things are comforting, seeing a spinning object is blissful
14) i just need more time
15) whatever that i cannot feel makes me all nervous
16) i am constantly struggling inside my own body
I am glad that I had the chance to thoroughly examine this book. It simply feels like it's a book that I was meant to read at some point in my life. The internal struggles of a boy with autism is a stoic story of someone braving the odds and stepping forward to tell the world that there is a place for everyone and a reason for everything.
I will just say that it is an incredibly humbling experience.
His statement in the preface sums it all:
'Once you know the other person's inner self, both of you can be that much closer'
This book has offered me an intimate insight into the lives and thoughts of people suffering from autism. Correction - are they suffering? To me, it seems like we are the ones suffering from normalcy. Our actions and mannerisms towards people with autism are in fact the very reason why we can make them feel so worthless.
Contrary to what most people think, people with autism are actually aware of their surroundings. However, having limited to no control over their actions means that they will always be judged based on our perception of what's normal and what's abnormal.
A compelling and incredible read, I feel humbled by Naoki's first hand account of why people with autism behave in a special way. It made me appreciate the essence of life, how lucky we are and the very fact that I can be here at my desk gathering my thoughts in a collective manner to post this review.
All through my life, the source of my perception of people with autism had come from pretension and whatever I had chanced upon online. If we think that we understand, we probably don't, not until we have had the chance to at least read the book and examine the little details. There were several keywords which I had scribbled and highlighted. Like a tape-loop, they kept replaying in my head.
In no particular order, I can somehow relate to the 16 points below:
1) i am aware (that my predicament or condition does bother other people)
2) do not let me be the source of your stress, because it will make me feel worse
3) there is a gap (between what I am thinking and what I am saying)
4) i CANNOT express my feeling, but i feel the SAME as everyone else
5) i feel the impulse to run off to anything remotely interesting
6) i feel desperately lonely, especially after hearing someone say that I prefer to be on my own
7) seeing something beautiful makes me smile from the inside
8) i have difficulty connecting mental thoughts to bodily actions
9) my memories are all over the place, and never in a straight line
10) to do anything, i need to think, then visualize before finally encouraging myself to do it
11) i feel miserable when you give up on me. Please exercise some patience
12) sometimes i feel like i want to have wings and fly away
13) i like repetition. Unchanging things are comforting, seeing a spinning object is blissful
14) i just need more time
15) whatever that i cannot feel makes me all nervous
16) i am constantly struggling inside my own body
I am glad that I had the chance to thoroughly examine this book. It simply feels like it's a book that I was meant to read at some point in my life. The internal struggles of a boy with autism is a stoic story of someone braving the odds and stepping forward to tell the world that there is a place for everyone and a reason for everything.
I will just say that it is an incredibly humbling experience.
posted by ck_ian at 11:11 pm
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